If you’ve just moved to the Queen City and you’re looking to make some new connections, we’ve got some great ideas for you. These three volunteer opportunities will connect you with like-minded folks who love to do good, just like you! 

Pet Visits with Hands On Charlotte - Hey, your furry friend would probably love to meet some new people too! Take your pet along to a scheduled visit at a local retirement community. The pets don't need to have any special training or certification. They just have to be friendly and prepared to receive a lot of attention and praise. 

If you follow our "Crazy Busy" posts, you know it’s possible to do good even if you don’t have a ton of time to spare.

This weekend, thanks to the uber-coordinating efforts of Hands On Charlotte, my family and I volunteered at East Meck High School to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr Day. Along with scores of other volunteers we made bookmarks, tied reading “snuggle” blankets, wrote letters to first graders and made heart-shaped valentines for nursing home residents. It was a well-spent Saturday morning.

Of course, not every opportunity to help is quite so easy to weave into your daily life. But the short term, “crazy busy” opportunities are often a great way to try out a lot of different organizations to see where your heart fits. You can find them throughout this blog, or just search our Collection of Good for something that works really well for you and your schedule. 

Volunteering can happen even when you’re crazy busy! Check out this quick opportunity to do good:

Nonprofit: Samaritan House

When: Flexible

Where: At Samaritan House, 611 Fortune St.,Charlotte, NC 28205

Who: Groups

Why: All of the things involved in a successful recuperation, like careful attention to medication and the rest needed to heal, become nearly impossible for the homeless when they are released from the hospital. Here in Charlotte, however, they can find a haven in Samaritan House.

Samaritan House provides recuperative care for homeless men and women in need of short term care following a hospital or emergency room stay. All guests enter the program through a referral system used by social workers and authorized medical personnel at area hospitals.

We had fun with this post about Rescue Ranch, and it looks like you did too! Here's the reader's favorite from December:

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.  William Shakespeare

Has your child ever seen a fish swimming in a pond? What about a chicken clucking and pecking around a yard? The answer is probably yes. But there are kids in Charlotte who have not, and as a result they may have little connection to or awareness of the natural world.