Many communities in North Texas are supported by the work of charity organizations, that in turn rely on volunteers.
As a career volunteer coordinator, Maitry Shah discovered that a lot of people want to help, but don't know where to start.
That's why she started Charities 2 Love, where she aimed to set the record straight on what it takes to volunteer, and to recruit volunteers to help some of the newest and smallest charities trying to break through and make a difference.
Shah sat down with NTX Now's Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning to share more about her mission.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity. To hear to this conversation in its entirety, click the 'listen' button above.
Variety of opportunities
Shah explained that volunteering can take a variety of shapes, and there is not a one-size-fits-all approach to volunteerism.
"Whether you want to volunteer at home, whether you're at work and your team at work wants to take an hour out and serve, we want to offer opportunities for anybody that feels like they want to make a difference," she said.
One of the ways volunteers can help is through virtual volunteering. Shah says Charities 2 Love started offering virtual opportunities in 2023.
"We had one of the non-profits that we serve say that they needed some snack bags [during the winter] and we're like 'sure, let's try it,'" she said. "We put a call to action out and we got great response from our volunteers, so we made that a virtual volunteer year-round opportunity. Since then, our volunteers have created 3,000 snack bags."
Why not pick one cause?
Shah says she gets asked this question all the time.
"We are Charities 2 Love," she said. "We serve so many causes and truly, it is because there are so many causes out there, whether that's serving women, children, seniors, hunger, homelessness. To me, they are all special."
"Every volunteer event has a unique element to it because the volunteers bring energy," Shah said. "The non-profits we serve, they come and they bring their own energy and then the combination is just magic."
Interested in being connected to a charity in need of volunteers? The Charities 2 Love events calendar and virtual opportunities can be found online.
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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