ME³ Opens Communities In Action, A Volunteer Registry, to Local Individuals November 19, 2007 Updated: December 1, 2007
Helping out in the community can sometimes seem difficult to get involved in, especially if you have never tried it out before. That is why ME³ (Motivate, Educate, Empower, and Engage) created Communities In Action (CIA).
Individuals of any background, with any skills, and with any amount of time to give - from one hour total to ten hours a week - can sign up to join ME³'s Communities In Action by filling out the registration form at the ME³ website. The form includes questions about an individuals skills, interests, time availability, and causes they might be passionate about in order to find the specific volunteer opportunity that can be the most fulfilling and enjoyable to the individual volunteer. Once this form is submitted, ME³ will review it and search for the volunteer opportunity that matches the person best. Once matched, ME³ will connect the new volunteer to the organization offering their volunteer opportunity, and help evaluate their experience after their service.
"We hope to show individuals - especially those who have not yet tried out volunteering - that helping out can be easy, meaningful, and fun," explains Amber Smith, Co-Founder and President of ME³. "We realize that a lot of people want to help out the community and want to volunteer, but that many simply don't know how to get started - what the needs are, whom to call, where to go. Communities In Action, we hope, will take care of that and empower individuals by showing them that making a difference doesn't have to be hard, no matter what your lifestyle is."
In 2008, Communities In Action will host social events for its members so they can meet one another, network, and have fun.
In addition, Smith explains that in the future Communities In Action will offer educational courses and training for participating individuals who might be interested. The training and courses will be designed to help individuals build skills useful to helping others and to charitable causes, such as emergency/natural disaster preparation, non-profit grant writing, or community leadership training. "Once we show people that getting involved can be easy, we want to empower them by helping them build skills that can enable them make an even bigger difference to important causes." Courses will also educate community members on important causes so that individuals will be well-informed on the issues they are working to help and resolve.
ME³ opened registration for Communities In Action on Saturday, November 17, at the Raleigh Christmas Parade. To join Communities In Action or learn more, visit www.me-3.org or contact Amber Smith at amber@me-3.org.
