You may have read in the USAToday newspaper, among others, about the return of tourists to post-Katrina New Orleans. It appears that the majority of visitors returning are business people and convention goers.
A portion of these visitors are taking the time to give back to the New Orleans community they’re visiting – either through dollar donations or by physical contributions --helping plant trees in parks, rebuilding homes and clinics, picking up trash, etc. The New Orleans CVB has coined the word “voluntourism” to describe these actions.
We’ve heard about college students doing similar charitable acts on their vacations. Even high school students are being required to have a certain number of community service hours to qualify for graduation.
Now we know South Florida is not in the same category of need as New Orleans, but every community has people and places that could benefit from charitable giving of some sort. Unfortunately, we too have homeless people and poor people and needy residents.
Think about it. Just having a list of suggestions of places where your meetings/convention attendees could volunteer while in town, should you be asked, would be a step in the right direction. Why not take a proactive stance and make our community a place of “voluntourism” too?
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