percent experienced fewer aches and pains. Other research backs up these findings: In general, volunteers are healthier and happier and have lower levels of stress hormones and live lon- ger. A study at Boston College found that people with chronic pain felt less pain, disability and depression after they began working as peer volunteers for other chronic pain patients. Even thinking about good deeds helps your health, it seems. The immune systems of participants in a Harvard Univer- sity study were boosted just from watching a movie about Mother Te- resa’s work with the homeless.


Five to Try You can, of course, reap the benefits of volunteering at a nearby hospital, school or organization. Or you could decide to make a vacation out of it: The Travel Industry Association of Ameri-


Common Ground Relief


gardens. Volunteers with legal training or a background in media or public relations can help out in the offices of the organization’s legal clinic or com- munications department. Length of stays are up to each volunteer, who receives three meals a day and com- munal housing. (504-218-6613; commongroundrelief.org; $15 a day sug- gested donation to cover expenses)


Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, KANAB, UTAH


One study found that people with chronic pain felt less pain, disability and depression after they worked as peer volunteers for other chronic pain patients.


Best Friends Animal Sanctuary


Help feed and care for dogs, cats, par- rots, horses, waterfowl and, yes, even pot-bellied pigs at the country’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Best Friends takes in animals that have run out of time with rescue groups and at shelters around the country. (435-644-2001; bestfriends.org; $5 per day for lunch; rooms at the on-site Angel Canyon Guest Cottages overlook the horse pas- tures and start at $125/night; smaller cabins in the sanctuary are $82)


ca estimates that 55 million Americans have traveled as “voluntourists.” Whether you want to care for four- legged friends, tutor children or help to restore the Gulf Coast’s wetlands, there’s no shortage of options to con- sider. Here are a handful of good plac- es to start:


Common Ground Relief (CGR), NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA


Started by a Big Easy resident left homeless by Hurricane Katrina, CGR relies on volunteers to tackle every- thing from wetlands restoration to helping Lower 9th Ward families start


Amizade, NAVAJO NATION RESERVATION Nearly 50 percent of American Indian families live below the poverty line. Amizade brings volunteers to the Na- vajo Nation, the largest reservation in the U.S., stretching over Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado, to learn about Navajo life and culture and work on a community-led service project, including tutoring at the Tuba City Boarding School. Other volunter op- portunies are available in Bolivia, Bra- zil, Jamaica and Ghana. (304-293-6049; amizade.org; from $849 for meals and a 7-night stay in a dormitory room)


Serve.gov, EVERYWHERE IN THE U.S. Not up for a plane ride? Take a volun- teer staycation. Log on to Serve.gov, a clearinghouse for volunteer opportu- nities across the country, and search for what you’d like to do and where you’d like to do it. The site will shoot back a list of groups in both the public and private sectors that are in need of your help. Volunteer opportunities in- clude cooking meals for the elderly; providing career training and interview skills to the homeles; and helping fam- ilies shop for back-to-school supplies.


AIDE


AIDE, COSTA RICA AIDE has numerous ways to help in Costa Rica (and in several other coun- tries including Guatemala, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Brazil and South Africa)— from assisting in an orphanage, school, children’s hospital or nutrition cen- ter, to rehabilitating injured animals. Housing depends on the project you pick, but expect a home stay with a Costa Rican family. (866-6ABROAD; aideabroad.org; $1,395 for two weeks including meals and accommodations; extra cost for Spanish lessons) PR dina mishev is a writer based in Jackson, Wyoming.


PAIN RESOURCE FALL 2012 27


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