Youth For Seva: The One Stop Destination For Volunteering
14 April 2017 11:08 AM GMT
Volunteerism has played a great role in the development of our country. It also provides an opportunity to channelize the energy of the youth for national development. There has been a steep increase in the interest among the youth to volunteer their time and talent for community development. But the interest is not tapped into action because of the following reasons:
- Don’t know how and where to volunteer
- Afraid that it may be too much of a responsibility
- Don’t have enough time
A famous person once said, “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”
The above reasons are effectively tackled by Youth for Seva (YFS), a nation-wide volunteering movement that has inspired thousands of youth to volunteer by providing them with meaningful opportunities to serve the community. YFS connects the volunteers to grass root projects, and provide ongoing support and training.
“Frankly speaking, the main reason I got involved in volunteering was out of boredom. But very soon, I really became passionate about everything I was doing. I realized that very small efforts from my side were enough to bring about a change, irrespective of the scale of significance it brought about. Also, I started enjoying working with the children and didn’t see it as doing any social service to anybody,” notes Namratha, a volunteer with YFS.
Youth for Seva has designed several volunteering models to enable individuals to get involved in the community despite their time constraints. Volunteering is made easy by catering to the individual’s interests and convenience. Currently, the following models are in place:
- Weekend volunteering: Spare a few hours on weekends. This is ideal for professionals and college students.
- Weekday volunteering: Give few hours for 2-3 days during the week. This is most suitable for housewives and retirees.
- Seva Vacation: Typically for school/college students who would like to volunteer every day for a few weeks during their vacation.
- Seva Intern: Volunteer every day for more than 2 months. College students who wish to learn more about the social sector can benefit from this model.
- Seva Fellowship: Many graduating students and professionals get a few months free during their job transitions. Through Seva Fellowship, they can volunteer full time for three months or more.
- Virtual volunteering: People with special skills like creative writing, movie making, website creation, graphics design, etc. can help with backend tasks such as creating websites, newsletters, grant proposals and project reports.
- Volunteering Professional Services: One can offer professional skills to serve community’s needs. ‘Doctors for Seva’ is one such initiative of YFS. Similarly, auditors, lawyers, writers or any other professionals can offer their professional services
Youth for Seva has engaged over 25,000 volunteers since its inception and has touched a million lives through its various projects. They have their chapters across the country in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. Whether you want to work with children, physically and mentally impaired or senior citizens at schools, hospitals, slums or old-age homes, Youth for Seva is the one stop destination for anyone who has the desire to help others.
Read more about Youth for Seva and register to volunteer with them at http://www.youthforseva.org/
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