Volunteering is an excellent way to broaden your horizons, help your community, meet new people and lift your spirits. Many local nonprofits desperately need help from volunteers to accomplish their everyday missions and to put on special events. But how do you find out where your time and talents can do the most good? If you’re looking for volunteering opportunities in the Erie area, there are two excellent places to start – besides this blog, of course.
First, GoErie.com hosts a list of opportunities that is updated periodically as organizations submit their needs to us. Reach it by clicking the blue button, labeled “Latest Volunteer Opportunities,” to the right of this post. Anyone wishing to submit their volunteer needs for inclusion in this database can send them to joan.benson-cacchione@timesnews.com or fiona.branton@timesnews.com.
The United Way of Erie County and the Nonprofit Partnership recently launched Get Connected, a Web-based platform that matches volunteers with one-time and ongoing needs in Erie County and beyond. The site, 
http://getconnected.unitedwayerie.org, allows users to search for volunteer opportunities a number of different ways. You can browse through a list of nonprofit agencies, big and small, with descriptions of the organizations’ missions and their volunteer needs, as well as links to their websites.
If you have a certain kind of expertise or interest area, you can search for opportunities by topic area. You can also search events and for opportunities available within a certain distance of your location. If you want, you can register to receive updates of volunteer opportunities fitting the criteria you specify.
So if you have time and energy to give — whether it’s a lot or a little — check out these resources for some great ideas on how to use them.
