"Click here to volunteer"

BOSTON—Last fall, Andrew Tinklepaugh, a certified public accountant, decided to do something positive with his time during his slow work season. He jumped on the Internet and began searching for volunteer opportunities. He looked at a few links that his search provided, and then he hit the "jackpot." He came across www.volunteersolutions.org/boston, an online service provided by United Way of Massachusetts Bay that helps individuals find volunteer opportunities over the Internet.

"It was great," said Tinklepaugh about the online service. "It was quick and easy. I was able to see all of the opportunities that were available and read about the different organizations. Some opportunities even had comments from other volunteers about their experience at the organization, and that was very helpful." Within minutes he found a volunteer opportunity with The Healing Exchange (T.H.E.) BRAIN TRUST, a Cambridge-based nonprofit organization that provides support groups for people with brain tumors and their families. Tinklepaugh contacted the organization and began volunteering almost immediately once a week, helping with bookkeeping, entering bills, recording donations, and other administrative tasks. After taking a break for tax season, he’ll be back to T.H.E. BRAINTRUST to continue volunteering in June.

Tinklepaugh, of Waltham, is just one of the hundreds of individuals in the greater Boston area who are clicking their way to a rewarding volunteer opportunity through www.volunteersolutions.org/boston. And, as part of its celebration of National Volunteer Week (April 22^nd to 28^th), United Way—who has the oldest and largest volunteer referral program in New England—is encouraging people in this region to log onto the website and sign up to volunteer.

"Volunteering is probably the most rewarding way to make an impact on the communities where we live and work," said Debra Shapiro, vice president of Volunteer Resources for United Way of Massachusetts Bay. "But with so many needs and demands on our time, finding a volunteer opportunity that meets our skills and interests can be overwhelming. With our online volunteer referral service, we are making it easier than ever for dedicated individuals to connect with agencies that need helping hands." She added, "What better time to start volunteering, than during National Volunteer Week."

National Volunteer Week began in 1974, when President Richard M. Nixon signed an annual celebration of volunteerism. Every succeeding president has signed a Presidential Proclamation supporting the week and promoting volunteer efforts. United Way of Massachusetts Bay’s commemoration of the week is generously sponsored by State Street Corporation.

As part of the service, nonprofit organizations in need of volunteers log on and list their volunteer opportunities and/or post events, such as walk-a-thons, on a community calendar. Individuals can access these opportunities 24 hours a day by logging on to the Internet at www.volunteersolutions.org and selecting "greater Boston" as their destination. They can view the community calendar or search for a volunteer position by entering their preferences, such as a particular community, who they would like to help, what type of time commitment they can make, and what specific skills or interests they may have. They can even indicate whether they prefer the location to be within five, 10, or 25 miles of their designated community, or enter a keyword, such as "mentor" or "baseball."

The website then searches its database and lists various volunteer possibilities. Locally, there are more than 488 agencies listed with over 930 opportunities in eastern Massachusetts. They range from tutoring adults or teens, coaching a youth sports team, and teaching a dance class for girls, to serving meals at a homeless shelter, delivering nutritious lunches to frail elders; and from teaching computer skills at a computer center, to designing websites, answering telephones and helping with mailings. Once a match is found, the agency can be contacted directly by phone or e-mail.

Individuals can also create one or more personalized profiles. This enables each person to save his or her preferences for future searches. When an individual logs on again, possible matches will be waiting for them to view. The service can also automatically e-mail the opportunities to the prospective volunteer weekly, biweekly, or monthly.

"Volunteer Solutions has worked wonders for us," said Samantha Scolamiero, founder and director of T.H.E. BRAINTRUST. "Through the website, we’ve been able to find some incredible volunteers who have stuck with us and volunteer on a regular basis. We will continue recruiting volunteers in the same way"