home.social

#volunteering — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #volunteering, aggregated by home.social.

  1. This Saturday, 9/19, is #CoastalCleanupDay! Join volunteers at cleanups across the Bay Area working together to stop trash before it reaches the Bay and the Ocean.

    Our cleanup is full, but there are lots of other cleanup groups still looking for volunteers: coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/cc

    #CaliforniaCoastalCleanupDay #bayarea #volunteering #trash #trashcleanup #beachcleanup

  2. This Saturday, 9/19, is #CoastalCleanupDay! Join volunteers at cleanups across the Bay Area working together to stop trash before it reaches the Bay and the Ocean.

    Our cleanup is full, but there are lots of other cleanup groups still looking for volunteers: coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/cc

    #CaliforniaCoastalCleanupDay #bayarea #volunteering #trash #trashcleanup #beachcleanup

  3. This Saturday, 9/19, is #CoastalCleanupDay! Join volunteers at cleanups across the Bay Area working together to stop trash before it reaches the Bay and the Ocean.

    Our cleanup is full, but there are lots of other cleanup groups still looking for volunteers: coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/cc

    #CaliforniaCoastalCleanupDay #bayarea #volunteering #trash #trashcleanup #beachcleanup

  4. This Saturday, 9/19, is #CoastalCleanupDay! Join volunteers at cleanups across the Bay Area working together to stop trash before it reaches the Bay and the Ocean.

    Our cleanup is full, but there are lots of other cleanup groups still looking for volunteers: coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/cc

    #CaliforniaCoastalCleanupDay #bayarea #volunteering #trash #trashcleanup #beachcleanup

  5. This Saturday, 9/19, is #CoastalCleanupDay! Join volunteers at cleanups across the Bay Area working together to stop trash before it reaches the Bay and the Ocean.

    Our cleanup is full, but there are lots of other cleanup groups still looking for volunteers: coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/cc

    #CaliforniaCoastalCleanupDay #bayarea #volunteering #trash #trashcleanup #beachcleanup

  6. The Scrap Space, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG
    22.9.26 Volunteering Open Day
    5-7pm "This is a dedicated time for anyone interested in volunteering to hang out with us and chat to current volunteers."
    weareoverthemoon.org/thescraps

    #ScrapSpace #Volunteering #Volunteer #SolarPunkSunday #TheScrapSpace #ReUse #Crafts #Sussex #Shoreham #Brighton #UpCycling #Recycling #Textiles

  7. Country pride events struggle to survive as volunteers dwindle
    By Rachel Hagan

    In the remote WA town of Carnarvon, Queernavon has been running pride events for three years. A lack of volunteers means they may not go ahead this year and organisers worry about what that will mean for the community.

    abc.net.au/news/2026-09-15/car

    #LGBTQIA #RegionalCommunities #Volunteering #CommunityandCulturalEvents #RachelHagan

  8. On Desktops, Smartphones and Volunteering

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Yet another article has been written about how smartphones are a trap we built for ourselves by VOX. The article is paywalled so I didn’t read it but it’s worth commenting on the headline.

    This weekend I was in Divonne volunteering at the Triathlon de Divonne and during this time I was surprised by a single thing. I was surprised by how many people I knew through cycling, after-work drinks and one or two from running. Divonne isn’t a place that I go to very often. I usually go on the last Saturday of the month, to ride with friends.

    One of those friends deals with the Triathlon de Divonne, so that’s why I volunteered. In so doing I found that my ties to Divonne are stronger than I expected. When I ran at the Wake Up and Run event I was surprised by how few people I knew were there, whereas with the Triathlon the opposite is true.

    It is also worth noting that by volunteering at this event I spent the entire day with people, whether it was children transitioning at the bike park from, swimming to cycling, to running, or adults placing their bikes, to cars waiting to be able to pass due to us blocking the roads for cyclist safety.

    We often blame smart phones for isolating us but recently I heard a comment about how much homework children get, and how as it increases children stop playing outside. With time that isolation increases, and increases. If you have homework groups then theoretically you undercut that isolation, but in practice it’s easier, logistically to go home.

    As we become adults, in the world of work, we are desk bound to computer based jobs and if we get up for a little chat we are immediately told off for slacking off. The irony is that if you’re a smoker that slacking off is accepted, but if you’re a non-smoker, chatting with a smoker then you’re a slacker. Remember Rachel Green in Friends for a 90s example.

    We love to blame smartphones for being a trap but we don’t consider our computer based jobs in high pressure environments that require us to be focused and unsociable.

    Before smartphones, and data plans Blackberry and some Nokia phones had data but it required a special plan. Before that you needed your laptop and either a network port and cable, or a wifi card. With smartphones you get convenience.

    For the last two days, people with their bibs and bike stickers should recover their bikes. If they didn’t have their smartphones, with the confirmation e-mail bike recovery was complicated. Those that did not have their phones had to leave their bikes, get their bib or some other form of identification before being allowed to depart.

    Smartphones are seen as an addiction centre by many, but that’s because plenty of people don’t remember why smartphones make life more convenient. Would you want to go to a triathlon with your laptop, left in a bag, in a locker?

    The article wrote about mindless scrolling on a smartphone, despite being a new parent and my comment to that is simple. Until 2007 social networks were small communities of like minded people in the middle of conversation. From 2007 onwards, with hashtags, and zynga farming games we shifted from conversations with friends to spamming with friends, with various requests.

    With Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, when we had conversations within tight knit communities, with our sharing of photos, we weren’t mindlessly scrolling. We were socialising.

    When Twitter shifted to hashtags the social aspect was lost, and when Instagram was sold to Facebook it went from community to influencers. It went from being a social investment to being a waste of time, for advertisers and influencers to spam us.

    Remember, social media, via smart phones was made ubiquitous and convenient, but with the wrong moral compass being used, apps that connected us disconnected us. Today if we use FB and Twitter, and Instagram we’re being antisocial to those we are with. Before social media was the glue that bound us together as a community. Seesmeetups, and Tweetups, and uni friend events.

    Photos of ID cards helped people who didn’t have their ID cards with them prove that they were who they said they were via photos of their ID cards, and other people could get their bibs sooner, because they had the confirmation e-mail, without printing out, saving plenty of paper. In theory it saved 1100 pieces of paper from being printed.

    In the post social media age it makes sense to volunteer to events where you’re surrounded by people, to join running groups and to join cycling groups, because, in so doing, you leave your phone in your pocket and live in the moment.

    Dark design patterns encourage us to waste time on devices. If, instead of blaming the technology, we held app designers to account, then apps would provide real value instead of wasting our time, especially reels.

    I hate that we can spend hours watching pointless reels, with no engagement, no value, and no reward. We’re not social, we’re not learning, we’re not getting value, and yet we’re wasting hours.

    Remember, pre-Facebok Instagram was a social network based on friends we knew in person. We don’t need to give up smartphones to revert to healthier habits, just the toxic apps.

    #computers #deskJobs #digital #humanContact #volunteering
  9. On Desktops, Smartphones and Volunteering

    Reading Time: 3 minutes

    Yet another article has been written about how smartphones are a trap we built for ourselves by VOX. The article is paywalled so I didn’t read it but it’s worth commenting on the headline.

    This weekend I was in Divonne volunteering at the Triathlon de Divonne and during this time I was surprised by a single thing. I was surprised by how many people I knew through cycling, after-work drinks and one or two from running. Divonne isn’t a place that I go to very often. I usually go on the last Saturday of the month, to ride with friends.

    One of those friends deals with the Triathlon de Divonne, so that’s why I volunteered. In so doing I found that my ties to Divonne are stronger than I expected. When I ran at the Wake Up and Run event I was surprised by how few people I knew were there, whereas with the Triathlon the opposite is true.

    It is also worth noting that by volunteering at this event I spent the entire day with people, whether it was children transitioning at the bike park from, swimming to cycling, to running, or adults placing their bikes, to cars waiting to be able to pass due to us blocking the roads for cyclist safety.

    We often blame smart phones for isolating us but recently I heard a comment about how much homework children get, and how as it increases children stop playing outside. With time that isolation increases, and increases. If you have homework groups then theoretically you undercut that isolation, but in practice it’s easier, logistically to go home.

    As we become adults, in the world of work, we are desk bound to computer based jobs and if we get up for a little chat we are immediately told off for slacking off. The irony is that if you’re a smoker that slacking off is accepted, but if you’re a non-smoker, chatting with a smoker then you’re a slacker. Remember Rachel Green in Friends for a 90s example.

    We love to blame smartphones for being a trap but we don’t consider our computer based jobs in high pressure environments that require us to be focused and unsociable.

    Before smartphones, and data plans Blackberry and some Nokia phones had data but it required a special plan. Before that you needed your laptop and either a network port and cable, or a wifi card. With smartphones you get convenience.

    For the last two days, people with their bibs and bike stickers should recover their bikes. If they didn’t have their smartphones, with the confirmation e-mail bike recovery was complicated. Those that did not have their phones had to leave their bikes, get their bib or some other form of identification before being allowed to depart.

    Smartphones are seen as an addiction centre by many, but that’s because plenty of people don’t remember why smartphones make life more convenient. Would you want to go to a triathlon with your laptop, left in a bag, in a locker?

    The article wrote about mindless scrolling on a smartphone, despite being a new parent and my comment to that is simple. Until 2007 social networks were small communities of like minded people in the middle of conversation. From 2007 onwards, with hashtags, and zynga farming games we shifted from conversations with friends to spamming with friends, with various requests.

    With Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, when we had conversations within tight knit communities, with our sharing of photos, we weren’t mindlessly scrolling. We were socialising.

    When Twitter shifted to hashtags the social aspect was lost, and when Instagram was sold to Facebook it went from community to influencers. It went from being a social investment to being a waste of time, for advertisers and influencers to spam us.

    Remember, social media, via smart phones was made ubiquitous and convenient, but with the wrong moral compass being used, apps that connected us disconnected us. Today if we use FB and Twitter, and Instagram we’re being antisocial to those we are with. Before social media was the glue that bound us together as a community. Seesmeetups, and Tweetups, and uni friend events.

    Photos of ID cards helped people who didn’t have their ID cards with them prove that they were who they said they were via photos of their ID cards, and other people could get their bibs sooner, because they had the confirmation e-mail, without printing out, saving plenty of paper. In theory it saved 1100 pieces of paper from being printed.

    In the post social media age it makes sense to volunteer to events where you’re surrounded by people, to join running groups and to join cycling groups, because, in so doing, you leave your phone in your pocket and live in the moment.

    Dark design patterns encourage us to waste time on devices. If, instead of blaming the technology, we held app designers to account, then apps would provide real value instead of wasting our time, especially reels.

    I hate that we can spend hours watching pointless reels, with no engagement, no value, and no reward. We’re not social, we’re not learning, we’re not getting value, and yet we’re wasting hours.

    Remember, pre-Facebok Instagram was a social network based on friends we knew in person. We don’t need to give up smartphones to revert to healthier habits, just the toxic apps.

    #computers #deskJobs #digital #humanContact #volunteering
  10. Do Supervised School Volunteers Now Need DBS Checks?

    Supervision no longer automatically keeps frequent child-facing volunteers outside regulated activity. Here is when enhanced DBS checks may apply.

    ferdiox.com/blog/2026/09/14/do

  11. Do Supervised School Volunteers Now Need DBS Checks?

    Supervision no longer automatically keeps frequent child-facing volunteers outside regulated activity. Here is when enhanced DBS checks may apply.

    ferdiox.com/blog/2026/09/14/do

  12. Do Supervised School Volunteers Now Need DBS Checks?

    Supervision no longer automatically keeps frequent child-facing volunteers outside regulated activity. Here is when enhanced DBS checks may apply.

    ferdiox.com/blog/2026/09/14/do

  13. Do Supervised School Volunteers Now Need DBS Checks?

    Supervision no longer automatically keeps frequent child-facing volunteers outside regulated activity. Here is when enhanced DBS checks may apply.

    ferdiox.com/blog/2026/09/14/do

  14. Do Supervised School Volunteers Now Need DBS Checks?

    Supervision no longer automatically keeps frequent child-facing volunteers outside regulated activity. Here is when enhanced DBS checks may apply.

    ferdiox.com/blog/2026/09/14/do

  15. Our Journey Begins

    On Wednesday morning, we will be on our way. First, we’ll take a couple days to travel to my favorite place, Pentwater, Michigan. There, we’ll spend two weeks with family. This is our time to be with our family, with our grown children and other family members all the way down to our great niece and nephew.

    When we leave Michigan, for the first time ever, we won’t head home. Rather, we’ll take 15 days to journey to the Grand Canyon. There, we’ll volunteer as camp hosts for two and a half months. I feel like we’ve moved heaven and earth for this possibility.

    A couple of years ago, we took a cruise to Alaska. This was a long held hope and dream of mine, and I could hardly believe we’d made it. I kept thinking something would prevent us from reaching this personal frontier. Once on the cruise ship, headed north, I had to pinch myself to know for sure, this was really happening.

    I feel the same way about volunteering at the Grand Canyon. To be and live in this iconic National Park almost seems too great of a thing that could happen to me. Even now, I hope I’m not jinxing myself – as we are not there yet.

    We applied for this volunteer position back in September. Amanda, the NPS Park ranger for the volunteers, contacted us expressing interest and wanting to set up an interview.

    Then the government shutdown happened.

    I knew we wouldn’t hear anything for a while. However, we did receive an email from Amanda saying she would contact us after the shutdown ended. That shutdown now seems like a distant memory, doesn’t it?

    Long story short, we eventually interviewed and were selected. This was a surprise because I thought we’d be eliminated since the date range for the position was five months, and because of our Michigan tradition, we were only available for the second half. We’re not giving up Pentwater, even for the Grand Canyon.

    But this didn’t knock us out. Instead, out of 70 applicants, we were some of the ones chosen. We got the lucky ticket in this lottery.

    We had more paperwork to do, including some online forms and creating a resume for both Dan and I. Then, they requested for Dan to get fingerprinted. Not digital fingerprints, like we did for LBJ National Historical Park. Rather, real ink fingerprints with an authorized agency. We found an agency 30 minutes away from where we were in Big Cypress. Then we had to take a picture of the prints and various forms and email that in through a protected server. Once all was approved, we then had to FedEx everything to … somewhere. I don’t even remember where anymore. The FedEx was another 30 minutes away from where we were in Big Cypress.

    It puzzled us that they only asked Dan to do this. I should have asked about why they didn’t ask me.

    However, they did ask me. Except I didn’t know as it was sent to an incorrect email. So, back to the ink fingerprint joint, email extravaganza, and finally to the busy FedEx office on Marco Island. This process from being accepted to getting this all done took about four months, keeping in mind that each 30 minute trip was a week or more given our volunteer work schedule in the Preserve. Factor in communication time, and it’s just about four months.

    Finally, we were all set up and approved!

    Then we found out Dan has prostate cancer.

    A scheduled biopsy turns into two unscheduled stints in the hospital. Once through that debacle, a consultation. Then a decision to “wait and watch”, but a later PSA test turns up the heat, and he decides for surgery. Another consultation, all the while waiting, wondering, will we still get to go?

    The surgeon, based on the results of Dan’s genetic testing of the cancer cells, confirms, it is just fine for us to wait until November, after our Grand Canyon expedition. So, then we ask, can we wait until March or April? You know, Dan really doesn’t like cold weather. The surgeon says…”Well, you could…”, but then wavers a bit, throwing cold water on the idea. So we count our blessings and stick with the November schedule.

    This is good with us. We had been in the process of setting up a gig with an Arizona State Park, but once we learned of the cancer diagnosis, we bowed out. We wanted to give the coordinator plenty of time to find other volunteers.

    But here we are. Ready to go. Fingers crossed and God willing.

    I can’t help but think when I look out over that canyon for the first time and try to take in its immense beauty and splendor, I’ll stand there with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. It will be a moment when I thank God for getting us there, giving us this opportunity, and amazing us with the glory of His creation. It will all be worth it. Don’t you think? Of this, I have no doubt.

    #Alaska #ChallengesToTravelPlans #faith #family #featured #gratitude #Michigan #OvercomingObstacles #Pentwater #ProstateCancer #retirement #RVLifestyle #RVTravel #RVTripToMichiganAndTheGrandCanyon #travel #volunteering
  16. Bigfoot Trail Alliance (BFTA) has many trail work trips going again this summer and at the very last minute, I got in on the one around the far side of Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness. We had a moderate hike in, a bigger hike on our "rest" day, and some working in there too.

    Here's where it starts, that moderate hike in. Just head over here valhikes.blogspot.com/2026/06/ for more.

    #California #MendocinoCounty #TehamaCounty #TrinityCounty #MendocinoNationalForest #YollaBollyMiddleEelWilderness
    #hiking #nature #landscape #volunteering #trailWork #travel #hike #outside #backpacking #mountains

    

  17. Sometimes people tell us to "get a job" as if it's that simple.

    There are multitudinous good reasons why we:
    1. Consider our work for Vulpine Labs and the local community more important than any run of the mill "job".
    2. Cannot seriously be expected to attain traditional employment.
    3. Shun traditional models of pay in favour of Mutual Aid.

    And we won't let capitalism grind us down.

    Today, Atha:
    Reset the mouse traps in the bus
    Cleared snow off the bus and car (altitude does not care for your "seasons", mere mortals)
    Got a new phone from a good friend
    Set up an LELink LeafSpy OBD2 device to help diagnose and fix the car
    Did some reading at the library to get back in the mood for learning Python

    And Inara:
    Did trans HRT injections
    Did some cleaning and tidying
    Took the car to do a slow charge session
    Did some phone setup
    Will likely cook food for us and a homeless friend, and do some VR.

    If you want to fling us some currency to keep the mardy old system at bay and fill up the bus's thirsty diesel tank, feel free to send to
    ko-fi.com/athakitsune or
    PayPal.me/athamanatha or
    Cashapp $athamanatha
    Wise and some limited bank transfer options also available on request.

    #buslife #poor #mutualaid #pleasedonate #helpfolkslive2026 #helpthehomeless #share4reach #boost4reach #queermutualaid #homeless #queer #homelessmutualaid #trans #transmutualaid #hrt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtqia2plus #electriccar #diagnostics #EV #nissanleaf #snow #library #books #python #programming #syntax #code #androidphone #unemployable #unemployed #underemployed #volunteering #community #fuelprices #communesandconvoys

  18. I have been #laidoff twice in my career. I've also quit several jobs without having any prospects for alternative income.

    I've never been afraid to move on into the future.

    The first time I was laid off was 1980. I had been on the job for 6 weeks, was doing very well according to everyone working with me, and then one day my boss came in and asked me to attend an unscheduled meeting in the conference room. Almost everyone in the office was there and we were all laid off by the corporate office.

    That was, of course, at the height of the 1980 recession (it doesn't have a "cool" name like Great Recession or Pandemic Recession).

    10 years later after I had left another job I came down with severe pneumonia. Couldn't work or look for a job for months. When I was able to get up and around, my mother suggested I do some #volunteer work.

    So I called #UnitedWay and asked if they could refer me to some organization that needed help.

    I spent that summer tutoring kids at a local school. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

    If you have lost your job and don't know what to do, but you've got a roof over your head and food to eat, try #volunteering for a while. It will help you appreciate your own self-worth and may inspire you to try something new.

    Don't just sit at home and wonder what you can do with your life. You can always do something meaningful.

  19. #VictoriaBC #YYJ #Colwood #Saanich #Langford #Sooke #Metchosin - more people power needed!

    #BilstonCreekWatershed #nonprofit society needs help!

    They need more volunteers to join them at Firehall Creek on Friday, October 3 & Saturday, October 4 from 10 am - 2 pm. The work will be focusing on planting native plants as part of ongoing restoration efforts.

    Gloves, tools, and guidance will be provided & no experience is necessary. Everyone is welcome.

    Please RSVP using this form: forms.gle/DddZ2ZYY5Zmbtfz98

    This will help them plan for supplies & also allow them to reach out directly if plans change.

    Thank you as always for any support. Your time & energy helps strengthen habitat for fish & wildlife.

    #VolunteersNeeded #watershed #conservation #NatureRestoration #Volunteering #CommunityWork #SignUpToVolunteer #TakeAction #HelpingHands #WaterStewards #NativePlants #Environmental #ClimateAction

  20. Back to Yolla Bolly for a little trail work, this time around the south mountains. This is the very southern end of the Bigfoot Trail! The first two days, we worked to Long Lake and along a connector trail for the Ides Cove National Recreation Trail.

    All the details are here: valhikes.blogspot.com/2025/06/

    #California #TehamaCounty #MendocinoNationalForest #YollaBollyMiddleEelWilderness
    #hiking #nature #landscape #travel #hike #outside #dayhike #volunteering #volunteer #BigfootTrail #NRT

  21. Hey folks in #Saanich #VictoriaBC & surrounding areas - come out for 2025 #StrawberryFestival 🍓
    I'll be out there, volunteering at the event. Helping to raise funds for the LIFE program which provides a subsidized pass for disabled & low income people to access local recreational centres & programs. Come & see me there 😀

    Join Saanich in celebrating the 58th annual Strawberry Festival. This #FamilyFriendly, fun, #FreeEvent features live music, kids' activities, bouncy castles, information booths, arts and craft stations and, of course, the traditional servings of #strawberries and ice cream. Scroll down to see information on vendors, music, activities and more!

    When: Sunday, July 6, 2025, 11 am - 4 pm
    Where: Beaver Lake Regional Park, 728 Beaver Lake Rd, main parking lot.

    saanich.ca/EN/main/parks-recre

    #Wsanec #PublicEvent #CommunityEvent #Volunteering #YYJEvents #FreeParking #YYJ #SummerEvents #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #FunForEveryone #FreeFun

  22. If you want to improve your French skills, or learn how the French hiking trails are marked with our latest work that makes French news accessible to non-French speakers, follow us @fralibou on IG, YouTube, Odysee, Rumble, Mastodon, Bastyon, X (formerly Twitter), Line, Whatsapp and Threads!

    #Randonnée #Balisage #Sentiers #Nature #Yvelines #Bénévolat #ProtectionDeLaNature #Marcheur #ParcNaturel #AmoureuxDeLaNature #Hiking #TrailMarking #NatureLovers #Yvelines #Volunteering #OutdoorAdventure

  23. When I scroll through the 3 Mastodon sites where I have accounts, I look for posts that focus on these issues: #youthdevelopment, #workforcedevelopment #povertyreduction #education #volunteering #philanthropy #youthmentoring #servicelearning

    I'm also looking for people who use visuals, like #maps & #conceptmaps to show where kids and families in high poverty areas need help, along w all the different types of help that are needed, over-and-over for many years.

    I don't find much.

  24. When I scroll through the 3 Mastodon sites where I have accounts, I look for posts that focus on these issues: #youthdevelopment, #workforcedevelopment #povertyreduction #education #volunteering #philanthropy #youthmentoring #servicelearning

    I'm also looking for people who use visuals, like #maps & #conceptmaps to show where kids and families in high poverty areas need help, along w all the different types of help that are needed, over-and-over for many years.

    I don't find much.

  25. Do you know of Mastodon sites where most of the posts focus on these issues? #youthdevelopment, #workforcedevelopment #povertyreduction #education #volunteering #philanthropy #capacitybuilding #servicelearning

    On such a site people would be using visuals, like #maps & #conceptmaps to show where kids and families need help, along with all the different types of help that are needed, over-and-over for many years?

    If you know people who focus on these issues please share my account w them.

  26. Does anyone know of a Mastodon site where most of the posts focus on these issues? #youthdevelopment, #workforcedevelopment #povertyreduction #education #volunteering #philanthropy #capacitybuilding #servicelearning

    On such a site media and leaders would be people using visuals, like #maps & #conceptmaps to show where kids and families need help, along with all the different types of help that are needed, over-and-over for many years?

    Does it exist?