“Woman makes volunteerism life’s work”

Raleigh, NC

March 2010

Amber Smith: “Woman makes volunteerism life’s work”

As a teenager growing up in Raleigh, Amber Smith longed to “make a difference” in her town, but she didn’t know how.

That desire, and frustration, continued into her high-school years and eventually inspired her to make volunteerism and nonprofit leadership the focus of her education and future career. And through a course she has designed for one of Wake County’s oldest high schools, she aims to equip today’s teens with the knowledge and skills she lacked at their age.

That’s just one of the ways Smith aims to make volunteerism “part of our institution and culture” through ME3, the nonprofit she co-founded in 2005 at age 22. “I really want volunteering to be a commonplace thing that is embedded in our community and culture,” says Smith, who now is 27 and a first-year graduate student in N.C. State University’s public administration program, with a nonprofit focus. “Our long-term vision is to create a culture of caring and community involvement.”

Smith launched ME3, a nonprofit that connects volunteers with service opportunities, after conducting a two-and-a-half-month, cross-country “journey of self-discovery,” during which she and co-founder Heather Leah interviewed nonprofits, volunteered and performed “random acts of kindness” to better inform their own efforts.

“We came back feeling really inspired and ready to start the organization we’d been talking about,” says Smith, who in addition to her studies and position as president of ME3’s board, is the coordinator for the nonprofit studies minor within the Institute for Nonprofits at N.C. State.

Today, ME3’s Communities in Action Program provides one-on-one assistance to connect Wake County residents to volunteer opportunities at 55 different local nonprofits, including the Neuse River Foundation, the Interfaith Food Shuttle, the Carying Place and the Boys and Girls Club.

Keep an eye out for more from Amber this April....she will be making an appearance on NCGives.org as a guest blogger during National Volunteer Month!

The above story is excerpted from the Philanthropy Journal’s Giving and Community page, sponsored by NCGives. Read the full article here.

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Gifts Included

Talent

Having researched volunteering through her studies, travels and personal experiences, Smith works to help overcome the real and perceived barriers that keep people from donating their time.

Time

Amber Smith, a graduate student at N.C. State University, is the founder and board chair of ME3, a nonprofit that connects Triangle residents with volunteer opportunities at 55 local nonprofits. She volunteers her time to lead the organization, and has designed a high-school curriculum she hopes Broughton High School in Raleigh will begin offering its students this fall.