For Volunteers Themselves

"Volunteers in the food redistribution revolution" would have been an unlikely Along the Web topic even just a few years ago. But today there is an undeniable and growing public awareness about the shocking amount of food that’s wasted and sent to landfills, despite still being fit for people to eat. Citizens now understand and are speaking out over the economic, environmental, and ethical concerns raised by food over-production and disparities in food distribution. And food poverty in the midst of this excess and waste has also become a rising concern.

Volunteers around the world are leading the way to create solutions to this unsustainable food mismatch. They are, if you will, ‘stepping up to the plate’ to challenge, to campaign, and to make a practical difference through the redistribution of surplus food. This Along the Web looks at some of these creative food redistribution programs, with featured websites, video clips, volunteer stories, and first-hand accounts of volunteers leading this revolution.

 

When human beings have new experiences, new synaptic pathways forge in our brains. We become alert to new ideas and we can be guided to new understandings and different behavior.

In this e-Volunteerism feature, Angela Parker – the co-founder of a global agency called Realized Worth that specializes in employee volunteer training, program design, and employee engagement – describes how participants who integrate a few basic concepts into civic engagement and volunteering activities can be guided to challenge assumptions, become alert to new ideas, orient to what those ideas mean for them, and take action toward new behaviors. And when these new behaviors are rooted in inclusivity, equality, compassion, and empathy, Parkers argues that civic engagement and transformative volunteering can result in better employees, better organizations, and better communities.

Freedom of speech and of movement, freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of religious worship. . . All are taken for granted by many and they are, of course, fundamental to volunteerism as an associative activity within the civil society space. These rights and freedoms became enshrined in laws over centuries in democratic countries, often after having been hard fought and won in the first place. But they can just as easily be removed or revoked.

Volunteers around the world are monitoring civil rights. They often also take action to defend rights where there is a risk of them being eroded, or if governments need to be challenged where rights are being abused. This issue of Along the Web looks at examples of where and how volunteers are protecting fellow citizens from unequal treatment. These examples show that volunteers often work alongside professionals such as lawyers, and in some communities even place themselves at personal risk in the course of defending or promoting extension of rights.

 

Despite being an important part of our physical and mental health, as well as playing an integral part in our emotional wellbeing and social relationships, sexual health can sometimes still be a difficult subject to define and talk about. Different cultures, sub-cultural groups, and individuals hold varying beliefs, values, and attitudes about sexual health.

More than just an absence of disease or dysfunction, the varied components for having good sexual health include having a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships free of coercion, discrimination, or violence. And while the World Health Organisation has been working in the field of sexual health for well over 40 years, non-profit organisations and volunteers have largely pioneered advances in sexual health care, at times paving the way for new services and approaches that healthcare systems have been slow to adopt.

In this Along the Web, Arnie Wickens looks into some of the projects and programs around the world that incorporate volunteers to try to inform and educate others concerning sexual health, often challenging sexual health misconceptions in their efforts to improve the lives of others.

Being outdoors is, for many people, one of the great pleasures in life. Whether out in wide open spaces, walking in hills and mountains, or navigating the crashing waves at the seashore, contact with the natural environment is good for us. Except, that is, for when it isn’t, when the curse of bad luck or poor judgement means that something goes dreadfully wrong.

When things get out of hand and we need assistance, emergency services like volunteer firefighters and ambulance crews are typically there for us. But in many communities, rescue service volunteers are the first responders, especially in rural or coastal areas where they have the highest levels of training and skills needed to rescue people in peril. These volunteers put themselves forward to save the lives of those who face extreme conditions, regardless of the usually dangerous, life-threatening situations they face.  

In this Along the Web, writer Arnie Wickens writes about emergency services volunteers who are experienced specialists in the art of outdoor rescues. Whether climbing up mountains, diving into lakes and oceans, or venturing into underground caves, these volunteers are true lifesavers when something outdoors goes wrong. 

In this Voices, Kerry Martin explores the evolution and significance of TimeBanking, a concept that operates on a very core principle: For every hour of service that members provide to one another, they earn an hour that’s redeemable for another service for them.

Through stories from and about TimeBanking members, Martin reviews the nuts and bolts of this growing movement. He explains how TimeBanking has expanded to 40 countries, why individuals and organizations are included, and its growing symbolism as the “core of community.” As Martin writes, “TimeBank members open their hearts to not only help one another but also be helped by one another.”