Global Volunteers Tom and Kathy Kromroy had already served together in the Cook Islands, India and St. Lucia when they decided their “gift” to each other would be to mark their 40th wedding anniversary volunteering in the USA. They said the opportunity to reflect on important moments together while they helped youth and adults brought […]
Four-time Global Volunteer Gemma Lewis has always been passionate about supporting children and their families. As a Children’s Care Coordinator with the National Health Service in the UK, she works with families of children living with severe disabilities to ensure they receive appropriate physical and emotional interventions. It was with this focus on practical support […]
Global Volunteers Alumna Maggi Gallaher said retirement has liberated her to indulge her appetite for volunteering. For her fourth service program, she served at Sagrada Familia, a community in Peru serving 1,400 at-risk children, from one month to 17 years. The community shelters about 600 homeless and abandoned children and provides nutrition, healthcare and education. […]
Returning from a service program can make you itch for more meaningful travel. Deciding where to volunteer next can be challenging, however. But maybe you don’t have to make the decision all over again. LeAnn Plinske and Jennifer O’Neill are alumni who chose to return to where they originally served. Here they share their experience […]
A recent retiree volunteering in Cuba describes the sights, sounds and inspiration she experienced while practicing English conversation with gracious elders and lively students. Mary Ann Fitzgerald says her life was enriched through this unique program, and shares how Global Volunteers enabled her to easily and safely explore Havana, Cuba through service. Florida retiree Mary […]
The nine senior nursing students from St. John Fisher College arrived in Ipalamwa, Tanzania with a clear assignment: To leverage their clinical capstone project to assess the heath of RCP mothers and children, and support caregivers on home visits. By combining their emergent skills with a desire to serve, they had the opportunity to help […]
On the plains of South Dakota, a summer Global Volunteers service team worked one-on-one with the Sicangu Rosebud Sioux people, helping to improve the community’s welfare while gaining unique, non-tourist insights on the history, culture, and struggles of the Lakota Nation. Follow their day-by-day journey of discovery here. Welcome to the Reservation! Welcome to the […]
Barb Holdridge was intrigued when her good friend recommended a new type of travel. But, she didn’t know she’d also catch the volunteering abroad “bug” so quickly! Another volunteer on a different service program encouraged her to branch out further. Sixteen years and 10 programs afterward, Barb says that international volunteer travel is “the” way […]
Judy Marx, a three-time Global Volunteer alumna, said an ancient Judaism tradition, Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for “world repair”), propelled her search for international volunteer opportunities. The world is imperfect, the lesson teaches, but is in our own hands to make it better every day. Judy and her husband John said they’ve since discovered that volunteerism […]
Forty years ago, Laura Tomlinson and Kim Berge worked together in Colorado Springs. They parted ways soon after college to pursue their careers – Kim attended a Physician Assistant program in CT and Laura pursued a graduate degree in Education in CA. They never lived in the same town again. Each got married, raised their own families, established […]