I talked to Alfred Yates of Columbus Gives Back at the Mural Painting at Columbus Global Academy.

Alfred Yates, Columbus Gives Back, http://www.columbusgivesback.org

We are a non-profit that helps to engage young professionals in the community and with each other. We have about 35 to 40 different volunteer projects a month and individuals can just sign up and show up. It is easy to do group social volunteering. A great way to meet people. A great way to get into a community or neighborhood that you have never been before, or you are not familiar with, and to learn about an organization you have never volunteered with before. One of our partners that we love is Community Refugee and Immigration Services. We started our first mural project MLK (Martin Luther King) weekend of this year. That was at Wedgwood Middle School. Since that time, we have done a couple different ones. That’s why we are here today.

You said young, so how old is young?

Aaahhhhh. That’s a great question. I would say that most of our volunteers are between 23 and 40. But, there is nothing excluding people older than that. We don’t go below 21. We want this to be an environment where you are there to connect with other adults and young professionals in the eye of the professional.

Anything else you want to add?

Check us out at columbusgivesback.org. You can look into a time that is convenient for you or a project that catches your eye. You are only committing a couple of hours at a time. We love to do things across the city and address all types of issues: hunger, homelessness, education, environmental, disabilities, etc. We have a project for everybody.