Community Voices for Health

By Meaghan Avery – Healthy Living Program Director for the Old Colony YMCA

Each year, community and business leaders, parents, teens, and individuals give back through volunteerism at Old Colony Y. Volunteers help support our community’s most pressing needs through a focus on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Many of our program’s accomplishments are due to the hard-working volunteers who help keep them running!

Volunteering at the Old Colony Y offers individuals an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the community while experiencing personal growth and fulfillment. Our volunteers are driven by a shared passion for the cause and a desire to help others. By joining, they build valuable social connections, develop new skills, and gain experiences that can enhance their resumes. Old Colony Y values the diverse motivations of its volunteers, whether they are giving back to a community that has supported them, making social community connections, decreasing stress, or seeking the mental and physical health benefits that come from contributing to a worthy cause. Volunteering is more than just giving time; it’s about being part of a supportive and impactful community dedicated to making a difference. We can see firsthand the impact that working with our programs has on our volunteers.

In my role, I have seen the incredible impact that our volunteers have made as it relates to combatting food insecurity in our communities. Groups of Y Community Market volunteers assist monthly in unloading and organizing the 15,000+ pounds of food that we receive for the Greater Boston Food Bank, weekly in packing bags for around 150 Shoppers, and daily as they distribute those bags to individuals. The Y Community Market has grown immensely in the last three years, and a major part of that is due to the support of the volunteers. We look forward to their continued engagement as we renovate our existing market space to better serve the community with a shopper’s experience pantry. We hear directly from our volunteers that they can personally feel the impact they are making as they support their community.

There are so many opportunities for volunteers with our organization – from preparing holiday packages for our program families, food support at multiple branches, mentoring our local youth, camp clean-up days, event planning, coaching youth leagues, back-to-school preparations, and so much more! If you are interested in being a volunteer for Old Colony YMCA, please visit https://www.oldcolonyymca.org/volunteer.