Providing free support services, free tutoring and free gardening are some of the ways volunteers enrich their communities. In return, volunteers gain friendships, experience and the ability to teach their life skills to others. 

The Volunteer Center Executive Director and Coordinator at Madison College Alex Kaiser got his start in volunteering just last spring when he was “kind of depressed, and didn’t really feel motivated, didn’t really feel connected.” 

Kaiser said he saw a volunteer opportunity for Warner Park last year advertised on a screen at Madison College and said he thought, “That sounds good. Get in nature, maybe meet some people, do some service to get out of my own head, and it was great.” 

April is National Volunteer Month in the United States. The Mayo Clinic supports the idea that volunteering is good for mental health and states, “By spending time in service to others, volunteers report feeling a sense of meaning and appreciation… which can have a stress-reducing effect.” 

Scarlet Martino, the Student Program Advisor for the Volunteer Center, says she began volunteering with her mom from a young age. One of her favorite volunteering memories was when she was in high school and would help her local church put on a maze-crawling fundraiser for her community. “We made an entire maze that you could crawl through,” she said. “It was made from donated cardboard boxes and would run for about two weeks. Martino said, “It was just really unique and fun, and the kids just loved it so much.” 

Martino said that’s the part of volunteering that doesn’t get talked about enough. “There’s the things everyone knows,” she said. “It’s great for your resume, great for your transfer application, things like that- but it’s just so fun to meet other people in the community, and I don’t know if it gets talked about enough.” 

Kaiser echoed these sentiments when he talks about his main reasons for wanting to volunteer and to work at the Volunteer Center, “I wanted to make friends, I wanted to make connections, and be of service.” He said he has felt more connected to the school, and to other volunteers. His grades are also “way better” now than they were before he became involved with volunteering. 

Long-term volunteering opportunities are offered by Madison College during both semesters through a program called WolfPack Volunteers, which is two hours per week for 10 weeks. 

Monthly volunteer events on-campus are meant to be “drop in, join us, (and) do something hands-on,” Martino says. “It’s two hours, students can stop by, they don’t have to be there for the full two hours, it could just be an hour in between class,” said Martino. 

The next monthly event will be at Truax on Monday, April 15 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will help prepare birthday bag kits for the student food pantry to give to students who utilize the food pantry on their birthday. The kits will contain cake mix, a pan, frosting, and candles. 

Kaiser said community centers around Madison are good places for those looking to volunteer. There’s one across the street from Madison College Truax called the East Madison Community Center, which has a food pantry and after school programs for kids, among other opportunities. 

Kaiser’s favorite place to volunteer is at the UW-Madison Arboretum. Every Saturday they do an Ecological Restoration Work Party from 9 a.m. to noon focusing on removing invasive species. He says that kind of volunteering is nice because you don’t need any training, you don’t need to sign up, you just show up.

The Volunteer Center primarily posts their volunteer opportunities on WolfPack Connect about two weeks before the event. Students can join the Volunteer Center on WolfPack Connect to get the newsletter, which includes volunteer events happening on campus and those happening in the community. 

There will also be a Make A Difference Day Volunteer Fair on April 17 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Goodman South campus. 

For those who are looking for something specific to volunteer for in Dane County www.volunteeryourtime.org is a resource set up in part by the United Way. 

“It has all these opportunities, and it’s kind of like shopping” says Kaiser. You can search with filters such as date, distance, family friendly, outdoors, teams, virtual opportunities, and ones with wheelchair accessibility. 

“I know that I feel less anxious, a little more energized and invigorated after volunteering,” Kaiser says, “it’s a great way for me to get out of my head and connect with the people around me… which I think is really important.”