Use Your Community Service Leave During Global Volunteer Month

Each year, eligible NC State employees receive community service leave hours they can use to request paid time off to perform volunteer activities. University Human Resources encourages employees to use their community service leave hours, especially this month, which is Global Volunteer Month. If you want to use your community service hours, first talk to your supervisor. To learn more about the community service leave program, including eligibility criteria and the number of hours allotted for different types of community service, go to the UHR website. 

Below are some on- and off-campus volunteer opportunities you can take advantage of now and in the future. Please remember that in order to receive paid time to volunteer, the service opportunity must take place during your regular work hours.

NC State Online Service Site

NC State’s Student Leadership and Engagement office makes on- and off-campus volunteer opportunities accessible through the online service site. The easy-to-use website allows users to search for opportunities in a variety of ways, including chronologically. You also can look for opportunities by type, such as outdoor, family-friendly and virtual. Users can opt to receive a notification when a specific organization posts a volunteer opportunity on the site by becoming a “fan” of that organization.

Feed the Pack

Feed the Pack at NC State is a food pantry that serves students and employees. Students, staff and faculty can volunteer to work shifts at the pantry. Staff and faculty volunteers are needed most during the summer and holidays when many students are away from campus. Go to the Feed the Pack website to learn more about volunteering at the pantry and complete the volunteer interest form.

Activate Good

Activate Good is a nonprofit organization that mobilizes Triangle-area residents to serve their communities. The organization partners with about 600 nonprofits, schools and community groups that have volunteer needs in all sorts of areas, including educating children, working to save the environment, helping animals, serving homeless people and more. Activate Good promotes its volunteer opportunities on social media, via a mailing list and through its partners. You can search for opportunities to volunteer on the Activate Good website. To reach Activate Good, send an email to volunteer@activategood.org or call 919-535-6550.

JC Raulston Arboretum

The JC Raulston Arboretum offers volunteers a mix of opportunities, including taking photographs, greeting visitors, working in an office, gardening and much more. You also can volunteer to help the arboretum’s staff prepare for its annual Moonlight in the Garden event. People who volunteer at the arboretum for 40 or more hours a year enjoy reduced admission to special arboretum events and reciprocal benefits at more than 300 public gardens. For more information, contact Kathryn Wall, membership and volunteer manager, at kbwall@ncsu.edu or fill out the arboretum’s online volunteer application. 

NC State LIVE 

You can volunteer to be an usher at NC State LIVE performances. The benefits of being a volunteer usher include free admission to shows and getting a behind-the-scenes view of performances. For more information, contact Ariel Fay Gray, NC State LIVE program coordinator, at 919-513-3052 or afgray@ncsu.edu.