Volunteering to Suit Your Skills

I happened upon Second Chance Toys through VolunteerMatch.com earlier this year. I was a (semi) new stay-at-home-mom looking for a way to volunteer my time during my son’s naptime, and also satisfy my growing itch to get back to work. I started to look for opportunities locally—I live near Detroit, so there are certainly plenty of places that need the help. But I found that many organizations needed someone in their office, or were looking for someone to work too many hours a week so I started to look for opportunities nationwide.

I was lucky enough to find Second Chance Toys right away when I added the word “toy” to my VolunteerMatch search. I worked in PR for toy companies before I had my son so that seemed like a natural fit. Looking back, I can’t really imagine a better fitting organization for me. Helping kids, saving plastic from the landfills, and if I were to start my own collection (which I intend on doing) I’ll be able to deliver toys to in-need organizations in Detroit. Win-win-win!

If you’re reading this and have thought about volunteering, I encourage you to do it. You don’t have to organize a collection to help. If you’ve got a particular skill or connection that you think would be beneficial to Second Chance Toys, let them know. I put the last two newsletters together and have been conducting and writing interviews for the newsletter. There were all sorts of things I could’ve helped with, but given my background, the newsletter was right up my alley. Speaking with the amazing volunteers and toy recipients has been inspiring and very rewarding. It’s so nice to be able to put an hour of time in here and there and still be able to contribute and help out such a great cause.

If you’re like me and want to make a difference but don’t have any toys to donate, reach out today. Maybe there’s something that’ll be a perfect match for you, just like it was for me!

Author: Kaitlin Bevins, SCT Volunteer and Super Mom