People Making a Difference through Community Service (PMD) promotes responsible volunteerism by involving individuals in enjoyable, one-day, hands-on volunteer
projects that meet the needs of local charities in Greater Boston and by assisting businesses and charities in developing their own successful volunteer programs that

• Produce appreciable results and bring tools and materials while conserving recipient charities' limited resources,
• Educate volunteers about broader issues, and
• Bring people together to make a difference effectively and safely.
  
  

Description:
PMD involves volunteers in organized, one-day, hands-on service projects each week that assist local charities with needed tasks such as cleaning, painting, and gardening (and not clerical or fund raising work). Individual volunteers take responsibility for their participation in individual projects by signing up to participate by the deadlines and providing complete contact information. After receiving confirmation of participation, volunteers receive hardcopy information about how to get to the project by public transit and by car, what to bring/expect, information about the people/charity served, maps, etc.

PMD also partners with select companies and charities that would like to develop and lead their own one-day service projects following the PMD methodology of addressing real needs, providing resources, expertise, and volunteer management, and developing long-term partnerships. PMD handles all of the details so that corporate volunteers can arrive and jump right in since everything is prepared in advance. Partnership projects have involved Bingham McCutchen partners and support staff assembling special print/braille board books for sighted and blind pre-readers; McKesson and Pearl, Meyer & Partners employees painting murals for nearby early intervention programs; Keystone Partners employees making over an entire yard for nine, formerly homeless women; employees of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and other Cambridge-based companies improving trails and painting kids' faces at nearby Fresh Pond Reservation; and British Telecom Conferencing employees and other volunteers preparing and sharing meals with frail, formerly homeless elders in the South End.

PMD also trains nonprofit staff to improve their capacity for effective volunteer recruitment, engagement, and retention by teaching courses for the nonprofit Technical Development Corporation and conferences as well as by providing specialized consulting services for charities including Cradles to Crayons, Right Rides for Women's Safety, and the Feline Adoption & Rescue Society.

History:
PMD is a volunteer nonprofit organization founded in 1992 by Lori Tsuruda and governed by a volunteer board of directors. Nearly 4,000 people have volunteered with PMD and contributed more than 47,000 hours helping 108 charities, the majority of which have no dedicated staff focused on engaging volunteers. Recipient charities include Hearth-Home for Good, Hawthorne Youth & Community Center, Prison Book Program, and Merrimac Valley Habitat for Humanity.

Contact person: Lori Tsuruda, Founder & Executive Director, (phone), (email)

Address:

P.O. Box 120189 Boston, MA 02112

Directions:

The PMD office is located in Dorchester's Ashmont Hill neighborhood on Talbot Ave. However, PMD community service projects take place at the locations of the charities served. Specific directions and maps to each project site by public transportation and car. . . (more)   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: Ashmont Station,   Walk distance (in minutes): 5   Nearest Bus Stop: #22, 1 minute walk For maps or information, please see http://www.mbta.com