Feel Good Friday - International Volunteer HQ

For everyone who enjoys traveling after the summer season and volunteering while on vacation, you’re going to love learning about today’s organization, International Volunteer HQ.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Taranaki, New Zealand, International Volunteer HQ (IVHQ) is the world’s leading volunteer abroad organization. If you’re short on time, this one-minute video gives a great summary.

IVHQ provides a fully-hosted experience, which means you pick your destination, volunteer project and duration and they take care of airport pickup, accommodations and logistics. There are 334 projects in 50+ countries across Africa, Asia, South America, Central America, North America, Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East and the Pacific.

The first step is to pick a destination and a project. You can make your decision by starting with the country you want to visit, or choose what type of organization you’d like to support. IVHQ partner organizations work with children’s education, animals, the environment, health and well being and community development. Specific examples of available trips include mentoring young women in Columbia, protecting and preserving endangered wildlife in Namibia, and working in a pediatric hospital in Cambodia.

Once you find a project that works for your interest, schedule and budget you apply online. If accepted you secure your spot with a registration fee, and prepare for your trip. You’ll also need to pay a program fee, which covers accommodation, meals, airport pick-up, 24/7 in-country support, in-country orientation and discounts on local activities. Prices vary depending on your destination. This page of FAQs can answer all of your questions.

Since they began, IVHQ has helped connect over 152,000 volunteers to opportunities around the world where they have collectively spent 8 million hours doing volunteer work! In 2024 alone 11,678 volunteers representing 125 nationalities volunteered in 56 locations. Get all the details in this short impact video.

One of the best ways to let more people know about IVHQ is to go on a trip and tell people about it! Share your photos and videos on social media and tag IVHQ or write a guest blog on their website to share your volunteer story. You can also stay in the loop by following International Volunteer HQ on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn and subscribe to their YouTube channel. 

Feel Good Friday - Gay For Good

Wrapping up our LGBTQ+ Pride Month series with the story of a group that puts the good in Gay for Good. 

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, the mission of Gay for Good (G4G) is to mobilize “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) and ally volunteers to promote diversity, foster inclusion and strengthen ties to the broader community.”

G4G’s values are in service of that mission. They include building community, creating visibility for LGBTQ+ people, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, advancing sustainability and reducing their environmental impact, all while having fun! 

There are 21 chapters around the country from Arkansas to Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington D.C. These local chapters identify and connect with nonprofits that support the environment, animal welfare, and people in need in their communities. G4G then assists the selected organizations by mobilizing volunteers who donate their time, and by helping to amplify the missions of these organizations within their vast network of LGBTQ+ volunteers and allies.

The volunteer opportunities are wide ranging. The Phoenix chapter is creating posters and signs for Make-A-Wish Arizona, the Denver chapter is helping Project Angel Heart Kitchen to scoop, wrap, and seal breakfast meals, and the San Francisco chapter is running a beverage booth at SF Pride. You can visit this events page to see volunteer opportunities around the country. Or find your local chapter on main site.

Since they began, Gay For Good has organized 2,845 service projects for 962 nonprofits, and volunteers have donated time valued at $3.7 million.

In the spirit of diversity and inclusion, all are welcome to join a project. If this sounds like a fun way to spend your time, you can sign up for the mailing list to be notified of volunteer opportunities. Other ways to support G4G include making a donation, shopping for merch, rounding up your purchases at Walmart, or linking your Ralph’s card so a percentage from your purchase is donated to G4G. You can also amplify their work on social media by following Gay For Good on Instagram and LinkedIn. Happy Pride! 

Feel Good Friday - TreePeople

As Earth Month comes to a close, we’re celebrating with another nature-related post, this one about TreePeople.

Initiated by 15-year-old camp counselor, Andy Lipkis and incorporated in 1973, the mission of TreePeople is “to inspire, engage, and support people to take personal responsibility for the environment, making it safe, healthy, fun, and sustainable.”

The Los Angeles region faces severe impacts from climate change, as we saw with the wildfires earlier this year. “TreePeople unites the power of trees, people and nature-based solutions to grow a more climate-ready city.” They are now one of the largest environmental organizations headquartered in Southern California, and in the last 50 years they’ve inspired over 3 million people to take action for the environment. They do this through several programs and focus areas.

The forestry program provides volunteers with the tools, plants, and education necessary to plant trees everywhere from the mountains, to the cities and schoolyards. School greening involves not only planting trees, but also removing asphalt and educating students in the participating schools on environmental awareness and sustainability. In addition there are Environmental Education programs that help students, teachers and community members gain skills in environmental and climate literacy.

TreePeople also conducts research, provides publications and advocates for nature-based public policy solutions in Southern California. They oversee more than 3,000 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains as part of the TreePeople Land Trust and they maintain and operate Coldwater Canyon Park, where you can go for a hike on your own or join one of their eco tours.  

Since they began, TreePeople has planted and cared for more than 3 million trees; developed the nation’s largest environmental education programs which have educated hundreds of thousands of youth; helped drive hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding towards climate solutions; and stewarded and protected over 3,000 acres of wilderness.

If you’re interested in helping TreePeople grow a more climate-ready SoCal, there are many ways to get involved. Those of you in and around the Los Angeles area can volunteer your time. All of us can shop for merch, make a donation and amplify their work on social media. Follow TreePeople on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky or LinkedIn and subscribe to their YouTube channel.  

Feel Good Friday - Gleaners

I’m in Oregon City this week and learned about a fantastic local organization that distributes resources to people in need, Gleaners of Clackamas County Inc.

Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Oregon City, Oregon, Gleaners of Clackamas County Inc. (Gleaners) is a 100% volunteer-run organization that “collects and distributes food and nonfood items to limited income, elderly, and disabled residents of Clackamas County.” Their mission is to share food, reduce waste, and build community.

It all starts with gleaning, “the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest.” In the early days of Gleaners, a group of volunteers picked fields and distributed food in the community. Today, while volunteers still glean farms and fields, the organization now also distributes surplus food from grocers, restaurants and food manufacturers, as well as clothing and household goods from the public.​ Learn more in this short video.

One unique aspect of Gleaners is that it is an all-volunteer, cooperatively run program. Most volunteers are members of Gleaners who work within a team. In return for paying a small monthly membership fee and working 4 hours per month, members are given a food box one to two times a week and they have access to free clothing and seasonal events like a summer picnic, back-to-school giveaways, Halloween costume exchanges and more. Members also share a portion of their food with an adoptee, someone in the community who is either 65+ years old or disabled. There is no cost or work requirements for adoptees.

Gleaners also offers emergency food boxes to people in Clackamas County who experience a sudden change in circumstance, like job loss, that prevents them from feeding their family. Membership is not required to receive this box of food.

On average, Gleaners provides 3,000 individuals with a generous supply of food every week. They also distribute any excess to church groups, food pantries and other charities bringing their overall reach to more than 5,000 people per week. 

If you want to help Gleaners reduce hunger and waste in Clackamas County, there are several ways to do so. People who live locally can become a member or volunteer. The rest of us can donate money and spread the word on social media by liking the Gleaners Facebook page.

Feel Good Friday - Doing Good Together

Many people spend their time off during the holiday season doing volunteer work. If you’ve been looking for a way get your family involved in an activity, look no further than Doing Good Together.

Founded in 2004, Doing Good Together (DGT) is a national nonprofit based in Minnesota “that works to make volunteering and service, along with daily kindness, easy for every family.” Their mission is “empowering families to raise children who care and contribute.” 

Studies show that, while parents want their children to be kind and compassionate, children aren’t getting the message and there has been a 40% decline in empathy among college students compared with peers from 10 years ago. The good news is that empathy is like a muscle you can build and DGT is here to help. Learn more about their programs in this short video or keep reading.

A great place to start your involvement is with the Big-Hearted Families Toolkit. This toolkit has ideas for service projects, kindness activities, empathy building book lists and talking tips and tools. Visit the printables page for free resources such as activity books, kindness challenges and ideas of how to add kindness to family routines. If you need to do some last minute shopping, you can view this page to get ideas for gifts that support DGT’s mission.

When you and your family are ready to volunteer together, you can pick a project by the topic of focus, such as fighting poverty, caring for animals or healing the Earth. Check out this list of 12 Holiday Volunteering Tips if you’re looking for something to do now. DGT also shares monthly, family-friendly volunteer opportunities in 10 metro areas around the United States including Silicon Valley, California, Twin Cities, Minnesota, and New York City. See the full list here.

If you’re ready to help Doing Good Together instill the spirit of giving in a new generation, there are many ways to do so. Become a member of the DGT family, make a donation, and amplify their message on social media. Follow Doing Good Together on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube Channel and blog. You’ll never run out of ideas on how you can do something good together!

Feel Good Friday - Volunteer Match

Are you still in the “new year, new me” spirit but don’t know where to direct all your energy? Then it’s time to spend your Feel Good Friday learning more about Volunteer Match. 

Founded in 1998, Volunteer Match is, “the web’s largest volunteer engagement network”. Their mission is making it easy for good people and good causes to connect. 

 

As a frequent volunteer with Habitat for Humanity International, I can attest to the satisfaction, joy and friendships a volunteer experience can bring. I’m not the only one who feels this way, as you’ll see in this 2-minute video, “Introduction to Volunteer Match: 3 Good People, 3 Good Causes, 3 Perfect Matches”.

 

If you’re a good person looking to get matched with a good cause, the place to do that, of course, is the website. There you’ll find open volunteer positions from over 130,000 participating nonprofits. These listings are viewed by more than 15 million people each year and an average of 72 connections are made every hour. Since Volunteer Match began, there have been 16,916,689 connections made!

 

Participating nonprofits not only get volunteers to help their organizations, but they’re also provided with resources such as volunteer engagement tips, industry insight, and management best practices. You can see the list of upcoming free webinars at this link.

 

In addition, Volunteer Match has tech solutions and other resources to help 150 corporate network partners, campuses and government agencies with their volunteer engagement. You can read some of those success stories here.

 

The best way for you to get involved is to volunteer! You can pick your opportunity by topic (animals, environment, education, etc.), sort by city or do some virtual volunteering.

 

Since Volunteer Match is also a nonprofit, you can choose support them directly with a donation and by spreading the word on social medial. Like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @VolunteerMatch and Instagram @volunteermatch.

 

Feel Good Friday - Habitat for Humanity

It's another Feel Good Friday post about Habitat for Humanity. Why? Because I'm currently on a Global Village trip building houses in Jordan!

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has been working with people around the globe to fulfill their vision of "a world where everyone has a decent place to live". They do this because the need for affordable housing exists in every community.

Habitat works in over 30 countries with their Global Village program and since their founding, they've helped more than 29 million people build or improve the place they call home. Families apply for Habitat homes that will be sold to them at no profit. Once approved, they are required to make a down payment and monthly mortgage payments. In addition, they must put in 500 hours of "sweat equity" into the building of their own home and the homes of other Habitat partner families. Habitat considers the work they do a hand up, not a hand out.

I've volunteered on seven Habitat Global Village trips (Guatemala, Peru, Romania, India, Chile, Madagascar and Kyrgyzstan) and they've all been fabulous experiences. Being on a team of volunteers who are using vacation time to build houses with the families that are going to live in them is inspiring. Getting to interact with local people you might not meet as a tourist is an added bonus.

If you want to support the work of Habitat you can join a Global Village trip, make a donation, shop so you can wear your support, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @Habitat_org. 

Few Good Friday - REI #OptOutside

Some people call it Black Friday but it will always Feel Good Friday to me. Another group that encourages you to do something other than shop today is Recreational Equipment, Inc., more commonly known as REI.

REI is an 80-year old, member owned co-op that sells everything you need for an outdoor adventure. Since 2015, they've closed their stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving, paid their 13,000 employees for a vacation day and encouraged them to #OptOutside.

Four years later, REI is taking it up a level and encouraging people to join them in a nationwide day of action they're calling Opt to Act. They'll be hosting events with different organizations to clean parks, beaches and riverbanks across the United States. If you need some inspiration to get motivated, watch this one-minute video then search for a cleanup effort near you.

Today's day of action is only the beginning. REI has created a 52-week plan consisting of simple actions you can take to "reduce your impact, get active, and leave the world better than you found it". Examples include switching to electronic bill notification and payment, bringing washable cutlery to use at work, and checking your tire pressure to maintain optimal gas mileage. If you're interested in participating, you can read about all the actions here and sign up for weekly calendar notifications.

In addition to recommending ways for all of us to make a positive impact, REI is taking steps of their own. They've expanded their rental offerings and are piloting a used gear buy-back program for members so that gently used gear can be resold and its life can be extended. They're also aiming to operate at zero-waste by the end of 2020 and reduce plastic packaging for both themselves and their partners.

Whether you start your action today or at some point this year, be sure to let the people in your social media circles know. Post your stories and photos on the REI Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @REI. Be sure to tag them with #OptOutside!

Feel Good Friday - Zooniverse

Today's Feel Good Friday story is all about Zooniverse!

As summarized on their website, "Zooniverse is the world's largest and most popular platform for people-powered research. This research is made possible by volunteers - hundreds of thousands of people around the world who come together to assist professional researchers." I learned about them yesterday when I volunteered to count penguins with some coworkers.

Scientific data collection can be too much of a good thing. "With the help of Zooniverse volunteers, researchers can analyze their information more quickly and accurately than would otherwise be possible, saving time and resources, advancing the ability of computers to do the same tasks, and leading to faster progress and understanding of the world, getting to exciting results more quickly." That's right, you're advancing scientific discovery and artificial intelligence, all while clicking on adorable pictures of penguins. The results can be found in the many Zooniverse publications.

Zooniverse is a partnership between organizations in the UK, such as the University of Oxford and organizations in the US, including the Adler Planetarium in Chicago and the University of Minnesota. For the educators among you, visit ZooTeach, a website where teachers share lesson plans and resources that compliment Zooniverse's projects.

What projects, you ask? There are a wide variety focused in the areas of nature, space, literature, medicine, arts, climate and more! Some of the projects that sound interesting to me (in addition to the penguins) are counting flowers for bees, training an algorithm to recognize plastic trash on the beach, annotating and tagging diaries from WWI and characterizing bat calls.

If you'd like to get more involved you can read about all the projects here, pick your favorites and then volunteer from the comfort of home or your neighborhood cafe. To stay in the loop with new projects as they are added to the mix, like the Zooniverse Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @the_zooniverse

Feel Good Friday - Community in Action

We've spent the last month profiling organizations in North America so on this Feel Good Friday we're heading south to profile the work of Community in Action.

An NGO based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Community in Action, or CiA, was founded in 2004. As stated on their website, "Our mission is to offer social outreach programs throughout Rio's favelas (shanty towns) as well as personal development opportunities for social entrepreneurs and foreign volunteers. We work with local residents, schools and NGOs to generate local change."

The reason CiA focuses on the favelas in Rio is because they are home to more than a million residents and yet these communities lack "educational opportunities and extra-curricular activities for youth, infrastructure support to build and restore homes (and) empowerment programs for women."

You can watch this 3:20 minute video (with very catchy music) to meet some of the favela residents and see the work being done by CiA. The current list of volunteer projects includes teaching handicrafts, computers or English, providing child care, working in an urban garden, painting murals and more.

CiA provides compelling reasons to make this your next volunteer vacation. "When you sign up with Community in Action, you'll be with our team and our partners in Rio, learning about the true lifestyle and culture of the favela! We offer the most well-rounded volunteer experience, with opportunities to work in five (5) different favelas and participate in nine (9) different projects. Furthermore, you don't need to volunteer with only one project - you can partake in numerous projects during your time in Rio."

If that makes you want to get a Portuguese phrasebook and a plane ticket, you can learn about placement details here. If you'd rather show your support from the comfort of your couch, you can do that by liking the CiA Facebook page and following them on Twitter @VolunteerinRio. Obrigado!

Feel Good Friday - La Tortuga Feliz

Today Feel Good Friday is going to Costa Rica for a little Sentries Bien Viernes!

La Tortuga Feliz (the happy turtle) is a volunteer-run organization in Costa Rica focused on turtle conservation. Poaching, fishing nets and pollution have taken their toll on the turtle population and La Tortuga Feliz (LTF) has been working to reverse that decline since 2006.

Volunteers work with people in the local community to patrol the beaches looking for eggs before the poachers find them. As explained in more detail on their website, "These local inhabitants guard/patrol the beach (Caribbean coast of Costa Rica) together with volunteers, collect the turtle eggs and bring these eggs to a hatchery which is manned by volunteers on a 24 hours basis. Volunteers also participate in the care for and study of recuperating adult turtles in the turtle reduce and rehabilitation centre."

This turtle conservation work provides income for the locals, which the people at LTF hope will take away the necessity for locals to poach the turtles and their eggs. Many of the people working for LTF are former poachers who are happy to earn money saving, rather than killing the turtles.

Volunteers pay $35/day for room and board, which seems like a pretty sweet deal. While you're spending time learning about, and saving turtles, you can also take Spanish lessons and bond with volunteers from around the world! Not convinced yet? Check out the videos on their home page and view their photo gallery, which both give you a great idea of the work being done.

If you can't book your plane tickets to Costa Rica just yet, you can follow the work of La Tortuga Feliz by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter @latortugafeliz1.

Feel Good Friday - UniversalGiving

I'm spending all my free time preparing for my upcoming volunteer trip with Habitat for Humanity, a group I've been involved with for the last 18 years. I want to help you find your Habitat and that's why today's Feel Good Friday organization is UniversalGiving.

I learned about UniversalGiving through their founder, Pamela Hawley, a fellow improviser, who created the organization in 2002. In their own words, "UniversalGiving is an award-winning website that helps people give and volunteer with top-performing projects all over the world." The best part about this is these projects are reviewed for their finances, management team, acheivements and many other categories AND "100% of each donation goes directly to the cause"!

It may sound impossible but it's true. UniversalGiving helps for profit companies scale their corporate social responsibility programs and fees for those services cover operations costs. That means any money you donate really does go directly to the organization you choose. This supports the vision to "Create a World Where Giving and Volunteering Are a Natural Part of Everyday Life."

So how do you make this a part of your everyday life? Visit the website and see the current opportunities! You can give a gift, such as books to support children's literacy, fund a project, like earthquake relief in Nepal, or volunteer! Anyone else want to go to Thailand to help elephants?

To keep current with organizations vetted by UniversalGiving and new volunteer opportunities that arise, you can like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @UnviersalGiving. As for me I'm off to find my convertible pants!

Feel Good Friday - Humanitas (Nursing Home/Dorm)

For most of us living in Western countries, gone are the days of multiple generations living in the same house, but that doesn't make a very compelling Feel Good Friday story. Here's what does... a nursing home in the Netherlands that gives college students free rooms in exchange for 30 hours of volunteer work per month!

I learned about Humanitas by reading this Daily Good article. The arrangement was inspired by the  combination of a student housing shortage and a decision to stop funding continuing care for citizens over 80 not in dire need. The result was less older people being able to afford nursing homes and rooms going vacant - enter the students.

Always on the lookout to save money, these students are able to live in the nursing home rent free by interacting with their neighbors. Some of their volunteer hours are spent teaching the elderly residents how to email, Skype and use social media. Not only does this keep the residents engaged by learning new skills, but they also gain the tools needed to communicate with their families. The model has gained in popularity and now there are two additional nursing home/dorm combos in the Netherlands, one in Lyon, France and one in Cleveland, Ohio!

If the program continues to be successful, I hope the students will help the residents set up Facebook and Twitter accounts. For now if you want to follow what they're doing, your best bet is a plane ticket. :)

Feel Good Friday - US National Park Service

Happy Feel Good Friday! Spring is here and summer is coming - what a great time to get outdoors and visit one of the many parks run by the National Park Service!


Many years ago, I was an NPS volunteer spending my weekends on Alcatraz telling visitors all about the history of the island and where the bathroom was. Spending time with passionate park rangers and volunteers, along with climbing to the top of the lighthouse, were highlights of my experience. The great news is, you don't have to volunteer with the NPS to enjoy a park! Although if you'd like to, follow this link.

All this excitement about parks and I haven't even watched the Ken Burns documentary "The National Parks: America's Best Idea". Here's why I love NPS.

As explained on their website, the mission is simple, "The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage." While Yellowstone National Park was the first park to be established in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, it wasn't until 1916 that President Woodrow Wilson signed an Act to create the National Park Service.

And now? From the FAQ page, "The national park system comprises 407 areas covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. These areas include national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House." If that doesn't make you want to start planning your summer vacation, I don't know what will!

You can search for a park at this link by name, location, activity or topic and start planning. There are also great links to discover history, explore nature and resources for teachers and kids. In 2014 there were 292,800,02 visitors (to be exact). Will you visit a park in 2015?

To stay in the loop, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @NatlParkService. You'll be the first to know about plans to celebrate the 100 year anniversary on August 25, 2016.

Feel Good Friday - Giving Tuesday

Happy day after Thanksgiving! Many know today as "Black Friday" and spend their morning running  from store to store to get the super bargains. For me it's still a Feel Good Friday and here's why - Giving Tuesday!

In 2012, 92nd Street Y in New York (92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association) joined forces with the United Nations Foundation to create Giving Tuesday, "inspired by the core Jewish value of tikkun olam, 'repairing the world'."

The day is meant to counterbalance Black Friday and Cyber Monday's focus on consuming and celebrate the holiday season by giving. Although this is only the third year, the idea is catching on and now over 10,000 organizations worldwide participate. Non-profits create unique goals, corporations double employee matches, individuals find ways to give what they have whether that's money or time. Last year the city of Baltimore set a goal of becoming the most generous city in the United States and raised 5.7 million dollars in one day!

Not sure how you can get involved? There's an entire tools page with case studies on giving, tool kits, ideas, examples and videos. You've got the whole weekend to figure something out!

This campaing has a huge social media focus so while you're coming up with your Giving Tuesday goal, be sure to like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @GivingTues. Once you've got a plan, let the world know by using #GivingTuesday in your posts. The best part of this is you don't have to get up early or stand in line to participate. Now that's a tradition I can support!

Feel Good Friday - Burners Without Borders / Black Rock Arts Foundation

This Feel Good Friday is a two for one - both inspired by Burning Man! Why? Because on Monday I leave for Burning Man and will be there next Feel Good Friday with no internet connection.

As they explain on their website, "Burning Man is an annual event and a thriving year-round culture. The event takes place the week leading up to and including Labor Day, in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. The Burning Man organization (Black Rock City LLC) creates the infrastructure of Black Rock City, wherein attendees (or "participants") dedicate themselves to the spirit of the community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, leaving no trace."

Burners Without Borders (BWB) and Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) are the two feel good examples of Burning Man's year-round culture we're going to highlight today.

BWB takes its name from Doctors Without Borders and has a similar mission of providing help around the world. From the website, "BWB promotes activities around the globe that support a community's inherent capacity to thrive by encouraging innovative approaches to disaster relief and grassroots initiatives that make a positive impact.

It started in 2005 when some burners (Burning Man participants) went to Biloxi, Mississippi to help rebuild a Vietnamese temple that had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Volunteers continue to provide disaster relief, helping people in the Philippines rebuild after Typhoon Halyon and people in Colorado rebuild after the recent floods. Some examples of their support for community initiatives include fundraising for maternity clinics in Nicaragua and sending post Burning Man bikes to Namibia with Bicycles for Humanity. You can see a full list of their projects here and find out how to get involved. 

To stay connected via social media, like their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @B_W_B


BRAF was also founded by burners with the mission to "support and promote community, interactive art and civic participation". More from their website on how they work - "Through our Grants to Artists and Civic Arts programs, BRAF works with communities in the Bay Area and around the world to collaboratively produce innovative, relevant and pioneering works of public art that build community and empower individuals."

This includes providing grants and fiscal sponsorship for artists bringing their work to Burning Man as well as public displays of art outside of Nevada. People living in San Francisco may remember the recent interactive monkey piece outside the Exploratorium or be familiar with the rotating art pieces along the Embarcadero at Pier 14. All brought to you by BRAF.

You can see examples of this art in their online gallery or watch videos on their YouTube page. Stay connected by liking their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @BRAF

I've got to get back to packing and preparing for the big event so I will leave you to enjoy the art.

See you in two weeks!

Feel Good Friday - Destination Hope International Medical Missions

We've kicked off 2014 talking a lot about Adventure Philanthropists - people who donate their skills, time or money while traveling. I like to think of these people as being on an Inspiration Safari.

To learn more about this, you can read the book by Erin Michelson or read my interview with her as a fellow Adventure Philanthropist here.

For today's Feel Good Friday, I want to let you know about a group a learned about from a friend, Destination Hope.

As they explain on their website, it's a group of plastic surgeons who volunteer for medical missions to "treat birth defects and other deformities among individuals in the developing world." Children born with facial deformities "are often disadvantaged when it comes to education, finding jobs, or starting families." The people of Destination Hope want to level the playing field for these children so their primary work is reconstructive surgery for cleft lips and cleft palates though they also perform burn reconstruction and other procedures.

Because the medical professionals donate their time and work with resources in country, costs are minimal. "$250 is often enough to cover the cost of one cleft lip surgery for one patient in most countries." Results, however, can be dramatic.

To learn more about this organization you can watch videos from their missions or like their Facebook page. If you want to support their work, they'd be happy to help you write off a donation of some of your cold, hard cash!

If you know of a person or organization that could use a Feel Good Friday shout, leave the info in the comments section or send a message to me at: kristian@inspirationsafari.com. I really do love learning about and sharing these stories!

Feel Good Friday - Go Erin Go!

I can hear your questions already. Who is Erin, where is she going and why feel good about it?


Erin Michelson is an Adventure Philanthropist who recently returned from two years of traveling around the world, volunteering with local organizations and blogging about them on her website Go Erin Go. Not only did she donate her time, skills and spread the word about the works these groups are doing but she also invited her blog followers to decide how to donate her money. It was voluntourism on steroids!

If you missed that boat (like I did) you'll be happy to know she just released a book that recounts many of these stories. You can read my review here. Even better, you can find photos and short videos of the people she writes about on her website if you want to take your armchair experience to the next level.

Reading her book or her blog, you may realize:

a) you are an Adventure Philanthropist
b) you'd like to become an Adventure Philanthropist
c) you are quite happy as an armchair Adventure Philanthropist

Between the volunteer trips with Habitat, the Inspiration Safari filming in Africa (because even though that wasn't the name at the time, that's totally what it was) and Erin calling me one, I've realized that I'm an Adventure Philanthropist! I'd definitely like to keep it that way. Habitat Mongolia in 2014 anyone?

What next? You can watch two video summaries of Erin's travels below. After that, stay in the loop with her adventures by buying the book, subscribing to her blog or liking her Facebook page. That's what I'm doing!