Looking for a fabulous volunteer opportunity for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service? Oh let me count zee ways …. We’ve got tons of great opportunities in all shapes, sizes and flavors from some of our favorite partners. Check ‘em out and get busy giving back this weekend!

Feast your eyes on our 2012 Thanksgiving-Edition Volunteer Bulletin! We’ve got extra helpings of calorie-free volunteer opportunities to stuff your schedule with, so get your gobble on for good already!

Honor their service with your own: check out our Memorial day-Edition Volunteer Bulletin for great volunteer opportunities with the amazing organizations who serve our veterans, military service members, and their families. Put your gratitude into action!

Honor Veterans’ Service with Your Own: Volunteer at the Washington DC VA Medical Center

Located in the nation’s capital, only a short distance from the historic buildings that house today’s leaders and commemorate yesterday’s, the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center is one of the most visible and dynamic facilities in the VA system. This tertiary care teaching facility provides acute general and specialized services in medicine, surgery, neurology and psychiatry, as well offering nursing home care unit treatment. The medical center also oversees a satellite Substance Abuse Clinic and three Vet Centers.

The medical center’s staff of 1,700 provides care to veterans residing in the District of Columbia and portions of Virginia and Maryland. The medical center treats over 50,000 veterans and has over 500,000 outpatient visits each year.

Believe us, this place does some amazing work for some of the most amazing people we’ve had the privilege of meeting, and while much of that is the result of the Medical Center’s incredible, hard-working staff, it is also thanks in part to a cadre of dedicated volunteers.

The DC VA Medical Center has tons of volunteer opportunities, and would also love to hear about any special skills or expertise you may have that would benefit their patients. Learn more about their various available opportunities or fill out a volunteer application here. And even if you don’t have the time to go over there and  hang out with the residents, first of all, you are definitely missing out, but don’t worry, you can always show your support by hosting a donation drive to benefit DC VA Medical Center residents. Learn more about donating to the Center here or contact the Voluntary Services Office for more information. Trust me though, you should definitely make the effort to drop off the items in person :) 

Cool opportunity for DC job seekers from our friends at the DC Department of Employment Services. Learn more at: http://onecityonehire.org.

Got service? Check out our latest Volunteer Bulletin for awesome volunteer opportunities with our friends at DC Public Schools, The DC Center for the LGBT Community, Common Threads, Back on My Feet DC, and the Kreeger Museum. Shake off those winter blues and get busy already!

And don’t forget, if you need volunteers for something totally fab that’s going on in DC, email us to be listed in the bulletin!

Calling Santa’s helpers! We’re looking for a few good elves this Saturday, December 17 to wrap gifts for the Mayor’s annual toy giveaway. Presents will benefit children living in the DC General Family Shelter and low-income housing complexes throughout the city. For more information or to sign up, please email Bernedia Long at the Office of Community Affairs.

Still looking for opportunities to serve on 9/11?  Join one Serve DC’s Fall Service Day subgrantees on Saturday, September 10.  Each year, Serve DC Fall Service Days focus on disability inclusion, and we encourage anyone interested in volunteering, regardless of ability, to contact the host organizations:

Strive DC: Online applications can be obstacles for job seekers. Help Strive DC revamp the resumes of men in their program and provide them with clothing for interviews.  Call (202) 484-1264 to get involved.

Educating Families and Youth: Storytelling is how we make sense of the world.  Help youth conduct interviews and collect stories from seniors about their memories of 9/11.  For more info call (530) 949-8530 or (202) 746-0536.

Youth Service Opportunities Project: Joinstudents of Bestkids, Inc. as they prepare and serve dinner to their homeless guests. For more information contact Youth Service Opportunities Project at (202) 347-2525.

Are you ready? Click the photo above for upcoming Serve DC emergency preparedness opportunities.