VOLUNTEER VACATION IDEAS

Turn Holiday Travel into Meaningful Volunteering

Chicago, IL May 10, 2006 –- Volunteer Vacations are a great alternative to routine holiday travel. This summer, you could travel on a volunteer vacation to help your favorite cause, such as: animal protection, child protection, environmental protection, community development, healthcare, or reversing poverty.

Volunteer vacations are affordable and can range in duration from a weekend to a year, with many one-week and two-week options. You can volunteer close to home or travel abroad to a service-project site in Europe, Asia, or Africa.

On a trip this summer, you could...

• Travel on an Animal Protection volunteer vacation: Make a difference for fish and wildlife. For instance, you could: help conservationists rehabilitate elephants in Asia and Africa; help save endangered whales through a research expedition or "migration vacation" in Canada or Mexico; or work to rescue orphaned chimpanzees in Uganda.
• Travel on a Child Protection volunteer vacation: Improve the life of a child. For instance, you could: cultivate music appreciation among institutionalized children in Transdnistria and Romania; help operate a dental clinic in Nepal for needy children and families; or volunteer at a peace camp for war-traumatized children in Northern Ireland.
• Travel on a Community Development volunteer vacation: Serve your wider community. For instance, you could: help to eliminate poverty by building a home for the homeless in places from Alaska to Ethiopia; preserve hiking trails in Colorado; or promote sustainable agriculture by helping develop organic farming techniques in Thailand.
• Travel on an Environmental Protection volunteer vacation. Protect the environment. For instance, you could: assist scientists in conducting environmental research projects in Slovakia; help park rangers plant trees in the United Kingdom; or save tropical rainforests in Ecuador.
• Travel on a Healthcare volunteer vacation. Promote health and safety: For instance, you could: join an expedition to restore coral reefs in Fiji; use your medical expertise to provide healthcare services in remote villages in Guatemala or Ghana; or help alleviate the suffering of babies with AIDS or HIV in Tanzania.
• Travel on a Poverty Activist volunteer vacation. Help reduce poverty around the world: Volunteer as a management consultant for an international development project in Russia; teach English to natives of a Himalayan Sherpa village; or use photojournalism to help poverty and homelessness charities to tell their stories.

Most volunteer vacation programs charge fees, which range in price depending on the amount of training and accommodation provided. Volunteer vacation program fees may also defray the costs of extensive pre-trip materials and supplies donated to the school, hospital or community being served. For U. S. residents, part or all of these fees may be tax-deductible.

Through a volunteer vacation, you can gain enriching experiences, memories, and friendships that last a lifetime while making a difference in someone's life. For more examples of volunteer vacations, please visit Charity Guide's Volunteer Vacation Directory.

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Charity Guide is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting volunteer vacations and flexible volunteerism. Charity Guide inspires and facilitates acts of kindness that are entirely flexible and immediately actionable.