Have A Little Free Time? Try Speed Volunteering

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The United Way is hosting a huge volunteer event Thursday designed specifically for those who want to help but may be short on time.

They're encouraging people to get involved over their lunch hour and come out for some speed volunteering as part of the kick-off to the annual United Way campaign.

It takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the City Center in downtown Minneapolis or in downtown St. Paul at the Ecolab Plaza.

Volunteers can spend as little as 15 minutes to help those in the community.

The United Way are asking for help packing up healthy snacks for kids, creating dental hygiene kits for the Bright Smiles program which helps pregnant women and children, or making a tie blanket for someone living in homeless shelters.

"The goal of our event today is to connect people with their passion around volunteering showing them what they do can make a difference and creating interest and continuing to volunteer and give time and have an impact on the community," said John Wilgers, the campaign chair.

If you want to volunteer, organizers said you can sign up online or just show up at City Center or Ecolab Plaza.

If you can't make it out today, the United Way website has a link called the "Caring Connection." It helps people find a volunteer opportunity based on their interests, like hunger or the environment.

The website helped set up more than 40,000 volunteer opportunities in the Twin Cities last year.