Jaunted

Volunteer Travel / Disaster Travel / Oklahoma Travel / → All Tags

How To Volunteer In Moore, Oklahoma Right Now

Oklahoma is still reeling from Monday's EF5 Tornado, so if you're game to hop in the car and head over to start helping victims, here are a few things you should know first.

Taking it upon yourself to help out after a disaster is admirable, but often it can be hard to know exactly where to go or what to do. Not to mention: finding a hotel room in a community with up to 200,000 people displaced. But there are already several charities organizing volunteer groups from around the country to help remove debris, distribute supplies, and support local organizations.

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Volunteer Travel / Peace Corps / Guatemala Travel / Dominican Republic Travel / Voluntourism / → All Tags

How to Volunteer With the Peace Corps, Without the Yearlong Commitment

The National Peace Corps Association is now offering all-inclusive, 10 and 14-day travel programs to the Dominican Republic and Guatemala for those who want to help out, but can't take a year off to do so.

MPCA's Next Step Travel program features small group travel, hands-on service projects, and educational programs. Projects include connecting with returned Peace Corps volunteers to learn about their work firsthand, spending time volunteering in a Haitian batey (a sugar worker town) to improve the health of the community, and implementing ecologically sustainable projects in rural areas.

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Volunteer Travel / Voluntourism / Summer Travel / → All Tags

How to Incorporate a Few Hours of Volunteerism into Summer Vacation

No matter where you're traveling in the U.S. this summer there is likely a one day volunteer opportunity right around the corner.

Instead of committing a full week or two of vacation time volunteering, more and more people are finding ways to incorporate a few hours of voluntourism into their summer vacation plans.

If this is an idea that appeals to you, Volunteer.gov is the best place to start planning. "America's Natural and Cultural Resources Volunteer Portal" has a searchable database where you can find volunteer opportunities based on locations, interests, etc, and many of the projects only take a few hours.

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Phnom Penh Travel / Cambodia Travel / Food Travel / Restaurant Travel / Volunteer Travel / Gordon Ramsay / → All Tags

In Phnom Penh: The Friends Restaurant is Food for Good

After yesterday's heavy post, we figure a little pick-me-up is in order, so let's talk about the good things going on around Phnom Penh. Specifically, we're speaking of Friends Restaurant, just off the banks of the Mekong River, and it has nothing to do with the hit sitcom from the 1990s.

Plating up the some of the best in Khmer food and continental food, tapas-style, this eatery comes complete with a healthy dose of philanthropy and good karma by helping underprivileged youth to work in every part of the operation. The former street kids are given shelter and taught useful skills for their reintegration into society, such as cooking, serving and running a successful eatery.

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Volunteer Travel / St Croix Travel / Eco Travel / USVI Travel / Island Travel / Voluntourism / → All Tags

How to Volunteer at the Only Organic Farm in the US Virgin Islands

If you really want to get back to basics, spend a few days at the Ridge to Reef Farm in St. Croix for the reason that one of the farm's ultimate goals is to grow and distribute enough food to feed 1% of the local population. If that can be accomplished, then they'll be that much closer to making the islands less dependent on overpriced, imported produce.

It is a tall order but if anyone can make it happen, it's Ridge to Reef's owner Nate Olive. Nate is passionate about fostering an organic and sustainable life on the farm and his enthusiasm is contagious. Most visitors become intoxicated by the smells, sounds, and tastes of the farm, which feature vegetable gardens, bamboo groves, fruit trees, chickens, goats, and a donkey.

As the only certified organic farm in the USVI, Ridge to Reef is busy harvesting food three times a week for their food share program and maintaining a 200-acre campus, so they do depend on help from volunteers throughout the year.

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Airport Restaurants / Airports / Airport News / Airport Dining / LAX / Volunteer Travel / → All Tags

Why (Former) Gang Members May Be Cooking Your Food at LAX

We’re always quick to point out a solid option for airport eats, but more times than not we’re focused on the food. This time we’re looking at more of the story behind the restaurant, but don’t worry, they’ve still got some good grub to grab on the go.

Homeboy Industries is a non-profit organization looking to help those down on their luck work their way back into the community. The place does its best to help keep former gang member out of jail and on the straight and narrow. They do all kinds of good as well as plenty of warm and fuzzy, but what we’re most interested in is their latest venture over at the airport.

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Voluntourism / Volunteer Travel / New Jersey Travel / Hurricane Sandy / Atlantic City Travel / Charity Travel / → All Tags

Will the Jersey Shore Be the Voluntourism Hot Spot for Summer 2013?

The Jersey Shore has long been a summer destination for families but this year it is expected to be an even bigger draw for those who want to do good with their vacation time, too.

According to Habitat for Humanity's Maureen Mulligan, "New Jersey is hot now, there's so much interest in the Sandy recovery effort."

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Volunteer Travel / Voluntourism / San Francisco Travel / Hotels / → All Tags

San Francisco's Ritz-Carlton Will Haul You Off to Alcatraz for Free

The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco is teaming up with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy this spring for a new Give Back Getaways program that includes voluntourism excursions to Alcatraz Island and the Presidio Nursery.

The program will give hotel guests the chance to help preserve the Golden Gate National Parks, which stretch 70 miles north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge, by spending a half-day volunteering, cleaning, pruning, weeding, and planting in the parklands.

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Volunteer Travel / Voluntourism / Jamaica Travel / → All Tags

Yes Virginia, Affordable Volunteer Trips to Jamaica Do Exist

Jamaica Volunteer Programs has announced a summer program that combines adventure with the chance to make a difference for local children.

Volunteers will work with orphans and create activities for them to do during the day including arts & crafts, reading, play games, and learning basic computer skills. When not helping kids, volunteers will participate in their own adventures like exploring Holywell, visiting the hills where blue mountain coffee is grown, and spending a day at Dunn’s River Falls.

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Volunteer Travel / Isreal Travel / Voluntourism / → All Tags

WWOOF Adds Israel to the List for Farm Volunteer Vacations

WWOOF, an exchange organization which offers adults food and accommodation in return for volunteer help on organic farms, is now connecting volunteers with farmers in Israel.

WWOOF Israel Hosts are Kibbutz, Moshav, farmers, and small private families who offer volunteers various opportunities to learn about Permaculture, Organic Gardening, Green Building, and other skills, like Cheese-Making and Wine-Making.

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Volunteer Travel / Haiti Travel / Disaster Travel / Hurricanes / Hurricane Sandy / Voluntourism / → All Tags

How to Help Restore Homes in Haiti Damaged by Hurricane Sandy

With all the focus on the damage Hurricane Sandy caused in the U.S., it's easy to forget that the storm wreaked havoc in other countries, too.

The non-profit organization Haven U.S. is planning a trip to the island of Ile a Vache in Haiti to help restore community buildings and facilities which were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy last October, and they are looking for volunteers to come along.

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Volunteer Travel / Cruise Travel / Voluntourism / → All Tags

Skip the Snorkeling as Cruise Lines Offer Onshore Volunteering

Crystal Cruises is once again giving voyagers the chance to do good on the high seas through its "You Care, We Care" program. This year, guests and crew will be able take volunteer excursions around the world while sailing aboard the Crystal Serenity or Crystal Symphony.

Voluntourism opportunities, including aiding animals at the CRAM Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Barcelona, supporting disadvantaged communities in Dubrovnik, helping underprivileged children in Singapore, keeping landscapes clean in Astoria, Oregon, and feeding the hungry in Halifax, will be available to cruisers all year.

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