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I am looking to get in my car n jus head somewhere new and volunteer for a week. I plan on jus living dirt cheap n possibly sleepin in my car but i jus don’t know what places need volunteers everyday.

>>I am looking to get in my car n jus head somewhere new and volunteer for a week.

You won’t be doing that. Sorry. If you want to volunteer, you are going to have to apply, let the organization interview you, and even undergo a reference check and criminal background check, depending on what the volunteering activity will be. Organizations don’t take just anyone as a volunteer – they want to ensure quality in their programs.

How to Find Volunteering Opportunities
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/stuff/volunteering.shtml
Provides a plethora of links and a lot of specific ideas beyond "the usual." Includes instructions on how to find specific volunteering opportunities (with animals, with children, just for one day, long-term, etc.).

> i jus don’t know what places need volunteers everyday

If you have an RV, you can apply to be a camp host at national parks and state parks. The aforementioned web site has information. Some shelters have a need for live-in facility managers, however, these are paid positions, not volunteer positions.

Do the volunteers already have some illness that there is a chance the medicine could cure in testing?
If so, for most illnesses (e.g. diabetes) medicines already exist that would be safer for the patient to use. Also the people who may look to untested medicines because no existing medicine works would not make up a reliable sample for people affected by the illness, right?

Are the volunteers given money? If so, how do they acquire the illness the medicine is designed to cure?

What is the main motivation for volunteering in human clinical trials?

Clinical trials are highly regulated by the FDA with a clear set of guidelines and procedures that must be followed. The selection of potential candidates must be clearly defined by a very specific criteria, which is in turn must also be approved by the FDA. This criteria largely depends on a number of factors, including the type of drug, age, lifestyle, etc.

Usually, there is two types of testing: compensated and uncompensated. The uncompensated is what most people are familiar with, which usually comes in the form of treating patients with a terminal illness or a disorder that currently has no effective treatments. The compensation for participation is being possibility of being cured or at least have improved symptoms instead of monetary values. The other form, compensated testing, is found typically in elective products, like cosmetics and weight loss pills, where the volunteer will get paid a certain amount upon completing the trial successfully and adhering to their protocols.

"How do they acquire the illness the medicine is designed to cure?" Humans aren’t lab rats, so it is unethical and illegal to induce any condition that alter health of an individual negatively. Again, the individuals selected must either already have the condition the product is intended to treat or at least show clear signs that they can benefit from its use. In most cases, even the latter is not enough to volunteer.

What do they do with the dogs? Do the volunteers only get to walk them, play with them, and pet them or are they also asked to bathe the dog?

Every shelter has different policies, so the best way to be sure is to call up the shelter.

That said, in my experience there are tons of different types of jobs for volunteers at shelters. These include, feeding, cleaning cages, bathing, walking, grooming, and even holding the animals for photos for the online adoption site

Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and shelters are always in need of volunteers. Don’t expect to get involved in everything right away, but the sooner you start volunteering the quicker the shelter gets to know you and the more things you will be entrusted with.

Good luck!

I am going to Africa next year to volunteer for at least 6-8 months at a school for the handicapped. I would like to look for affordable travel medical insurance for volunteers, because obviously I won’t be making much money, and I have limited funds. If I get sick while volunteering in Africa and I need medical assistance, I want to be at the best hospital available and I want my insurance to cover the costs. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

FrontierMEDEX offers various travel medical insurance policies. You can view them at www.medexassist.com. You can also call 1-800-732-5309 and they will walk you through all of the policies and options to choose the right one for you.

The company’s objective is to maximise profits. Therefore I think it does matter because the volunteers are increasing the company’s profits and keeping paid people out of jobs.

from my experience of being a volunteer for almost 4 years, businesses dont accept volunteers where they could hire someone. so while i dont know if this is the same case where you live, thats how it works for me. if you want to do a job that ultimately is a job they pay someone for, you have to go through the interview process and be HIRED just like someone else.

I seen some of them firefighters and volunteers and some looked foreign to me.
I don’t want them foreigners doin dangerous, hot volunteer work in terrible conditions that Americans could do.

Proper racial profiling would infer that the volunteers are native born Americans, not immoral illegal aliens. As immoral illegal aliens want everything given to them, like citizenship, they won’t volunteer to do anything for anyone.

Mexicans are still angry at Americans for stealing their land, so they send their losers north to re-inhabit their lost territories. Washington retaliates by sending them our jobs. Now Obama wants to, literally, give away the farm. His immigration policies reflect just that.

Most Mexican immigrants are failures in their home countries, because they are lazy and look for the easy way. Their homelands are filled with factory jobs that had once been held by Americans on US soil. They enter the US illegally, because entering the US legally requires some effort and they want the easy way. They don’t value education and, consequently, neither do their children. Many look to crime instead of work that requires education and training. After all. they’re looking for the easy way.

Now Obama wants to pave the easy way for these people by giving them a free ride. More of the easy way.

What type of items do peace corps volunteers usually take on their two year trip? and how many bags can they take?

I read some stuff online that they can only take 2 bags not to exceed 80 lb together. Besides clothes what other stuff can they take on their trip?

I’m currently in the last phase of my application process.

What you read is correct. 80 pounds in two bags is your *checked* luggage, though. You can also take a carryon and a personal item.

You can bring anything you like. Upon invitation, you will get specific information from your country of service, including suggestions of what to bring. For example, in some countries, you can’t get good sheets and you’ll need those. In others, it might be paper goods are hard or expensive to come by and you want to bring those. If you serve in a place where the water’s not potable, you might want to bring a purifier (although Peace Corps will make sure you have a way to make drinkable water.)

It also depends on your sector. I was youth development and brought some kid-friendly games and markers to use for classes.

You should make room for reminders of home that you can show people, like postcards from your hometown and pictures of your family.

On clothes, focus on quality. Unless you’re hard to fit, you can buy stuff easily in other countries. That’s what your counterparts do. You should bring the stuff you can’t get there: SmartWool socks, good underwear and stuff like that.

But really, clothes are easily obtained wherever. You aren’t taking a two-year trip. You are moving for two years. You want to make yourself comfortable. I’ve known people who’ve brought stuff I thought was weird, but to them, it was their home. (Seriously, I know someone who brought silverware.)

Stuff you need: laptop, MP3 player, a handful of good books you don’t mind parting with (you’ll be trading with other PCVs throughout your service), extra USBs, possibly a sleeping bag for crashing at the homes of other Vs during business/pleasure trips.

Once you’re invited, you can look at that list you’ll get (or view some now at the Peace Corps Wiki) and hit up www.peacecorpsjournals.com to find the blogs of Vs in country, and then email them about what they’d recommend.

The oddest thing I brought that I used regularly: a bathrobe. It was a throw-in at the last minute, but I wore that like Hawkeye Piece.

I’ve been asked to help out recruiting volunteers for a non-profit that I’m involved with. I’m a volunteer myself, and don’t have much recruiting experience. We don’t really have the time or staffing to do any large events. But something like the volunteer websites, would be great, and we will be posting on them. But are there other similar ways that take little time to set up?

Maybe in the future, when we have more volunteers, we can plan larger events.

First, you have to define every volunteering tasks, IN WRITING. Every assignment should have a start and end date. If it’s an ongoing role, like a web site manager, require a commitment of at least six months. You want as many tasks as possible, in writing, and you want them in the smallest pieces as possible — you want lots of opportunities that someone could do just in a couple of hours, or in just one day. Some people will want to take on a role, like web site manager or volunteer recruiter, but others will want to volunteer only when they have some time — help at your April 15 event, help at your volunteer orientation next week, etc. No recruitment until you have volunteering assignments in writing.

Then, mapped out what *exactly* happens when someone calls you or emails you or or fills out an application on VolunteerMatch and says they want to volunteer. When an organization tells me they are having trouble recruiting volunteers, this is always where I find the problem — they aren’t getting back to people immediately, with exactly what the next steps are, the entire staff doesn’t know what the intake process is, etc. No recruitment until you have this as well.

And don’t put a "mega" listings on things like VolunteerMatch — one listing for all volunteering. Instead, list EACH volunteering role for which you are recruiting.

Whatever you use to recruit volunteers — social media, online databases like VolunteerMatch and AllforGood.com, registration with your local volunteer center, notices on your web site, fliers at the local library, etc. — will not work unless you have all tasks written out and your intake process mapped out.

More at the URLs below.
Links:
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volunteer/othersites.html
http://coyoteblog.posterous.com/your-flow-chart-for-volunteers
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/

I have been volunteering with a local non-profit for awhile now. I was recently asked to try to help in recruiting. Right now, we get most of our volunteers from word-of-mouth, but we would like to reach out more. I know about the volunteer websites, and we will be posting on those. But what are some other ways to reach out to potential volunteers. Our "target audience" for volunteers is 14+, with no upper age limit.

Thanks in advance!

Check with the high schools. Many high schools now require community service hours for various reasons and might be willing to share information about your non-profit with students looking for a place to volunteer. They may also have a volunteer club of some kind that you could meet with or contact to ask for volunteers.
Some colleges also have a community service requirement and volunteer clubs.

If there is no upper age limit, try contacting senior citizen places. Many communities have a place that provides activities for senior citizens and would share your information.

Also, contact community service organizations and ask if you could come speak at one of their meetings to share info about your organization and ask for volunteers: Rotary, Lion’s Club, Eagles, Moose, Sertoma, Soroptomists, Optomists, etc.

I have heard of some organizations which will have volunteers fund themselves to go abroad and do volunteer work but I was hoping for an organization that will at least supply basic food, shelter, and clothing. I’m hoping to do volunteer construction work building homes in some other country to help depressed areas in crisis.

If only there where more like you. It is not everyday a person would donate his or her skills for free out of the goodness of there heart. It’s true that organizations want you to volunteer out of your own pocket but there are some who will not go that route. Did you try looking up the Peace Corps?