Natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires can leave us feeling powerless and overwhelmed, but it's important for everyone to know that there are ways to help. Whether a disaster has occurred in your community, or across the country, you can make a difference! Here are 8 ways you can support disaster relief today.

This week is National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week and we want to show some #LocalLove to Literacy Minnesota, the only statewide, volunteer literacy organization in Minnesota. 

Sophie Phan, Volunteer Outreach Coordinator and volunteer for Literacy Minnesota, believes in English literacy as a powerful means to broaden educational and economic opportunities for immigrants and refugees in the United States. Sophie immigrated from Vietnam to Minnesota when she was five years old, grew up as a voracious reader, and believes in the power of stories to motivate and inspire.

For this International Dog Day (August 26th) we want to spotlight Lily’s Legacy Senior Dog Sanctuary, a nonprofit dedicated to the mighty task of rescuing, caring for, and rehoming large breed senior dogs. Of the dogs who come to Lily’s, 80% are from shelters and, more often than not, have suffered neglect. The organization does thorough evaluations and treatments to get them adoption ready. 

Compassion fatigue. We all know what it is, even if you haven’t heard the term before. The 24-hour news cycle brings, seemingly every day, previously unfathomable stories of devastation and destruction. Our hearts and minds were not made for it. The natural impulse to care can become exhausting.

The Color of Care, from executive producer Oprah Winfrey, takes a hard look at the origins and ongoing disparities of embedded racism in our healthcare system. This timely documentary interweaves history, data and testimony from those who lost loved ones to COVID-19 and frontline medical workers in overwhelmed hospitals.

Photo Credit: The Seattle Times

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”In the past two years, the need has been immense for every cause area: from food security to homelessness —education to mental health. Meanwhile, the threat of the virus has prevented volunteerism from returning to its pre-pandemic highs. This year, we can change that.

This year, within our country and our communities, we have witnessed immense social challenges and incredible acts of kindness. Building kind, inclusive, and thriving communities is an intentional process that any individual can contribute to in a meaningful way. As you plan for the new year and make community-building resolutions, this list of our Top Blogs of 2021 can help inspire you.

As part of our givetime campaign with U.S. Bank, we are spotlighting a few of the nonprofit organizations that won free VolunteerMatch membership for a year. If you are looking for ways to give time now and into 2022, consider supporting one of these incredible causes. 

Plus, check out even more ideas at the end of the post!

With the recent discovery of the Omicron variant, you may be looking for ways to navigate through this latest uncertainty. We are continuing to provide several resources to help you overcome the challenges you are facing. Here are 9 resources to support you during this time.