Volunteer Expeditions | Volunteer Global

Introduction

Volunteer Expeditions is a nonprofit travel-planning service that assists college and high school groups, religious congregations, and corporate groups in planning a volunteer vacation. Our trips include rebuilding in New Orleans, tutoring children in Jamaica, and volunteering in Chicago or Washington, DC. Each volunteer trip is customized to the unique budget, time frame, and interests of the group. Our services include arranging transportation and hotels, identifying and setting up volunteer opportunities, supplying food, bringing in speakers, and providing tours of the city.

We have worked with groups that range in size from 10 to over 200, and the average size is around 20. Volunteers must be at least twelve years old, but all ages are welcome! We would love to plan your group's trip. Please contact us or visit our website to find out more information.

(Please note that we do not schedule trips for individuals--we only schedule trips for already-established groups.)

Types of Projects

In New Orleans (focus: rebuilding the city after Hurricane Katrina):

-Building, insulating and/or painting homes

-Sorting food, supplies, and donations

-Clearing debris-strewn parks and fields

-Preserving, maintaining, beautifying green spaces, playgrounds and parks

-Tutoring children in charter schools that work with low-performance students

-Serving food to the homeless

In Jamaica (focus: tutoring children):

-Tutoring children in orphanage

-Tutoring children in school for the blind

-Distributing toys, books and games to underprivileged children

In Chicago (focus: volunteering and touring):

-Assisting in homes for elderly

-Volunteering options with various organizations, such as food depositories (more details coming soon)

-Discovering many sites that make the city great

In Washington, DC (focus: helping the homeless)

-Helping in hunger and homeless outreach

-Serving/preparing meals for the homeless

Locations

In Jamaica, you'll work with underpriveleged children from orphanages and a school for the blind outside of Kingston. Every aspect of the trip is very safe and supervised. The children are very much in need of good teachers and role models!

In New Orleans (USA), you'll work at a variety of different sites as you help restore the city to what it was like before Hurricane Katrina. We'll work with you to help pick work sites that work towards the missions you want to accomplish on your trip.

In Chicago (USA), you'll work with several different community outreach organizations that have a Jewish focus.

In Washington, DC (USA), you'll work with many different organizations that combat the homelessness and hunger in the city.

Timeline

Each service learning trip is completely customized to the time frame, budget, and interests of the group. Most trips tend to be scheduled over a long weekend, or about 4-5 days. We also offer programs for alternative spring breaks. We typically don't offer trips longer than one to two weeks.

Accommodations

New Orleans & Chicago: We receive bids from a number of area hotels and work with you to determine which works best for your needs.

Jamaica: You'll stay at Smokey Manor Guest House, a lovely home run by a wonderful woman.

Washington, DC: You'll stay in local hostels and churches.

Costs

Since each trip is different, there is no set amount. Generally, each volunteer can expect to pay $700 for a 5-day trip to New Orleans, and up to $1000 for a 7-day trip to Washington, DC. These covers accommodations, meals, donations to the organizations we work with, tours, administrative services, and land transportation. This cost does not include airfare.

Connect

Website: volunteerexpeditions.org
Facebook: facebook.com/vexpeditions
Twitter: twitter.com/vexpeditions
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/volunteer-expeditions
Google+: https://plus.google.com/114990900675069246036?prsrc=3
Blog: volunteerexpeditions.blogspot.com
Pinterest: pinterest.com/vexpeditions