I started my volunteer work as a teenager, when my local group needed participants to join their choir to perform at nursing facilities.  In addition, our high school highly encouraged students to volunteer their time, either at school or within the community, way before schools required students do a minimum of volunteer time during the school year.

Subsequently, my first important job was as an assistant at a Head Start program in the San Fernando Valley.  Project Head Start was a great proponent of parents volunteering and becoming engaged within the educational and neighborhood community, whether the volunteer work took place in one’s home cutting crafting paper; or being a part of a committee that made important decisions for the program or the community.

Ever since, I have been a volunteer at my children’s schools and my community for several years, whether it was getting our neighbors together to start a Neighborhood Watch, or organizing and running the school Book Fair.  I wanted to instill on my children that part of being a productive community member is giving your time, and sharing your knowledge, expertise or special skill; that volunteering is one way of giving back to the community, whether it’s the school community, your neighborhood community, a community struck by disaster or a community that may be distressed or hurting.

It is not surprising that the findings on research about volunteering result in a .

Social Impact:  Volunteering encourages you to make friends and connect with others.  It can help increase your social network and strengthen your ties within your community. You may meet others that share the same interests, hobbies and have the same neighborhood resources.

Physical and Mental Health:  Volunteering has many physical and mental health benefits, including becoming more physically active, feeling less isolated and raising your self-confidence and self-reliance.  It helps counteract the effects of stress, anger and anxiety. This is especially true for volunteers that work with animals.

Job Skills:  You can increase your job skills or advance your career by volunteering at places that will help you acquire those skills or enhance skills you already have. For example, volunteering your time to help fundraise may help improve your skills in communication, marketing and outreach. In addition, some organizations provide workshops or pay for their volunteers to attend seminars or workshops to help improve their knowledge base or particular skills.

There are so many ways to volunteer, some more time-consuming than others, but no matter how much time you volunteer, the benefits are valuable, both to you and the organization. Here are some suggested places that need volunteers:  your local community organization such as your neighborhood council or community art center, hospitals, non-profit organizations, libraries, parent/teacher organizations, schools, churches, animal shelters, crisis centers, to name a few. in various roles, from office help to attending outreach events.

Also, there are organizations that specifically focus on matching volunteers with organizations.  Two of them are Giving Tuesday and Big Sunday:

(today!) is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social collaboration. Giving Tuesday has to help you find organizations, charities, events and more in your own community.

is an organization that connects people through helping by offering 2,000 ways for people to help out every year.

For more information on how you can help change the life of a gifted child through the gift of volunteer time or a financial contribution, visit our and pages.

Are you having trouble finding the ideal resources for your gifted child? Are you overwhelmed by the quantity of resources but desperate for a way to narrow down your search? Our (GRC), a free public tool created and curated by ÓÅÃÛÊÓƵ, currently has over 650 carefully-vetted resources sorted into six categories: Advocacy, Articles and Media, Gifted Programs and Services, Scholarships and Competitions, Schools and Twice-Exceptional (2E). Viewers can search for a keyword and filter their results by location, grade range, resource type and more. Each GRC entry includes a description, contact information and a direct link to the website.

As the number of entries expands, the GRC continues to grow as an exemplary online database of resources for gifted preK-12 learners. The number of visitors for the first half of 2018 has almost surpassed that for all of 2017, which means the GRC audience is doubling in size!

Have you explored the GRC lately? Get started by perusing the 10 most-viewed resources so far in 2018:

1. (Grades K-12)

The Independent School Alliance (ISA) is a leading organization in private school admissions counseling and placement. Since 1985, ISA has provided access and opportunities at the elementary and secondary level to thousands of students across Southern California on behalf of parents of color who are seeking an independent school environment for their academically strong and motivated child.

2. (Grades 9-12)

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science in conjunction with the Engineering Science Corps Outreach Program offers an eight-week summer program that encourages each of its high school participants to consider a future in engineering.

3. (Grades 3-6)

The Nicholas Green Distinguished Student Award Program awards $500 scholarships to high-ability students in grades 3-6.  Review their website to see if the program is available in your state.

4. (Grades 4-10)

Designed and led by experts in the field of gifted youth, ÓÅÃÛÊÓƵ’s own Yunasa Summer Camps support the whole gifted child, encouraging growth and support of campers intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Camps are offered every summer in Sedalia, Colorado and Flint, Michigan and are open to campers nationwide ages 10 to 15.

5. (All Ages)

This article by Barbara Swicord, Ed.D., discusses how problem-based learning, also known as project-based learning, can be a great start to help educators who are looking for a solution to many problems in the classrooms as well as a way to meet the needs of gifted students.

6. (Grades 5-8)

Formerly Reid Day School, the Learning Academy as part of Stepping Stones Therapy in Orange County believes that education is a personal journey for every family and offers a variety of specialized and individualized programs. Through small group instruction, with high teacher to student ratio, they will promote and execute success for your learner’s home school program. Stepping Stones also offers educational, occupational, speech, and physical therapy in addition to social skills training.

7. (Grades K-12)

The American Association for Development of the Gifted and Talented (AADGT) helps young, extraordinarily gifted classical musicians and artists. AADGT was established in 1993 and since then has helped hundreds of artists and aspiring young musicians from around the world.

8. (Grades 2-8)

The Noetic Learning Math Contest is a semiannual problem-solving contest for elementary and middle school students. The goal of the competition is to encourage students’ interest in math, to develop their problem-solving skills and to inspire them to excel in math.

9. (Grades 6-12)

Since 2003, the Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) online school has provided a unique learning experience carefully designed for outstanding students interested in studying online. AoPS offers a full math curriculum for middle and high school, introductory programming courses and specialty courses to prepare students for particular math and science competitions.

10. (Grades 1-8)

The Gifted Students Academy is an intensive summer program for gifted students in grades 1 through 8. Participants select courses in each of the major subject areas of math, science, language arts, social studies and the arts and may attend as a commuter student or reside on campus in the UCI residence halls.

Visit the to explore more resources for parents and educators.

What are some resources that have helped you as a parent or educator? Share them in the comments section below!