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Boston Cares
Rating Details »
Categories: Public Services & Government, Community Service/Non-Profit [Edit]
Neighborhood: Financial District190 High Street
(between Leman Pl & Purchase St)
Boston, MA 02110
(617) 422-0910
- Nearest Transit:
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Aquarium (Blue)
South Station (Silver, Red)
State (Blue, Orange)
20 reviews for Boston Cares
I've worked with them a number of times.
Well organized, well meaning - fine to work with. I've always had a great time when volunteering for something that these fine people host.
The Project Calendar is a busy socially responsible girls best friend. I choose the days I'm available, find something that interests me. Sign up and bam it's on my blackberry.
Great selection of projects, overall a great organization.
Side note: The hour orientation is really easy peasy and I think I paid $20. But I look at the $20 as money well spent. I think a lot of people don't volunteer because it can be a hassle to find an organization get all set up with their rules and whatnot, but this $20 puts it all in one place.
If you are looking for a place to volunteer, go here!
Boston Cares is the perfect way to volunteer for someone who has a weird schedule like me. Being a consultant, I never know if I'm going to be somewhere one week or the next. This is something that I can go at the beginning of the week and sign up for something. So convenient!
Plus there are a range of project to choose from such as sorting food at the food bank, sorting clothes, ushering at a play or even helping a kid play beep baseball. It really lets you do a myriad of things without having to worry about not being able to commit every week.
I also did teamworks which is a great way to meet people and stay working with the same ones for a while!
If you want to get involved, but you don't think you'll have the time, you can always find something here. It's great!
I first joined Boston Cares when I moved to Boston back in 2002. I had to attend an hour long orientation session before I could volunteer with them which was fine. Then you could peruse the monthly calender (at the time it got either Snail mailed or emailed to you! I love the online aspect so much better! But hey- they are a non profit so they can't do the stuff the corporate america does- thank god!)
Anyways I like the people I met at the first few events, and the variety of events. One saturday I was sorting food at the Food bank, the next I was ushering at the Huntington Theater, the next sunday I was walking dogs and the next weekend I was cleaning along the charles river. So I decided to take the volunteering to the next step and sign up to be a project leader- still a volunteer but just in charge of making sure there was enough volunteers and to be the liason between the non profit and volunteers (and a great way to gurantee you got thos fast filled events like the MSPCA, Card Nigh/Trviia night at hale house etc) Anyways it is a great organization to give back to the community based on your availability and to check out organizations you may not have otherwise found out about!
I have been participating in Boston Care projects for a couple of months. Like everyone has said, you do have to do an hour orientation before you can sign up for projects. What's nice is they have orientations all over Boston and the surronding areas. As for projects, they have an online calendar so you can see what are the "hot" projects - i.e. close to full or full.
I have enjoyed the projects that i have done - Special Olympics Track practice and Generation inc.
For anyone whose time is stretched thin, has commitment issues (hi!), or has a wide variety of interests but wants to give back to the community, Boston Cares is the best organization to get involved with. Boston Cares offers people the opportunity to participate in volunteer projects on an as-needed and as-you-can-commit basis. They also offer a few longer term projects, leadership opportunities, as well as workshops on career advancement. There are a few "just for fun" nights (yoga, tai chi, book club, etc.) thrown in for fun.
Again, everything is done on a sign-up basis using an online calender so you can pick and choose your events. Once you are signed up you can remove yourself from a particular project if need be, but luckily you can usually plan this out so you would not need to do so that often.
Unfortunately, some projects fill up quickly and can be difficult to get into (MSPCA dog walking, Card Night @ Hale House) but it is not impossible. The projects are rewarding and there are tons of people to meet.
It's $10 to join, but well worth being able to contribute to an organization that gives so much to the community and allows you the flexibility that they do.
Boston Cares is a great organization.
You pay a small fee, attend a short orientation session, and then gain access to a calendar of volunteer opportunities.
It's the prefect way to volunteer without having to make a weekly commitment.
Sign up for as many events as you like, even on short notice.
Truly a wonderful organization! I joined in January 2009 and it's been an amazing experience ever since. I love the fact that I can simply look at a calendar and select where I would like to volunteer. Volunteering is definitely a passion of mine and it's great to find people who share the same interest. The volunteer opportunities are endless and definitely fun!
I used to use Boston Cares to get volunteers for my work. I stopped because I left the job, but have only good things to say about them. I worked with Kelly and Kellyn quite a bit to help get my posts up and get our opportunities in their newsletters. As an organization looking for volunteers, it was a gold mine. All of the people we got were pleasant and excited to help in any way, which included manual labor. Many of them signed up for our projects again.
As a volunteer, they are great and it's a good way to meet new and fun people. Volunteering is an important part of our society and the population that gives their time to others for free is a good population to know!
5 stars all the way. Great people and projects. And the calendar is the best! Almost foolproof.
I admit that I'm probably a couch-potato kinda girl. But since I started my new job about a year ago, I had more free time on my hand after work, so I started to do more volunteer work!!!
I found this great organization, Boston Cares, which gather the information for the various volunteering events in the Greater Boston area, and get a group of people together for it.
Anyway, they organize the list of events based on interest, location, skill, etc, etc, put them all on a neat calendar. All you have to do is just search for event based on your preference and Viola!
I participated couple times for the "Cradle to Crayons" events. Fun!
Once you done couple events, you can also signed up to be a team leader and organize some of the events!!
Pros: Great way to meet new people and help others! Easy to use online system to see all events.
Cons (not really a con): New volunteer will need to go to an orientation to learn about Boston Cares and what they offer. Also, there is a $20 one-time-only fee for joining Boston Cares (for administrative stuff). Pretty reasonable.
Do you like Scrabble? Clue? Trivial Pursuit? Cooking? Theater? Animals? Football? Working with children? With the elderly? How about working with teens? Are you into arts and crafts? Like to knit? Read? Like to hear your own voice (heh)? Tutor? Play cards? Do you enjoy music? Are you athletic? Would you like to work with the city's homeless? Having trouble figuring out how to schedule volunteering into your daily, weekly, monthly routine?
Whewwww.... If I didn't get you with at least one thing.. tell me.. please... What are you interested in? ;)
Like a few others have said.. Boston Cares is a great organization to find out about volunteer opportunities in the area. You go to an orientation (discounted for some, check the rates), check out their calendar, sign up online, show up, and help make this world a better place. There's no real commitment except for showing up for the events you sign up for (and doing the work.. der). There are a lot of one time opportunities.. or you can make it a regular thing if you find something you're truly interested in.
WARNING WARNING.. For those of us who have a slight addiction to volunteerism.. though it might seem like a good idea to sign up for 5-10 events a month.. er.. uh.. consider your schedule! It's easy to get mesmerized with all of the BC events.
Volunteer on! .. Hmm.. Doesn't sound as good as rock on.. but it's well intentioned. :)
Ahhh this is where it all started with Trish the Dish, advocating the need to spread the love and give back to the community. Now talk about a memorable first Yelper meeting. :) Mucho love to Trish as she volunteers her time like no other and is very inspiring to me. I still don't know her secret of doing everything she does.
This is a great organization to get involved with if you can't make a long term commitment (i.e. Big Brothers Big Sisters). Think of them like a pimp if you will. There are outside organizations that need help, and Boston Cares hurd the cattle and send them on their way give back.
So it works like this. You need to attend a one time short informational meeting, and pay them $20 to register. Plus side - free tasty treats at the meeting. Once you are registered with them, you can scan their website for all the events going on and choose to your interest. Trust me there are many, so you should be able to find something that caters to your likes andf availabilty. Another great thing is most of the events are one day things, and most only require a few hours of your time. So you find something you want to do and you register and show up. It's just that simple.
I've been part of Boston Cares since August, but wanted to wait for the review until I actually got involved. So from October to December 1st, this, I worked on a project called Frosty's kids. I worked with a team of Yelpers who helped me shop, wrap and deliver the gifts to a group of 25 kids we were assigned to. You want to see fun - come to my 900 S/F condo with 100's of gifts, 20 Yelpers and 5000 bows. Despite the chaos, it was a fun experience and gave us Yelpers a chance to spread some love and represent Yelp in the volunteering community.
Aside from that they have alot of other fun events planned on a daily basis. Volunteers for NYE, being a friend to seniors, reading to the blind, serving food at Rosies, shopping for the disable, working at events, planting gardens...ah the list goes on.
I think the point is if you are looking for a way to give back, meet people and still manage a shortage of free time this could be a great organization for you to get involved with. I sincerely had such a great time doing Frosty's and combining it with my Yelp family.
One of my Yelp 2008 resolutions is to bring more opportunities to Yelp for volunteering. I hope you can join me. :)
Love Boston Cares...I just recently became a member and joined my first volunteer project of playing Clue, one of my all time favorite games. Unfortunately, I lost all three games but I did make someone's night and spent some time doing good.
And, it totally goes along with my plan of volunteering once a month because I can pick different projects that fit my taste and schedule. Such a great place!
I just needed to let everyone know about a lil' program called Frosty's Friends. Run by BostonCares (awesome organization, by the way, with literally hundreds volunteer opportunities to choose from), Frosty's Friends is like a personalized Toys for Tots. You know their names, a little bit of their history, and where they're from. While I love TforT, Frosty's Friends lets you form a "connection" with the kid, and you know exactly whose holiday you're making brighter.
Basically, the program runs thusly: You are sent letters from children, requesting a specific Christmas present. Some letters are decorated, others are painstakingly simple. You're expected to get exactly what was asked for (don't worry-- requests are usually general like "Barbie" or "remote controlled car"), spend between 20 and 30 bucks, wrap and send the gift. Hardly any effort at all, right?! And the best part is, you've just totally made some kid's Christmas.
Boston Cares is an awesome organization. I joined because I wanted to get involved with volunteering, but was not really sure what types of volunteering I would enjoy. Boston Cares offers lots of one-time volunteer projects, so that you can try things out with no commitment. In fact they have a whole calendar full of short term projects and a great system for signing up for projects. It is equally easy to get out of projects, if you need to--they have a backup system. They also have teams you can join, small groups who do projects together in an area of interest. It is a great way to meet people, get to know the nonprofit organizations in your area, and do some really interesting volunteer projects.
I've done a lot with Boston Cares from volunteering as a student to doing teamworks, and attending events they are hosting. I love the organization and they make it super easy to get out in the community and volunteer!
EVERYONE should know about this volunteer organization. It's a great way to hook into different kinds of projects. They are connected to many of the Boston area non-profts abnd always have events that you can come to and offer your services. I have done a number of cool projects with this group. You have to do a short training and then you can access regular events that need help. It's a fun way to meet people too!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Please check it out. A great way to give back!!!!
Boston Cares is the perfect volunteer organization for a city as busy as Boston. With a well-stocked and easy to navigate calendar, and regular events happening all the time, it's been the perfect way for me to get better involved in the larger community. There are a myriad of great project opportunities, and opportunities for all sorts of people who want to get involved in a variety of different areas. On top of all of that, my experience with the book club was a positive one. It's a great way to get involved in the community and meet new people, while also helping the community.
I'm huge on volunteer work.. I've participated in a couple of volunteer events through Boston Cares (though they have the training and $20 admin fee there are some events you can do without that).. The website is a great resource for looking up different volunteer stuff you might be interested in - broadening your horizons! I did a clean up of a beach in Marshfield aiding the nesting/survival of plovers with the Audubon Society and had an excellent time! I've also attended their gala in years past and had a blast! Good organization to support!
For anyone who wants to volunteer but cannot commit to a set number of hours, cannot commit to a consistent day, or just wants to try out various types of volunteer work, bostoncares is a great place to take a look at. They have a variety of volunteer opportunities available in the Boston (and some Boston suburb) areas. I participated in an invasive species clean-up along the Charles and loved it. http://www.bostoncares...
