It's National Volunteer Week

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the volunteer rate in the United States rose by 0.5 percentage point to 26.8 percent for the year ending in September 2011. About 64.3 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once between September 2010 and September 2011.  That’s a lot of people doing a lot of good!

Many of those people live and volunteer in Acton and Boxborough where volunteer opportunities abound.  If you already volunteer – thank you!  If you are not currently a volunteer and want to contribute some time, there are so many choices.

 There are many “Friends of” groups for our libraries, , the Acton Arboretum, councils on aging, and more.  They may hold events such as book sales or the Patriots Day events, or work days such as at the arboretum or the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, or it could be helping people with taxes through the councils on aging, or assisting people at the food pantry or at HGRM.

Professional skills such as accounting, finance, editing, writing or fundraising are often needed by volunteer and nonprofit organizations.  These can be ongoing or on an assignment basis.   Perhaps you want to do something completely new and different to learn new skills.  Maybe you want to get some exercise and meet new people while you’re helping others.    Whether you want to do there is an organization that will welcome your participation.

Patch has volunteer listings, but hasn’t yet developed the traffic that some other online listings have.  Any organization looking for volunteers should consider posting their needs here on Patch to help everyone know the latest on continuing to help make Acton and Boxborough great places to live.

Here are some different sorts of opportunities:

Town of Acton:  Removal of invasive water chestnuts from Ice House Pond on Saturday, July 28 from 10am-2pm.  Contact Natural Resources Assistant Bettina Abe at BAbe@acton-ma.gov.

Community Alliance for Youth (CAFY) is seeking board members to plan parent forums and other educational events, assist with grant writing and fundraising. CAFY promotes wellness for young people in Acton and Boxborough by helping young people make healthy decisions as they mature to adults, and to help parents learn how to support the healthy behavior and address the high-risk behavior of their children. Time commitment is a few hours a month.  Contact Bob McGowan at RMcgowan169@aol.com.

Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts (HGRM) has many opportunities working directly with clients and donors, setting client appointments, assisting with the 2^nd annual Boston College cleanout May 12 – 23 as students donate items they are not taking with them, as well as fundraising, public relations and grant writing. Contact Jo-Ann Berry at Joann.Berry@HGRM.org .

Acton Boxborough Farmers Market (ABFM) seeks Market Volunteers to perform various important tasks, including: market set-up, post-market clean-up, staffing the ABFM information table, monitoring parking compliance, helping vendors load and unload, etc. Shifts are available between 8:30am and 2pm. Contact volunteers@ABFarmersMarket.org.