Giving your time to other people and causes not only helps said people and causes, but also you. Studies show volunteers live longer lives and have lower rates of depression– oh, and intense frustration that comes when trying to find somewhere to volunteer. The DEED app alleviates all that frustration by helping you find interesting local volunteer opportunities without all the hassle.
DEED is simple: it shows you a variety of places you can volunteer your time, anywhere from half an hour to two hours. The opportunities cover a wide range of interests and causes: for example, join Hashtag Lunchbag’s Feedwalk where you help assemble packed lunches with kind notes and distribute them to shelters and parks. Or be a mentor for girls at The Coding Space as they learn this valuable tech skill (no coding experience needed). Sign on to be a College Career Coach, play BINGO with seniors, make a masterpiece in an art class alongside men working to beat their alcohol and drug addictions with Project Renewal, or walk dogs for animal shelters. You can refine the search based on time of day, weekend or weekdays, or even area of the city.
Click on the option you’re excited about and you conveniently get all the information you need in one place. Dates, times, locations, duties, information about the organization, even forms you might need to fill out first. You also get to see how many spots are left and who else is volunteering. You sign up for the app through your Facebook account, so it’s easy to see if other friends are coming along, or hell, even invite them. DEED makes the social component of volunteering even better.
The DEED app is, as the founders so aptly put it, “mobilizing millennials to take action.” And millennials are eager to do just that: According to the Millennial Impact Report, a whopping 70 percent of millennials volunteered at least an hour to a cause, while over a third volunteered 11 hours or more. But it’s not just millennials (people born anywhere from 1982 to 2004, though feel free to take Pew’s “How Millennial Are You” Quiz) using the app: DEED has quickly become the leading volunteer app in New York City.
It won’t be long before DEED adds new cities to the app. Los Angeles is lucky number two with more information coming out at Coachella, the April arts and music festival.
With DEED it’s never been easier to be an active, engaged citizen improving the world, get all the health benefits of volunteering your time, and to meet interesting people in your city. So get out there and answer DEED’s call: Do Something Good Today.
