My Nonprofit Reviews

In August, I found myself between jobs with a month on my hands. I started looking around for groups doing volunteer work with whom I felt I could make a real impact in just a few days or a week. I found Project195 and contacted Dave Skoblar, the founder. He invited me to trek out to Joplin or to Tuscaloosa and assured me they'd find me work and a place to stay. When I arrived in Joplin, I initially booked a hotel because, as a single female traveling alone, I wanted to have a better sense of whom I'd be working with before signing up for bunk mates. The Project195 group house was absolutely perfect, however. The purchase of the house actually just went through that very week I was there, and I and the 6 or so other volunteers who were in and out that week worked hard both in the field in Joplin and on the Project195 house itself, making it habitable for future generations of volunteers. Staying at a volunteer house made the experience infinitely more rewarding. It made the trip more than just a work trip - it made it a learning experience as I met people from a very diverse background and felt like I grew close to them in only a few days. Plus it gave me people to go celebrate the end of the day with at the local frozen yogurt shop when the temperatures were well into the 110s! This was a great experience and of all the volunteer managers I ran into during that week, Dave seemed to really be the only one finding projects, networking, and getting things done. I highly recommend working with this group!

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