Project Give
Project GIVE (Getting Involved {through} Volunteer Experiences) is the volunteer service program that matches members of the WSSU community with non-profit organizations and their service programs. Through Project GIVE, students, faculty and staff serve as youth mentors to provide valuable health care information to the community, feed the hungry, and participate in an extensively range of service activities.
WSSU Career Development Services is proud to serve as the host office for Project GIVE. To learn more about this award-winning program and how you can create a stronger community through volunteer service, please contact the
Coordinator of Community Service Dana Walker at walkerd@wssu.edu or 336-750-2129.
Students
Your personal growth and development can be enhanced through volunteer service. Project GIVE offers a full range of volunteer opportunities that either match your major or contribute to career preparation. In addition, Project GIVE documents your service record for applying to graduate and professional schools as well as for membership in organizations requiring volunteer service.
Please follow these steps to volunteer through Project GIVE:
Step 1
Review the Project GIVE student guidebook. The following information is covered in the guidebook:
- How Volunteering Can Help Students
- Student Commitment Before Volunteering
- The “Rules” of Volunteering (Do’s and Don’ts)
- Options In Selecting A Volunteer Site
- Important Questions To Ask Before Volunteering (Logistical, Professional and Personal)
- Volunteering For Non-Traditional Students
- Paying Off College Debt Through Volunteering
- Volunteering Remotely (Virtual Volunteering)
Step 2
Visit Career Development Services to learn more about volunteer opportunities or go to WSSU’s CAREERlink to choose a volunteer opportunity that matches your interests.
CAREERlink database include:
- provides a list of volunteer opportunities with approved non-profit service organizations
- details on how to participate as a volunteer with an agency
- contact information to arrange your volunteer experience
Step 3
Submit your volunteer service hours on WSSU’s RAMSYNC website. Below are the steps:
- Go to RAMSYNC and sign in
- Go to your account (profile)
- Select experience
- Click on Add Experience
- Select volunteer
- Complete the entire online volunteer form (Upload signed volunteer documents, pictures, videos, etc.)
- Click submit and approval should be completed within 24-48 hours
STAFF
WSSU staff members can make an equally valuable contribution in Project GIVE volunteer service programs. The Corporate Volunteers program allow staff members to mentor elementary or high school students to achieve academic success. Several service programs and activities are available to staff members. Please contact the coordinator’s office for additional information about Project GIVE programs.
NON-PROFIT AGENCIES
Project GIVE welcomes the opportunity to work with non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for others. To have WSSU students, faculty and staff involved in your respective organization, please complete the following steps:
- Register your organization and volunteer opportunities on CAREERlink used by WSSU students, student organizations, faculty and staff to learn more about volunteer opportunities. The Volunteer Agency Guide will assist you with placing your information on CAREERlink.
- Participate in the September and January on-campus Volunteer Service Fairs to share your volunteer programs with students, faculty and staff. The Coordinator of Community Service will send an electronic registration form to all registered agencies prior to each fair.
- Become a partner with a WSSU instructor in a class service-learning project that generates valuable volunteer service for your organization and supports student learning.
For more information on how to become a part of Project GIVE, please contact the Coordinator of Community Service at 336-750-2129.
Virtual Volunteering
Virtual volunteering is the process of rendering your skills using the Internet while remaining off-site from the physical location of the business, organization, or project. On-line volunteering occurs in numerous forms, such as: tutoring, mentoring, counseling, research, social justice support, branding/ marketing, video creation, social media, volunteer tracking, virtual staff support and more.
Below, are virtual volunteer opportunities for current undergraduate students, graduate students and working professionals. Whether you choose to volunteer once or long term, now is the time to come together as a community and help one another. Find your perfect match(es) by exploring these options.
Current STUDENTS should continue to document their service hours on RAMSYNC. Please take the proper precautions as you consider this information.
Whether you are looking for a long-term option or a one-time / one-hour experience, check out these virtual opportunities which include assisting in research projects, transcribing documents for the Smithsonian, writing letters and much more.
Be My Eyes (First Year Experience Students)
This app, available for download on Android and iOS, connects visually impaired individuals with sighted volunteers via video calls for instant assistance with visual tasks.
Volunteer to proofread scanned books and properly format them—or scan them yourself—to help make books more accessible for those with print disabilities. This is a great experience for anyone who wants to casually volunteer when they are able.
DoSomething.org (First Year Experience Students)
DoSomething.org is a website in which youth led volunteer and service campaigns are promoted. With some campaigns, you can earn scholarships. Check out the hundred campaigns that span topics from the environment to bullying to gender rights.
Free Rice (First Year Experience Students)
Free Rice is a website partnered with the World Food Program that donates grains of rice for correctly answered vocabulary questions. Take 15 minutes out of your day to help donate thousands of grains of rice to people in need. Check out other games on Games for Change to learn more about social issues.
Learning Ally Volunteer (First Year Experience Students)
Sign up to be a volunteer with Learn Ally to help make audio books more accessible. Become a listener and provide crucial feedback to narrators on their speed, tone, pronunciation and more
Volunteer to help create audio books from books in the public domain. No prior experience is necessary to start recording chapters. LibriVox records books in multiple languages.
Missing Maps is an organization that uses online volunteers to help map areas via satellite imagery and OpenStreetMap, so humanitarian organizations can support high risk areas.
National Archives Citizen Archivist
Join the National Archives’ Citizen Archivist program to transcribe, tag, and add comments to its records in order to make them more accessible/searchable for everybody.
National Parks Service Web Volunteers
Web volunteers can help the National Parks Service with testing and evaluating their web products. Peruse the site often because projects are time restricted.
Join a network of virtual volunteers by becoming a Distributed Proofreader. Volunteers proofread individual pages of e-books to ensure the text is correct before being published electronically.
Digital Volunteers for the Red Cross help its Social Engagement team when disasters occur by engaging in a variety of social media strategies to assist those who have been impacted.
Right Here at Home
Help eliminate poverty by signing up as a volunteer for Right Here at Home. The organization focuses on providing financial education and training in technology to those who live in poverty.
7 Cups is an electronic platform that connects individuals with listener volunteers for free emotional support. The program requires the completion of pre-course training for volunteers.
Smithsonian Digital Volunteers
Help transcribe Smithsonian collections through its Transcription Center or work to add content regarding the collections to Wikipedia pages through the Smithsonian Wikipedia Volunteer Program to qualify collections for public view.
Translate various TED Talks into different languages via subtitling them by applying to be a TED Translator. If you speak more than one language and enjoy TED Talks, sign up today.
If you speak more than one language fluently, apply to help translate content for Translators without Borders (TWB). If you are not fluent in another language, that’s fine too! TWB needs volunteers to fill roles with website design, project management, and more.
Sign up to help crowdsource structures on maps for the US Geological Survey by joining The National Map Corps. Anyone interested can sign up and learn how to get started mapping—no prior experience is needed.
Virtual Student Federal Service
Looking to volunteer for a federal government agency like the Forest Service, National Parks Service, or CIA? Join the Virtual Student Federal Service coordinated by the U.S. Department of State. Volunteer positions open up in July and run for a full year.
Engage in virtual research from disciplines ranging from biology to literature to medicine. Anyone can become a researcher through Zooniverse - no prior experience is needed - all you need to do is sign up.
These platforms offer a variety of volunteer experiences that are heavily aimed at individuals with professional and graduate school experience in fields ranging from technology to writing to education. Sign up for a position through the links below.
From one-hour phone calls to much lengthier projects, Catchafire lists hundreds of volunteering opportunities from locally and nationally based organizations.
If you are older than 25, consider signing up to be a Chemo Angel Volunteer. Send cards, letters, and notes to an assigned patient once a week to lift their spirits. Complete an application to locate a patient to assist.
Help conduct mock interviews, give career advice, and reach out to veterans and their spouses to follow-up on employment search process by becoming a volunteer for Hire Heroes USA. Many professionals in a variety of fields are encouraged to sign up to help veterans gain employment.
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, join the SCORE volunteer team to educate small business owners to manage their businesses.
The United Nations Volunteers platform has 100+ volunteer positions across a broad range of fields that are supported by organizations across the world and that aim to help achieve at least one Sustainable Development Goal.
As a warning, please know that large numbers of organizations out there are unstable and some of them might be even involved in fraudulent activities. For this reason, it becomes important to get reviews and feedback about the organization with which you are interested to volunteer. If you find any fraudulent information about the company then you must avoid working with that company.
