Greater Good South Africa

Wish that you had time to volunteer more? So does GreaterCapital evaluator, Claire Biesman-Simons, which led her to find some great ideas for giving your time that even the busiest executive or working mum can get into.

“I wish I had the time to volunteer more”. This is a thought that I, and I’m sure many others, often have. There’s a fantastic literacy project or a skills training progamme that is achieving great results but we need to commit to helping twice a week or every Saturday morning. Then, a work deadline comes along or the kids are playing Saturday morning sport and the opportunity is missed.

Connecting with communities
Volunteering is a great way of connecting with our communities, a means of sharing our skills and knowing that what we do has an impact. This doesn’t disappear if we can’t be there every week so I’ve done some thinking and put together a few ideas for the busy volunteer. 

I recently attended the sorting of thousands of items of new clothing donated by Capetonians. Among these donations were hundreds of knitted jerseys, beanies and socks. Throughout the year, people who find themselves with a half hour here or there, pick up their knitting needles and, come the winter chill, provide beneficiaries with warmth and the gift of new clothing. Visit myggsa.co.za to find a cause near you that would value this kind of help.

Sort books
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Belinda, a wife, mom and fulltime lawyer, on several occasions. Because of her crazy schedule, committing to certain days or times every week can be difficult. Yet, as soon as she has a chance you’ll find her popping in to cover and sort books for libraries being established by Equal Education in schools across Cape Town. While there, you might also bump into a successful newspaper journalist, a chartered accountant, high school kids, students and already overworked teachers who are dedicated to changes in our education system. Along with others, they’ll stop by as time allows.

Cleaning up
It seems that wherever we look, pollution is ruining our country’s beauty. There’s no quick fix for this but just a couple of hours can make a huge difference to one park, beach or neighborhood. Many of us receive weekly community newspapers in the post. Turn to the events page and you’re likely to find requests for volunteers to attend a cleaning campaign in your area. It’s also a great opportunity to meet your neighbours and discuss how you can work together to improve your community.

Give blood
It takes just a few minutes to donate blood but the impact is life-saving. Visit the South African National Blood Service or WP Blood for details on where you can donate.

Do good
Or just spend an hour or two sorting out your house. There’s always a project that will benefit from toys, clothes, books and educational materials – post an offer on myggsa.co.za. And take this opportunity to involve your kids. It’s never too early to pass on the lesson that everyone has something to give.