Daily cause is getting first generation students into college and then the retention of them.
I also belong to a women’s philanthropic group serving our local area. Each year we kick in what we can. Because we have a membership in the hundreds and give away about $75,000 per year, we have a grant process and a committee that follows up with the organizations several times a year insuring the money is being spent wisely.
Here is a link to websites that help people find volunteer opportunities in their local areas.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/volunteering-websites_n_4551665.html
I am also an adoptive parent and volunteered three times at privately run orphanages in China - twice in a palliative care unit. So emotional, but I found it satisfying as the children did seem to enjoy my presence and attention. It was kind of crazy as they had local Chinese women that performed all the caregiving for the children, but they had volunteers who rotated in and out to supervise the Chinese staff, dispense the meds, and make any necessary purchases, including the food for the children. I was given a list of the children’s meds and dosages, and all the other important info, but then I was left on my own for two weeks. I spoke very little Chinese so it was interesting when I was told by the nannies, that I needed to go food shopping and they had to try to explain the types of vegetables and foods that I needed to purchase. I was not familiar with any of the foods. One of them turned out to be millet, which I hadn’t realized was used for anything but bird food. Anyway, I got to the food market and tried to pick out the vegetables and had to grab some locals and ask their opinions on produce selection. Kind of like asking someone who has never seen or eaten an avocado to go buy some nice avocados. I got some good advice via head shakes and thumbs ups.
I also made some items and donated to charity auctions for some of my favorite adoption related non-profit organizations.
I went on four international medical missions (as a non-medical volunteer) with a well known organization. They were amazing experiences, but unfortunately, a good number of the medical personnel were rude, arrogant, and just plain cranky and snotty to the locals and the rest of the team who had important, but non medical duties. No offense to any medical people here but that was the case. For example it was not polite for an American nurse to mock and mimic Indian waiters - in a public restaurant - who waggled their heads in a combo nod/shake - that is a cultural thing. Then it was not polite to get said waiters’ attention by snapping your fingers. And it was not a good idea, as one of the plastic surgeons demanded, to leave the two high school female interns at the hotel thousands of miles from their homes because they were not on the bus to the airport on time. Holy moly.
One thing that impressed me very much was that the teams of 50+ volunteers were led by recent college graduates (4 year - so about 22 years old). They had the job of arranging all the logistics of making hotel reservations, recruiting the team members, arranging the travel for the volunteers who came from all over the world, securing local daily transit for the team, and then, once on site, managing the daily operations of the two week missions which was VERY complex and unpredictable. They had to be travel agents, event planners, dispute mediators, cultural liaisons, and supervisors of a group of adults most of which were 10+ years older than them. I was amazed at how capable those young people were.
I’m too old and decrepit to do that kind of thing these days, but I would recommend it to others who have a sense of adventure and are easy going and tolerant. I felt I made some valuable contributions and aside from the rude medical volunteers, I met many wonderful people, and especially remember the connections I made with the patients. local staff members and random ordinary citizens I had the chance to interact with (I had a mutually beneficial relationship with a 10 year old boy who showed up every day at one of the hospitals I worked at. The patient evaluations were conducted outdoors in this particular place, and no one could figure out who he belonged to or why he was hanging around. But I needed a Coke fix, so I asked him to go to the street to get me a Coke a couple of times a day. First he told me I had to find a bottle, because they wouldn’t sell you a soda if you didn’t bring a bottle. So I asked around and we got one. So he first went and got me a Coke with the bottle - the protocol was that you exchanged the empty with payment for a regular cold bottle of Coke, and then I’d drink the first one, and then give him the bottle and more money to buy his own Coke, and he got to keep the change. He was so sweet! I sent him a care package of sticker books and other fun boy stuff when I got home, but I never heard back from him 
).
Love it, LC. Hugs. So many are intimidated by the idea of working directly with the needy. But it can enrich us.
My dad has taken up healthcare and disability access. He was passionate about this even before I got sick but now it’s his main issue.
Both of my parents do a lot for pot legalization.
For health reasons, it’s difficult for them to volunteer in positions that require some consistency.
Wow, a lot of people doing impressive things here! I don’t know that I would find something so impressive to do, but I’ve started giving it some thought. Thanks also for the link to volunteer sites to check out.
I have spent a lot of time volunteering for two causes in the past: reproductive rights and gay rights. I was on the board of CT NARAL, and spend a lot of time organizing and recruiting volunteers for typical grass-roots political activities things like phone banks, mailings, and lit drops supporting pro-choice candidates at the state level, staffing tables at local events, and so forth. S attended a lot of this in utero . 
He marched on Washington in a stroller. Honestly, I became somewhat burned out because of the difficulty of getting younger women to participate. Twenty-somethings at that time (I was in my 30s) tended to be very complacent about the right to choose always being there for them, and also about the rights that older feminists than me had fought for and won. The “I’m not a feminist, I just assume that I will receive equal pay for equal work, be treated equally in access to credit and jobs and education, etc, etc” crowd. At a certain point I said, hey, if you want this right, fight for it yourself, I’m going to always vote pro-choice, but other than that I’m kind of done. Now, I contribute monthly to a group that in honor of Dr. George Tiller helps women who need financial help to access safe, legal abortion.
When I moved to Maine, I almost immediately started working on the gay rights referendum then being fought. H and I walked into the office of Maine Won’t Discriminate and offered to help, and they asked me to step in as the receptionist. I was initially kind of insulted --I was the activist in the family! Was this sexist?!?–but I soon realized that this was actually a crucial role. I moved from half days to full days, to 12 hour days as the campaign continued. I’d work all morning, pick S up from kindergarten around noon, and go back to the office with him, where he’d play behind my desk. We won: it was glorious. I showed up for duty at the second campaign, which we lost. I talked to everyone from Ellen DeGeneres’ mother Betty–very nice lady–to national reporters, to kids questioning their sexuality. (Those calls I directed to one of the gay people on staff.) Occasionally someone would call and start ranting about “you people.” I took pleasure in saying, “I don’t know exactly who you are talking about, personally, I’m a married heterosexual with a child who sings in the church choir every Sunday.” :))
I’ve volunteered in our local schools, and been a prominent part of a group supporting them in various referendums. (I created all the public mailings and emails.)
I am active in my church, where I have served on many committees, and been the chair of most of those, now I’m a trustee. I’m a “church lady,” and love it.
I am looking for something else to volunteer in on a regular basis, though, since retiring from my two jobs.
I’ve gotten involved in several local groups, but they were more interested in my attending the fundraising events.
What I do like is co-leading our city Bookclub. I’ve been doing this for 10’years. Sometimes we have phone conversations with authors, or we bring in people to add to depth, e.g. Mormon women when reading 19 wives, or local women helping foster kids.
Very impressive group of people here!
As my youngest was heading off to college, I got my certificate in college counseling and have been volunteering as a college advisor through a NFP that works with first gen low income students and their families. I’m about to start volunteering for a second NFP in a similar capacity.
I used to be a CASA (court appointed special advocate) for a foster youth. Wonderful mission and organization but it ended up not being quite right for me. I continued with my youth until he turned 18 and then turned to college counseling.
Many, many ways to give back. Best of luck to the OP finding one or two things that are meaningful.
This was posted at a Starbucks where I have a monthly meeting:
“Well, that’s an hour I’ll never get back,” said no volunteer ever.
Lately I find myself needing to spend more time taking care of my and my family’s health and well-being than in other periods of my life, so I’m doing fewer long-term commitments. I enjoy doing things in intense bursts for a few days or weeks, followed by lots of down time. I’m a putterer and dabbler.
Something that I’ve enjoyed for the last few years that combines a hobby with volunteer work is theatre set painting for local middle school and high school musicals. I love staring at huge theatre sets and imagining the possibilities…medieval forests (“Into the Woods”) savannah (Lion King) city lights (Singin’ In the Rain") and making them emerge. I mean, I get obsessed by it. I love being the fly on the wall around the students rehearsing or having the huge empty theatre to myself, and I love anticipating the moment the curtain comes up. It’s not a “saving the world” kind of cause but I do hope that the more exciting the set is, the more inspired and confident the young actors will feel. Our community has a depressed economy, so the schools do not have money to rent backdrops or pay professionals. Somehow, the teachers and students don’t seem to have the time to do it themselves. So I’m the lucky one 
Once DD goes to college I will likely do literacy tutoring and also maybe join Big Brothers/ Big Sisters. Would also like to promote native plant gardening and other environmental things…
@Sylvan8798, I just re-read your original post and realized your question was really about HOW to decide what to do when there is so much wrong in the world. I used to think so much about this that I would become paralyzed. I felt I had to justify everything on a scale of how necessary it was in the world. That often resulted in much time wasted doing nothing at all, or finding I didn’t really have the skills or talents to do whatever I thought was the most important. I spent two extended tours in the Peace Corps, one of which was in a country that suffered a protracted civil war soon after I left, followed by more years of worry and guilt (for me) and of course, unspeakable misery for the people of that place. I learned and experienced so much while there but I can’t say that I accomplished much that was useful to anyone else.
I have learned that, much as I wish otherwise, I am not the most practical of people for solving major crises. I am also prone to despair when I see how complex certain problems are. I’ve found that, for me, it’s best to simply jump in and do what I intuitively feel I’m capable of doing at any given time and place without weighing whether to work on this cause or that. I’ve had to try not to feel too much guilt at sometimes volunteering doing things that make me feel happy and hopeful (even if they are more trivial than some other things I could be doing) because I really can’t accomplish anything at all if bogged down in depression. I so admire the people who doggedly study the world’s worst problems and unrelentingly look for solutions. I just can’t do it in a sustained way without breaking down and burning out. I think we must all do what we are drawn to do and temperamentally suited for. I imagine that something will call out to you to do, or an opportunity will present itself for you to use your skills …
And I know I can’t ask for money. Fundraising, even selling tickets to some function, is uncomfortable (despite sales experience, in my career.) Otoh, as a young person, even the sound of a passing ambulance freaked me, but now I can deal with hospice issues, the emotions surrounding losses.
Sometimes, you look to see where friends you respect put their time and learn what they do. Most religious orgs are involved with some variety of projects and many don’t blink if you’re not member. One of our early efforts, when the kids were young, was delivering Thanksgiving meals from a local Catholic church (with a longstanding and large program.) We could do the driving an the contact, while others preferred an in-house role.
It’s all good.
@lookingforward , there’s a charity that gives clothes and stuff away in Portland that declared a few years ago that no one could volunteer in the future unless they were Christian! Blew everyone I know away, and we promptly found other charities to direct our clothing donations to. The Catholics and Episcopalians maintain clothing charities also, and AFAIK anyone is free to help.
Shaking my head.
If I was a joiner, I’d likely do the Humane Society… not, so it’s direct action for the strays that wander up to our property. Mostly cats. That they’re psychotic little killers isn’t the only reason for we’re shifting our land to bird/mammal habitat but it figures into in at least a small way.
I volunteer at a local no kill shelter nearby. I go 2-4 days a week 2-3 hours each. We walk, cuddle, and play with dogs, clean kennels, wash dogs, treadmill dogs, laundry, dishes, inventory, etc. There are lots of types of “jobs” including running adoption events at petsmart etc/ My D and I really enjoy it. There is a cat “side” too but the dogs just need so much more. You get attached sometimes but are so happy when the dogs, especially the long timers, get adopted (and stay adopted!).
I have a health condition that is very poorly funded nationally and locally. I have opted to start a local nonprofit to help increase awareness and improve treatment and have also become an officer on the national org dedicated to this condition.
I too am a “church lady”, and absolutely love it. It allows me to pick and choose my roles to align with the ebbs and flows of life, and there is freedom in finding and pursuing a variety of causes to devote your time. Some of them can be internal, such as visiting shut-ins, assisting with youth group, or caring for toddlers while the parents worship; some of them local such as helping at food pantry, some global, and some mission trip experiences. Four years ago as Chair of the Community Outreach committee, I started an annual Martin Luther King Community Day of Service, where we invite the community to come to the church to do a variety of service projects on MLK Day. It requires a ton of planning and a big time investment, but it has been a huge success, with about 300 people participating this year. One of the joys of chairing this event is choosing which causes we want to support with the variety of onsite projects we offer. We make hoagies for a shelter and for the local fire companies, prayer beads for a psychiatric hospital, paracord bracelets for military troops, shoe patterns for a foot-wellness program in Uganda, greeting cards for senior citizens, desserts for Meals on Wheels, and others. One of the other things I love about being part of a church community is that I have close relationships with people of all different ages, which is very important to me. @scout59, I hope your time as Clerk is fulfilling. I am finishing my 6th and final year on Session, and am actually a bit wistful about that. There have been some huge challenges during my tenure, but overall it has been an incredibly rewarding experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Our local United Way started a Reading Pals program in 2010 and I began volunteering an hour a week with a little girl in the second grade at that time. Now it’s 2017 and she is taller than me, but we still spent an hour a week together during the school year each year through middle school. Our original cohort has grown smaller through the years, but those of us who are still connected with our Pals are headed to high school with them as part of an after school program twice a month.
Sometimes we do more mentoring than reading and sometimes you wonder if you are making a difference, but it fills a little hole for this empty nester in terms of having someone to “mother” a bit each week and my Pal and her family seem to appreciate my connection with her. I went to her 8th grade graduation and she hugged me, as did her mom. Her dad told me that he enjoys reading some of the books I’ve given her as treats for holidays and birthdays.
I volunteered a lot when my daughter was young - PTO, scouts, library, etc. Once I had an empty nest, I looked to other volunteering opportunities (I still work part-time so I have time to spare). I have struck out several times in the past year or so. Offering to volunteer for local organizations and then never hearing back from them. It has become a joke - I am the volunteer reject - I fill out volunteer applications online and they don’t reply (just like job applications).
My cause - my passion - is reading and libraries - I still help my local library (my home away from home).