volunteers

Western NC Still Recovering Six Months After Hurricane Helene

National

Months after Hurricane Helene, volunteers are rebuilding private roads and bridges

6:09pm June 11, 2025

In North Carolina, volunteers are rebuilding bridges that were swept away during Hurricane Helene. The bridges will finally allow access to houses that have been cut off by the storm for nine months.

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National

The holidays are peak time for volunteers, but how about the rest of the year?

4:01pm December 06, 2024

Thanksgiving Day kicks off a wave of volunteers stirred by the holiday spirit, but those in charge of local charities say they'd rather have that help at other times of the year.

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Image shows Hunger and Health Coalition van

When disaster struck, Boone's Hunger and Health Coalition pivoted to deliveries

5:27pm October 09, 2024

by Paul Garber

This nonprofit started small over 40 years ago but now has a staff of more than 20, including two dietitians and a pharmacist, providing medicines and healthy food to people across the region.

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A Bed and A Book to expand services for children in need

4:00pm January 16, 2023

by David Ford

A local organization is working to help kids in need in the Piedmont and High Country.

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Repair Together volunteers dance to music in Anysiv, Ukraine, after a day of cleaning up destroyed homes in nearby Kolychivka on Oct 1. The after-party took place in a theater damaged by shelling. Repair Together is a Ukrainian volunteer initiative that organizes young people to travel to and clean up sites damaged by Russian strikes.

World News

Young Ukrainians volunteer to clean up destroyed homes — and try to make it fun

5:02am October 23, 2022

Young volunteers blast techno music while helping people in destroyed villages and then hold dance parties to blow off steam. "Listening to music keeps us balanced, so we can keep working," one says.

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The Pandemic Changed The World Of 'Voluntourism.' Some Folks Like The New Way Better

3:07pm July 15, 2021

by Malaka Gharib

Critics say volunteering abroad does not always benefit local communities. The coronavirus travel bans have led to a different approach for volunteers who want to donate their services.

A man donates food to an elderly woman during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the new coronavirus in Islamabad on Sunday.

As The Coronavirus Spreads In Pakistan, Volunteers Rush Out To Help

2:14pm March 30, 2020

One Pakistani entrepreneur is making protective gear. A Pakistani lawyer raised thousands of dollars and converted his office into a food storehouse for people in need.

The dormitory in an orphanage in Vietnam.

Is It Wrong To Volunteer At An Orphanage?

4:36pm January 13, 2020

by Joanne Lu

There's a growing global outcry over what critics call ''orphanage tourism." But some charities are proponents of volunteering in orphanages.

From left: Sekou Sheriff, of Barkedu village in Liberia, whose parents died at an Ebola treatment center; a polio vaccination booth in Pakistan; a schoolgirl in Ethiopia examines underwear with a pocket for a menstrual pad; an image from a video on the et

Reporters Pick Their Favorite Global Stories Of The Decade

2:26pm December 31, 2019

by Marc Silver

The topics range from a ticking time bomb in the Arctic to the art of taking selfies in an ethical way. Here are the stories selected by our contributors.

A yard sign in Ajo, Ariz., expressing support for migrant aid workers.

National

'No More Deaths' Volunteers Face Possible Jail Time For Aiding Migrants

1:46am March 01, 2019

by Joel Rose

As security has tightened along the U.S.-Mexico border, migrants are forced into more hostile desert areas. Volunteers who put out water and food say they're trying to prevent deaths.

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