Volunteering The Do Good Bus Way

When it comes to volunteering, we find that it’s something that many people mean to do, but they either never get around to it, or they’re not sure where to start. That’s where the Do Good Bus comes in – we’ll do the hard part (the planning), while you get your hands dirty and do the volunteering!

We understand that not everyone is an event planner. While it might look simple, it’s actually a very complex and time-consuming task, especially if you’re juggling:

• Moving parts
• People’s schedules
• Preferences

If you try to do that while simultaneously completing the job you get paid for, you might just explode from stress. 

The Do Good Bus has all the resources you need for a valuable day spent volunteering. We have access to an ever-expanding network of Southern California social volunteer opportunities – opportunities that allow you and your team to experience the life-changing impact of giving back to your community. 

There’s nothing quite like knowing that you helped out a local organization and volunteered your time and effort for no monetary gain. 

What is the Point of the Do Good Bus?

It’s our goal to bring people together – we want to help your employees function like a team. 

Your people will ride the Do Good Bus and, from there, create some connections outside of the workplace. You might even get to see a brand new side of people you thought you knew – in a good way, of course. 

We find that the camaraderie created by coming together to help strangers is something that you can’t get by doing anything else but volunteering. 

Your team will learn about the cause that they’re helping and, with that added knowledge, might just continue to help out that organization far into the future. 

The positive impact of the Do Good Bus often lasts far beyond a single day. 

Will We Know Where We’re Going on the Bus?

The mystery is a big part of the fun with the Do Good Bus. Here’s why:

• Surprises are yet another way for your team to bond. 
• If no one knows where you’re headed, that sparks a sense of curiosity and excitement among everyone. 
  • Remember when you were a kid and spent time commiserating with your friends or siblings about school trips? This is a very similar concept.
• The excitement is contagious, and it far outweighs any potential nerves
  • • It’s hard to be cautious when you’re all headed into a new experience together and you’ve got your teammates to fall back on. 

We’re happy to choose the volunteer destination for your bus. In fact, it brings us a lot of joy. But if you, as the leader, want a say in where your team heads off to, we’d love to get input from you and collaborate. 

How Did the Do Good Bus Start?

In order to get more familiar with the Do Good Bus and what we do, it’s important to know where we started. Here’s our story, from the beginning:

• Back in 2011, Rebecca Reeder, gathered friends together for her birthday celebration. 
  • She piled them up in a van and they spent time volunteering and building a guerilla garden in Los Angeles. 

• This event inspired her so much that, a few years later, she purchased the iconic 1970 Crown Bus. 
  • She wanted to share such an experience with others, even strangers! 
• Rebecca created an entire business out of this one experience, a business that benefits its community to this day. 

Here’s what Merlin Clarke, our CEO and Head of Happiness, has to say: 

“Our mission is to improve the mental health and well-being of the communities we serve through meaningful connections and purpose. We create fun volunteering opportunities and human experiences to connect business and community.  By bringing awareness and support to society’s needs, we create a lifestyle of giving and caring.  We are built on the foundation of an incredible community of do-gooders.”

What is the Purpose of Volunteering With the Do Good Bus?

Through volunteering, we help people, businesses, and entire communities become more unified and less divided.

It’s no secret that we’re dedicated to improving our Southern California community and strengthening the bonds of people within it through volunteering. But we’re also concentrating on improving the mental health of every single team member who chooses to do good with us, by providing connection and a common purpose with people who matter. 

When you choose to Do Good, you’ll be with your team for about five hours, volunteering and working together to improve the situation of people who may very well be strangers to you. But, by the end of the day, people you barely knew (or didn’t know at all) won’t be strangers anymore.

The Do Good Bus fosters connection. That’s our goal; that’s what we’re here to do. 

Who Has the Do Good Bus Worked With in the Past?

If you’re looking for some familiar names, here are some companies who have ridden with us and gotten a whole lot out of the experience they had:

• EA Games
• Hulu
• NFL
• SalesForce
• KIND
• TOMS
• Disney Voluntears
• Tastemade
• Winc
• Kaiser Permanente
• DIFF Charitable Eyewear 

We’re sure that some of those names ring a bell! 

In regards to what you can expect when you volunteer with us, here are the categories that we typically choose from:

• Earth

  • When your organization works for a charity centered around ‘earth,’ they’ll work for and/or with the environment. Think of working with your hands to build paint, garden, and clean up. Wear something that can get dirty! 

• People

  • When you volunteer within the ‘people’ category, the cause will benefit a certain group of people like the homeless, those affected by domestic violence, children, and more. 

• Animals

  • This category speaks for itself in the way that, when you work under the ‘animals’ category, you’re going to be helping out some furry friends and not just bettering their days, but bettering their lives in general. 

Here are a few specific charities that we’ve done work for in the past:

• Social Justice Learning Institute
• Capital Cares
• McCarthy Heart Hats
• Occupy Sandy

5 Ways Volunteering is Good for Team Building

You’re not only supporting an important cause when you volunteer – you’re also strengthening the bonds of your team. So, when you think about it, it’s a win/win scenario. 

And here’s the thing – volunteering isn’t just good for the team as a whole. In many different ways, it’s good for every individual member. Everyone is unique, and everyone will take something different (and valuable) away from the experience. That’s what’s beautiful about volunteering – of course, there are overarching benefits, but there are also thousands of personal benefits for everyone who does their part. 

Not only does volunteering help bring people together, support mental and physical health, and fulfill your life, there are also a ton of other advantages that it offers – especially regarding your team. 

Here are a few ways that volunteering supports team bonding:

• Through Camaraderie. 

  • The camaraderie that your team will experience while volunteering is unlike what they can gain through any other activity. When a group of people, no matter how different, work together towards a common goal, bonds form quickly. 
  • When the task is finished, everyone can walk away with a sense of accomplishment knowing that they played an important role. 
  • Hopefully, this sense of togetherness and teamwork translates back into the workplace once you get back to the office! 

• Through Honing and Learning Skills.

  • Maybe your team as a whole has a specific skill that can be used to help the charity. If they all do the work and present their unique know-how, it can benefit the cause in major ways. 
  • Or, on the other hand, if everyone is learning something new at once, there’s a sense of inclusivity and togetherness that you might not get with everyone on a different playing field. 

• Through Stress Reduction.

  • These days, everyone is stressed. But when your team’s focus is placed on the bigger picture and working for a cause that extends beyond their personal problems, stress levels go down. 
  • Feeling good from doing good is a real thing – thanks to that dopamine release, your team is more likely to feel empathy towards the groups they’re volunteering for. 
  • Such feelings cultivate strong, bonded teams. 

• Through Collaboration. 

  • Doing hands-on work outside the workplace encourages your employees to think more like a team. They’ll be forced (in a positive way) to collaborate, communicate, organize, and get creative with the solutions they come up with. 
  • As they learn to unify, develop strategies, and try out new methods of thinking, their bond will be strengthened and their effectiveness as a unit will improve. 

• Through Equality.

  • Outside the four walls of your office, titles don’t matter. In a new, neutral environment, people who may have been too intimidated to socialize with those in higher positions might come out of their shell – then form meaningful connections from socializing with new people who they would’ve never crossed paths with in the workplace. 
  • This doesn’t just create authentic, human connections that have nothing to do with seniority or job importance, it can also allow you to get to know your team members on a deeper level. 

Your Team and the Do Good Bus

There’s so much that the Do Good Bus can do for your team and, from there, that your team can do for your community at large. Volunteering brings people together in a genuine, meaningful way, and the Do Good Bus creates experiences that you and your employees won’t soon forget.