When winter gets you down, lift up others in the community through volunteering
Homeward Animal Shelter
Love animals? Homeward Animal Shelter offers the opportunity to be a dog or cat socializer. Essentially, they need people to walk the dogs, play with the animals and assist with light cleaning.
Their website states that volunteers are expected to be available two hours a week for at least three months. To volunteer with them, head over to their website and fill out an application.
Cats Cradle
Allergic to dogs? Or just prefer cats? Cats Cradle offers a variety of volunteer options from the cleaning crew, which requires an hourly commitment each week, to fundraising opportunities, which are good for accommodating a more unpredictable schedule.
Cats Cradle also looks for foster homes, especially for younger cats or kittens, as they require more attention than older cats. If you live in a cat friendly apartment, this might be a good option to give back.
The Center for Avian Adoption, Rescue, and Education (C.A.A.R.E.)
For students who are able to commit to a monthly time slot of 2-4 hours, C.A.A.R.E. can provide an opportunity to learn about parrots and interact with birds.
Volunteers at C.A.A.R.E. help with cleaning duties and caring for the birds, and those interested can fill out a volunteer application on their website.
New Life Center
If you’re more people oriented, the New Life Center, an organization for the homeless, is also looking for volunteers to assist in the kitchen and to be food donation drivers.
Other things that can be done to give back is to work in their thrift shop, their office doing administrative work, helping with ground maintenance and hosting food and/or clothing drives.
Jeremiah Program
Another people-oriented opportunity would be to work with the Fargo-Moorhead Jeremiah Program, which helps single mothers and their children living in poverty achieve their own version of success.
This organization provides training to volunteers and offers volunteer opportunities in child development center, serving meals to families, childcare and more.