Giving Back to Your Community: 3 Ways to Volunteer from Your Office

Giving back to your community can boost your job satisfaction, improve your interpersonal skills, and increase your job opportunities. But, you may find it hard to squeeze in time for volunteering with your work schedule. So, here are three simple ways you can help your community without ever leaving your office or adding more work to your full plate.

Recycle – Recycling benefits the environment and cuts down on trash and unwanted clutter in your office. Start by collecting soda cans in an empty box placed next to the main trash cans in your office. Make sure to label it “Cans Only,” and others will soon drop their empty soda cans into the recycle bin. Then, label another box to gather old cell phones and ink cartridges from printers, fax machines, and copiers. You can donate the money you receive from recycling these products to a local charity.

Donate supplies – Public schools are on limited budgets and many of them can use extra school supplies. Instead of throwing out old letterhead, pens and pencils, and other desk supplies, put them all in a box, and donate them to a nearby school in need. Students can use stationery for writing practice, art projects and more. Just make sure to check with the school first before dropping off your extra supplies.

Support a family – Every community has many families in need of food, clothing, and toiletries, and many local organizations provide them with necessities. First, check with the appropriate departments within your company for approval to sponsor one of the families. Then, collect spare change and donations from your co-workers by setting out donation jars around the office for a pre-determined period of time. Donate the money you raised to your chosen charity to pay for the items your sponsored family needs. 

Volunteering without leaving your office is easy once you have a plan. Try using one of these suggestions for a simple and convenient way to give back to your community.

Do you volunteer in your community? What projects have you done that are simple or convenient to host from your office?