Friends, family, neighbors and colleagues have all referred our volunteers to service programs – creating a “ripple effect” through the communities they serve and those who follow in their footsteps.
Barbara Rich believes in giving back. From the rain forest of Costa Rica and the Atlantic coast of Ghana to the plains of Minnesota and the “hollers” of West Virginia, the Massachusetts retiree credits her Global Volunteers service with keeping her informed and engaged with the world. At age 90, she’s registered to serve migrants […]
In 1996, Wichita retiree Barbara Pate joined her first Global Volunteers Service Program – headed for Tanzania. A blooming adventurer, and recently a widow, she chose the African country partially to satisfy her curiosity about the continent. She remembered it as a meaningful, enlightening experience, writing in her journal that she was surprised (and grateful) […]
Most volunteers are characteristically modest when estimating their personal impact in Global Volunteers’ partner communities. But when measuring the cumulative outcomes of service programs over time, we’ve demonstrated that the transformative power of volunteer teams – serving for one, two or three weeks at a time – is deep and wide. Sharing knowledge of those […]
Alumni Karen Isaac had just retired from 30 years of teaching elementary school when she saw “the most amazing photos” of Global Volunteers in St. Lucia posted on Facebook by her friend Gila Cohen-Shaw. An enthusiastic Global Volunteers alumna, Gila had “crowdsourced” the funds for her service program and encouraged Karen to follow suit. What […]
We’re always grateful for volunteers’ emails and letters of thanks and descriptions of their service. Many are surprised by how deeply and authentically they’re experienced the culture of the partner community. In this case, a casual referral to Global Volunteers resulted in life-changing perspectives for Global Volunteer Tenley Zinke. A mother of two daughters, Tenley […]
Personal referrals account for more than 40 percent of Global Volunteers’ team members, on average, each year. Not only do “word-of-mouth” recommendations lend credibility to our work, but they help us engage needed numbers of team members for each service program. Who do you know that would love to experience the fulfillment of volunteering with […]
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 […]