On Volunteer Day, get inspired by learning about the heroes below. They come from all walks of life, but the one thing they have in common is looking around, seeing a problem to be fixed, and deciding to change the world they live in. Take 10 minutes and research different organizations working to help your community. Maybe there's a volunteer opportunity for you!
Jahkil has been awarded with the Youth Activist Award at the 19th MY HERO International Film Festival.
These Stories Highlight the Diversity of Volunteer Heroes
These volunteer firefighters, including Brandon's dad, protect their rural town.
Baby Malick of Dakar received a lifesaving operation it Italy from volunteer Federica Iessi of One Life Onus.
These stories are available in text and audio, so you can listen as you read along.
Singers and Julliard alumni founded 'Sing for Hope', an art installation as well as a charitable event.
Durga Devi Ghimire is a courageous woman who stood up against the odds to achieve a higher education and to run her volunteer program, Future Nepal.
Learn about Volunteering Through Film
Watch these films featuring inspiring volunteers. Total run time: 17 minutes
(1) Why do you think these people choose to do volunteer work?
(2) What kind of sacrifices are being made in their lives?
(3) How is volunteering different with youth and adults?
(4) Do you feel motivated to spend your own time volunteering?
(5) What causes inspire you to volunteer?
Students will be introduced to volunteers from different age groups and will be exposed to the satisfaction of giving selflessly. Seeing the value of volunteering will inspire students to become volunteers themselves. Students will be challenged to think about what they care about enough to offer their time as volunteers.
Lesson Plan | Learn about Volunteering through Art
Artists who illustrate their volunteer heroes do so in order to celebrate their heroes’ dedication to humanitarian causes and to the underserved. Art can inspire each of us to become a volunteer and to contribute to our global society.
Sister Emmanuelle, a Belgian-born Roman Catholic nun and social activist, lived for more than two decades among the zabbaleen, the garbage scavengers in the slums of Cairo, where she established schools, clinics, and other social services.
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. She was an ambassador for UNICEF and worked to make children's lives better around the world.
(1) How do each of these portraits illustrate characteristics of selfless heroes who work to help those who cannot help themselves? What kinds of artistic decisions have been made by each illustrator?
(2) How does the included quotation in the portrait of Princess Diana demonstrate an understanding of an act of kindness and selflessness?
(3) Ben Heine has drawn a compassionate and realistic portrait of Sister Emmanuelle? What do we sense about her from the way he has depicted her?
Art can be a powerful tool to inspire acts of courage and kindness. When artists focuson hero es who have tirelessly given of themselves to the underserved and to humanitarian issues such as eradicating hunger and poverty as well as the need for universal education, the viewer becomes engaged in the subject and encouraged to contribute to a local or global issue. Encourage your students to discuss the qualities revealed in these portraits and to reflect on a global humanitarian crisis that resonates with them.
International Volunteer Day
Further information on International Volunteer Day
Volunteer at WE DAY
A charity that empowers and enables people to make a difference.
Organizer created on 11/29/2013 6:23:03 AM by Becky Miller
Last edited 12/5/2023 11:13:20 AM by Abigail Richardson
