Volunteering is Empathy in Action: TeamEra Helps Local Communities Thrive

The volunteering spirit is strong at Thirdera! Eranauts across the globe are involved in giving back to their communities, each in different ways. This year, for National Volunteer Month 2022, we are excited to share beautiful stories about our employees giving back and supporting their local communities across the globe.  

Read this blog to learn inspiring ways to donate your time and talents to worthy causes and find out what you can do to celebrate Volunteering Month. 

Jenny Oh Supports Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation 

As a survivor of breast cancer at a young age, I feel fortunate to have benefitted from the expertise and care of the breast surgeons, oncologists, and other specialists at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse.

The Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation is dedicated to raising funds for the breast unit at Lifehouse, so I'm pleased to lend my support to SBCF to assist in any way to raise awareness of breast cancer in young women, and to raise much-needed funds for surgical equipment, education, patient support, and awareness programs. To assist with building awareness, I also run a podcast 'ohitscancer' and an Instagram page by the same name in order to bring life to the experience in real and raw terms.

Matt Saario Volunteers for Local State Emergency Service

Six years ago Matt was appointed as the unit manager for the local State Emergency Service. Kudos to Matt for his brave contributions to his community!

Bonnie Helps to End the Shelter Pet Crisis

I have been volunteering with PawsCo, a foster-based shelter, since 2018. I adopted an older dog, Otis, from them in 2017. He only lived a year, but he was my soul mate, and I realised he would have never made it out of the shelter if it wasn't for his foster parent and the shelter being able to give him the medical care he needed.

I decided to commemorate Otis by fostering other dogs for PawsCo to help other animals who aren't as "adoptable" in shelters due to medical and/or behavioural issues. I have since fostered about 15 dogs and cats, mostly seniors and some younger ones with behavioral needs (some pics of my fosters included!)

Fostering can be very challenging (and yes, it is hard to let them go every time), but it is incredibly rewarding and a crucial part of helping to end the pet shelter crisis in our country. 

I have been involved in some other PawsCo initiatives as well. I post pictures and bios of our animals online daily to give them the exposure they need to get adopted. With the help of some other volunteers, I also started a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force to address the rampant bias in the adoption process as well as provide services for those who may struggle financially to care for their beloved pets.

Astrid Supports a Local Animal Rescue Organization  

I’ve been involved with an animal rescue foundation in Barranquilla, Colombia called Corporación Tierra, Amor y Paz since 2018. I adopted one of the doggies on their feeding route. Macarena had a hard time because her potential new family backed out at the last minute, choosing to take only her puppy after agreeing to rescue them both. Adopting Macarena was the best choice we ever made! 

Since then, I’ve tried to repay the happiness Macarena has brought to my family by collaborating with the foundation and making medicine and dog food donations so they can continue their feeding programs and medical treatments for strays in different routes in the city. You can find them here on Instagram.

Bart Sponsors Small Community in Kenia 

One of the first graduates of this program now is a local entrepreneur and is also facilitating a new initiative called Comrade Kids. Comrade kids offer different clubs where children of Manda can learn Journalism, Music, Photography, Dancing, Painting, etc. It enables the children both to express themselves better and learn additional skills that might help them in their future life. Obviously, Comrade Kids requires equipment and funds which we then try to raise through our local sponsors here in the Netherlands. Look at some results of the Music club here. 

What Can You Do to Celebrate Volunteer Month?

 There are so many ways to give back! If you are looking for some ideas, here are a few things you can do for your local community:

1. Serve a meal at the local homeless shelter
2. Assist elderly neighbours with picking up groceries and running errands
3. Collect supplies for a food, clothing, or book drive
4. Participate in a fund-raising event like a 5K run 
5. Help your local animal shelter 
6. Volunteer as a tutor in school 
7. Organize a summer reading programme, and more!
   
   

There are always small and simple ways we can give back to our communities, like helping out our neighbours and those who need support. These small acts of kindness are the building blocks to creating the change we want to see in our societies.

Need more inspiration? Read our volunteering stories from 2021.