7 Ways to Find Your Ideal Volunteer Niche in Peterborough

So, you want to get involved as a volunteer but you haven’t found the right role for YOU quite yet. Or perhaps you donated your time before and it didn’t work out as you planned. You can still find the right volunteer niche in Peterborough.

However, you have countless opportunities to volunteer in Peterborough with more than 200 agencies. You just need to align your time and your interests with the right organizations. How do you do this?
Let’s count the seven options that cover most of the choices.

Micro volunteering in Peterborough

This term has a very simple meaning: show up for a few hours and get a single job done. As a result, you walk away with a sense of a job well done and deal with a singular problem.

For example, Kawartha Food Share seeks out drivers for its annual Porch Pirates for Good food drive. For this event, you sign up for a route and collect food from homes, then deliver it to a warehouse. You can even sign up as a pirate. If you cannot help out that day, Food Share often seeks volunteers in Peterborough to drop off promotional flyers door to door beforehand.

If you don’t have wheels, you can always sign up for the Earth Day cleanup in Jackson Park. Hosted by Friends of Jackson Park, you commit a few hours and remove litter from this gem of a park.

Also, the United Way of Peterborough and District hosts a Day of Caring periodically. At these events, volunteers clean up or paint at a specific site or work in a garden.

Either way, you leave a fresh impression behind and feel a sense of accomplishment. Check our events calendar to see which events are coming up soon and need your help.

Weekly Volunteering Niche in Peterborough

If you like to have more of a routine, then you can seek out a regular gig to volunteer in Peterborough. Many agencies appreciate this approach since they can plan activities for you to do, alleviating the pressure on their staffs.

For example, you could:

• Greet visitors and give them directions at Peterborough Regional Health Centre
• Help homeless individuals at the Warming Room at night
• Make minor repairs or upgrades to The Mount Community Centre

Each of these roles makes it easier and more affordable to complete valuable work. Additionally, it draws skills you may not use every day. You grow a little and see the results of your time and labour. For free.

Show Up as Needed

Perhaps you want to commit to one or two organizations, but not lock yourself in to a weekly commitment. In this case, your volunteer niche in Peterborough could be with groups who have regular events.

For instance, did you know that Showplace Peterborough’s ushers all volunteer their time? The
entertainment venue relies on an army of helpers to guide patrons to their seats and make them feel welcome. As a bonus, you can sign up for whatever shift fits your schedule. Even better, you get to watch the shows that interest you – for free!

When Peterborough hosts large events, organizers need teams of people to work the gate and to serve in a variety of roles. Think back to the International Dragon Boat Festival, the 2019 World Lacrosse U19 Women’s Lacrosse Championships or the Ontario 55+ Games. Ultimately, Volunteer Peterborough will work with Peterborough Kawartha Tourism to create a database of people who love this type of buzz. Stay tuned and sign up if this speaks to you.

Leading a Board or Committee

If you held a leadership role in your career, and miss working on strategy, many boards and committees would welcome your expertise. Or perhaps your volunteer niche in Peterborough relies on developing these skills to launch your career in a new direction.

First of all, you may envision long, dull meetings with lots of procedures. While some boards may operate that may, many of them bring together people with a shared passion. Consequently, they have spirited debates and welcome new perspectives to solve problems.

Best of all, you get to see how a strategy turns into tactics and changes your community for the better. This takes time, with most boards asking members to sign on for up to three years. You can always begin at the committee member, then graduate to a board member. Start by figuring out if you want to help out in the arts, social services or other fields, then find a board that speaks to you.

Coach a Next Generation

For sports enthusiasts, you may remember a dynamite coach who brought out the best in you. So, why not pay that forward?

If you’ve played a sport for years, you have learned how to master some of its key skills. As for coaching, many organizations offer training so you can learn about the latest approaches and techniques. From here, you can coach at a higher level and watch a new group of athletes grow and reach new heights.

Typically, coaching requires your time twice or three times a week over the course of a season. You can put in more time for training if you wish but do get some downtime between seasons.

Even if you’re not a natural athlete, you can draw on your talents as a teacher or a caring person who wants to see kids succeed. Those skills all come out in good coaches, trainers and team managers. Which one of these fits you best as a volunteer niche in Peterborough?

Plan a Project or Event as your Volunteer Niche in Peterborough

Volunteering to help at an event can make for a fun experience. However, having a hand in how it takes shape can really fire up your creative side. With so many events in Peterborough, you’ll easier find one looking for some fresh ideas.

Many groups plan annual events to raise money or their profile in the community. For instance, you could help out:

• The Peterborough Dragon Boat Festival for breast-cancer research and equipment
• Heads Up for Inclusion’s Amigos Birthday Party for kids who don’t get invited to their
  classmates’ parties
• The Alzheimer Society Walk for Memories

Check out our events calendar to see which ones are coming up so you can scout out one that interests you. That you, you can easily identify your volunteer niche in Peterborough.

While these events happen over and over again, they always need new people to carry the torch as others step back. Thus, you can become the spark to take the gathering in a new direction and find new partners. You can enjoy the buildup to the big day and use a variety of skills to make it unfold seamlessly.

Join The Club

To really build some momentum, you can join on with one of the service clubs for volunteers in
Peterborough. These groups each have a unique focus and meet to plan events and fundraisers as a team.

Within Peterborough, you can become a member of:

• Rotary Clubs – two in Peterborough and one in Bridgnorth-Ennismore-Lakefield
• Lions Clubs – two in Peterborough, one each in Keene, Lakefield, Millbrook, Chemung and
  Fowler’s Corners and one youth version
• Kinsmen Club
• Kiwanis Club

Whichever one you choose, you’ll meet like-minded people who want to make your town or city a better place to live. Through teamwork, they have a lot of fun and make big difference.

With all these options, you can easily find a volunteer niche in Peterborough. Of course,
Volunteer Peterborough will assist you by offering listings of events and organizations. Start by signing up today so you can find your perfect match.