If You Want to Learn Some Skills and Give Back to Your Community, Consider Volunteering

I have always been the sort to volunteer.  From executive boards of non-profits to helping out at one-time events, there have been points where my weekly volunteer hours have eclipsed my actual working hours.  Volunteering is a great way to share your skills, learn new skills, help people in your community, and make your part of the world a better place to live.
If you are going to volunteer, however, consider volunteering with organizations that will teach/allow you to teach the skills that would come in handy during a disaster/survival situation.  Organizations you may want to consider include:

• The Red Cross
• Search and Rescue (Google your local town/county search and rescue)
• Department of Emergency Management (Google your local town/county emergency management)
• FEMA
• NecroSearch
• Master Gardeners
• Your local Volksmarch organization
• Your local HAM/RACES/ARES organization
• Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts
• Habitat for Humanity
• Be a volunteer firefighter (ask about this at your local fire station)
• National medical organizations: Doctors Without Borders, Mercy Corps, CMRT, etc.
• Your local shooting range (local ranges can often use volunteers and as an added benefit you usually get free range time)
• Volunteer Match (see what other volunteer opportunities are available in your area)
• Volunteer.gov (for even more volunteer opportunities)
• Local sports clubs (biking, hiking, backpacking, soccer, et al.  These clubs usually need volunteers and by participating in the sport you can stay in good physical condition)
• NAMUS

These are just a few of the organizations that provide important services to their community and can provide you a good opportunity to learn health/fitness/survival skills. You may also want to consider the Peace Corps, tutoring at your local school, helping out at one of the myriad non-profits in your community, volunteering at your local county fair, etc.