With the recent devastation of Port Au Prince, Haiti, and other nations across the globe, volunteering to help rebuild has escalated amongst humanitarians, philanthropists, and those seeking fulfillment in their lives. Regular, everyday working people with knowledge and skills in medicine, construction, and organizational planning are greatly in demand. If you browse the various blogs and forums on the internet, you will come across countless people asking about free flights to Haiti so they can make a difference. The thing is, based off of the volunteer sites that I’ve come across, i.e. abroaderview.org, volunteerabroad.com, etc…, it seems to me that people are trying to cash in on people’s yearn to be helpful. One web site noted that to fly to Chile, South America and volunteer for 1 week, it would cost you $895, or for 2 weeks, $980. There is no such thing as flying for free, unless you’ve joined the Peace Corp and signed a commitment form, or you happen to know prestigious people like Brad Pitt and Bill Gates who can afford to send countless teams of professionals to Haiti to aid in the relief. Everything costs money, from the flying, to the room and board, and food. If all the rich people of the world got together and formed organizations that sent regular, everyday working professionals around the globe to help for free then I believe we would have an upsurge in economical advancement all over; the rich could call it another form of charity.

If you don’t mind paying for volunteerism, then refer to the sites I mentioned earlier, because they seem to be the cheapest out of most of the web sites I’ve visited. If you’re interested in organizing your own volunteer trip, you can refer to this article: 6 Steps to Organizing your own Volunteer Trip. For those interested in volunteering locally, refer to this book title: The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering: Doing Good Together