I rediscovered the joy of first-time volunteering at Project Connect, a monthly event that provides resources people in our community – experiencing or on the brink of homelessness--to start their journey back to health, financial stability and housing.

When I heard the volunteer coordinator call out the name of the guest I would be assisting—“Juan!”—I expected to meet someone similar to the guest I accompanied at my first Project Connect a month earlier. And by similar, I mean an adult.

So I was pleasantly surprised when a friendly 13-year-old boy walked up and shook my hand. Armed with my list of available services for each guest, I asked what I could do to assist him.

“I just have some questions,” he said, and then went on to share his curiosity about the nature of life and the universe.

Juan had come with his grandmother, Arlene; a United Way volunteer for three years who was once homeless and now finds joy helping others get back on their feet. She figured by bringing Juan along, she could introduce him to the rewards of volunteering.

While Arlene helped our guests find needed clothing, food, health and legal services, I showed her precocious grandson around the event.

“Once you volunteer with Project Connect,” Arlene told him, “You want to keep coming back.”

There are two ways you, too, can make a difference at a special Project Connect on Tuesday, December 16, in Phoenix.

1. Volunteer
2. Donate a new, unwrapped toy to brighten a child’s holidays.

Unwrap the gift of volunteering this holiday season and be part of Project Connect.

Charlotte Brown is a Content Marketing Manager at Valley of the Sun United Way. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Gonzaga University, and has co-authored and ghostwritten several books.