What positions are available to volunteer at a hospital?

Volunteer positions during the holiday season?

• Where & how should I look for a volunteer position during the holiday season? I'm in Southern California.

• Answer:

  At this late a date, it's going to be *very* difficult for you to find a volunteering opportunity on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, because organizations are overwhelmed with requests from people who want to help on those specific days, and there isn't enough opportunity to go around. Still, no reason not to try -- just know that it might take many, many inquiries before you find something. Next year, start making inquiries much more in advance. And know that many organizations reserve opportunities on holidays for their long-term volunteers. VolunteerMatch (http://www.volunteermatch.org), Idealist (http://www.idealist.org) and CraigsList (http://www.craigslist.com) all list volunteering opportunities with thousands of organizations, many of them in your area. Also, contact your local volunteer center; you can find this via the Points of Light Foundation web site (http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/).