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United Way of Greater Kansas City honored three CommUNITY Volunteers of the Year — two adults and one youth. One adult winner contributed more than 1,000 volunteer hours and helped open seven transitional housing homes.
During National Volunteer Week (April 19–25), the American Red Cross celebrated its workforce — 90% of which is unpaid volunteers — with the Los Angeles region alone hosting more than 6,000 volunteers and a regional Volunteer Excellence Awards on April 11.
The America250 initiative "America Gives" surpassed 2.5 million volunteer service hours by mid-March 2026, mobilizing nonprofits across all 50 states as the U.S. prepares for its 250th anniversary.
Houston Food Bank — the largest in the Feeding America network — aims to engage 100,000 volunteers in 2026 after a record 94,000 helped pack and distribute meals in 2025, as demand stays high across southeast Texas.
Yancey County's Double Island Volunteer Fire Department installed a solar-powered microgrid with battery storage, creating a resilience hub that operates during power outages and reduces energy costs.
The America250 initiative and nonprofit partners are mobilizing communities across the United States for National Volunteer Month in April, with Idealist hosting 53 community meet-ups on a single day.
The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of Volunteers, sparking a worldwide surge in community service as organizations and governments recognize the vital role volunteers play in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
Richmond upon Thames honoured its 2026 Community Heroes, recognizing volunteers who support displaced families, protect nature, and young children who have raised thousands for charity.
Youth leaders Cayla Boehm and Maelyn Garcia have spent over three years mobilizing hundreds of young volunteers to provide weekly grocery deliveries to families across northern Illinois and free tutoring to students in need.
The UK Biobank completed over one billion medical scans from 100,000 volunteers, creating the most comprehensive atlas of the human body ever assembled. Early analysis revealed that heart disease and brain disease often co-occur, suggesting cardiovascular health may protect against dementia.
The City of Bloomington, Indiana launched a challenge to log 100,000 volunteer hours in 2026 as part of America's 250th anniversary celebrations. The Volunteer Network connects residents with local nonprofits, turning the national milestone into a community-wide movement of service and civic engagement.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2026 the International Volunteer Year for Sustainable Development, recognizing that 2.1 billion people — 34.5% of the global working-age population — volunteer every month.
David, a young Nigerian immigrant, volunteered to walk his elderly neighbor Frank's dog — sparking a cross-generational, cross-cultural friendship that evolved into David becoming Frank's caregiver.
Japan's grassroots "kodomo shokudo" movement — volunteer-run community cafeterias that provide free or low-cost meals to children — has grown to over 9,000 locations, transforming from a niche initiative into a nationwide social safety net.
A Hamburg program matches refugees with local volunteers who introduce them to German culture through shared activities — from football matches to museum visits.
The global Cycling Without Age movement now operates in 52 countries, giving nursing home residents the joy of bike rides through trishaw rides piloted by volunteers.
The global Repair Café movement, where volunteers fix broken items for free, has expanded to 3,000 locations, saving thousands of tons of waste from landfills.
A volunteer scanning NASA data discovered a potentially habitable exoplanet that professional astronomers had missed, and now the world's most powerful telescopes will investigate it.
After winter storms battered Washington DC, volunteer 'Snow Heroes' hit the streets with shovels to help elderly and disabled neighbors clear their sidewalks.
The Immigrant Defense Network has gathered more than 100 organizations to support vulnerable families, training an average of 2,000 volunteers per week as constitutional observers.
Young voters powered a wave of civic engagement in 2025 US elections, driving turnout to its highest levels in decades and reshaping the political landscape.
