Giving Tree Giveaway Promotes Holiday Volunteering

Nov. 17, 2009 - PRLog -- With the holiday season fast approaching, many good people are getting ready to do the good work of helping families and communities in need. VolunteerSpot (http://www.VolunteerSpot.com) — a free online planning tool — has joined with the Arbor Day Foundation to make participating in this season’s service activities easier than ever.

Whether it’s class parents planning food drives or nonprofits and congregations preparing for community meals, toy drives and charity bazaars, VolunteerSpot’s free online sign-up tool makes it easy for any group to sign up and coordinate volunteers. And in this tough economic climate, volunteering will play an even more crucial role in ensuring a brighter season for struggling families and communities.

“I think most people want to give back, especially this time of year. VolunteerSpot has been very helpful in coordinating volunteers for our Backpacks of Food program.” Said Pastor Brad O'Brien of Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.  Backpacks of Food is a hunger intervention partnership between the church and local elementary school where volunteers fill children’s backpacks with food for the weekend so they can eat healthy while they aren't at school. Its volunteers are among the more than 100,000 people using VolunteerSpot across the country.

About the Giving Tree Giveaway
As part of this effort to promote holiday volunteering, Arbor Day Foundation and VolunteerSpot are teaming up for a Giving Tree Giveaway.  Plan any local holiday service activity on VolunteerSpot, and the Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree in your honor in a fire-damaged national forest. “The trees we plant will be lasting symbol of service to generations to come,” said Kevin Sander, director of corporate partnerships for the Arbor Day Foundation.

“Giving to others is the true spirit of the holidays, but in this economy, one of the most important things we can all give is service,” said Karen Bantuveris, VolunteerSpot founder and CEO. “VolunteerSpot wants service to be easier – which is why we created our online tools – and this holiday season we want service to have a double benefit by giving back to our nation through replanting our national forests.”

To get a tree planted, register a new account at http://www.volunteerspot.com and plan a holiday service activity. Just add the word “TREE” where we ask what type of group you organize, and be sure to invite at least four volunteers. Once completed, VolunteerSpot and the Arbor Day Foundation will plant a tree in your honor in national forest that has been damaged by wildfire.  

Happy holidays from VolunteerSpot and Arbor Day Foundation!

Please visit VolunteerSpot’s website to learn more about the Giving Tree Giveaway and see examples of holiday service ideas: http://www.VolunteerSpot.com/ebooks/GivingTree .

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About VolunteerSpot
Based in Austin, Texas, privately held VolunteerSpot (www.VolunteerSpot.com) is a free Web-based organization tool that powers grassroots volunteering at school and in the community. Founded by Karen Bantuveris, a management consultant and mom, who found that traditional volunteer coordination methods could be time consuming, frustrating and caused good people to drop out or simply not bother. VolunteerSpot’s easy-to-use online sign up tool saves time, streamlines communication and makes it simple for more people to get involved. VolunteerSpot is perfect for coordinating groups for anything — PTA/PTO activities, food and toy drives, carnivals and festivals, tournaments, service projects, mentoring sessions, group campouts, ministry meals, book fairs, swim meets, and more. … VolunteerSpot, DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!

http://www.VolunteerSpot.com