ME³ promotes volunteerism and helping others through outreach, education, and service. Our programs are designed to help educate individuals on important issues and causes, empower them with information, tools, and resources to begin service to the community, and give them opportunities to get engaged.
Helping out in the community and volunteering can sometimes seem difficult to get involved in, especially if you’ve never tried it out before. In fact, 41% of non-volunteers in the United States say that they’d volunteer if they only knew how, and in North Carolina, 61% of non-volunteers say that they’ d get involved in helping the community if somebody simply asked them to.
Communities In Action will make it easy for individuals - especially those who have never tried volunteering before - to get involved. Communities In Action will be a 'bank' of individuals who have signed up to help meet volunteer needs in the community through local charitable organizations. Individuals are be able to sign up through our website or at some of our events to join Communities In Action by using a form that helps assess the individual's interests, skills, preferences, and availability to volunteer. Individuals who sign up for can work with a specially trained ME³ volunteer who will guide them through the volunteering process, from helping them decide what kind of volunteer opportunity might be best for them, to helping them evaluate their service experience once it is over. Our goal is to put a more personalized spin on 'volunteer matching' that will make volunteering easier and more fulfilling for those involved, as well as encourage future service. Later, Communities In Action volunteers will get the opportunity to learn about important issues and enhance skills that can help make a difference in the community, such as disaster relief training, charitable grant-writing, and more.
Organizations enrolled in Communities In Action to receive volunteer aid will benefit from the extra volunteer service, which will help them extend their reach and enhance their ability to fill community needs.
Special Project: The Volunteer Curriculum
We believe that to truly create a permanent culture of caring and involvement in our community, the concepts of volunteerism, service, and making a positive difference must be taught within our society's foundational institutions, such as schools. For that reason, ME³ has developed an elective curriculum for local High Schools that will teach students how to volunteer and find community resources about volunteerism and social change, how to create, conduct, and lead service projects and efforts and all about prominent social issues and causes and approaches to solving them. Students taking the course will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on service projects, discussion and debates, and to meet community leaders working on our area's issues everyday.
Empower
Empower is a free publication created and distributed by ME³ that offers information about upcoming volunteer needs and opportunities, stories and highlights of local volunteers and charities, and volunteer news and tips.
