How can I use my timebank hours to further causes I believe in?

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Whether your cause is protecting the Chesapeake Bay, fighting discrimination, getting out the vote, or anything else important to you, you can post a request for help on hOurworld and use your timebank hours to compensate members who respond. [Here are some examples to stimulate thinking. But please note that many of them are not appropriate or safe for this moment in time which requires distancing, avoiding crowds, etc. due to Covid-19.]

You can get help with tasks that require skills or knowledge you don’t have.

  • A member can create a rousing call-and-response chant to excite a crowd -- or pen a template for a letter to the editor that you can adapt as needed.

  • Someone can show you how to request a permit for a rally -- or just do it for you because you’re busy lining up speakers.

  • You can get help with planning or brainstorming – the kind of thing where two heads are much better than one.

  • A member can do research into the history of a problem or the science or economic effects or any other research relating to your cause.

  • Maybe you can get legal advice (or even someone to bail you out of jail if it comes to that).

You can amplify your efforts by recruiting other members to do what you’re doing.

  • They can get signatures on a petition: You cover one side of the plaza, they cover the other side.

  • Sometimes you have all the skills; you just need more bodies or more voices – or more cars to shuttle people to the polls, more people to make calls.

A little help with small tasks may do wonders for your stress level. Why not ask?

  • You want a ride to your gathering downtown since it’s hard to juggle all your gear on the metro.

  • Let someone else look up directions to an event and any special instructions or restrictions.

  • Save time by having someone else pack you a lunch, fill your water bottles, put hand sanitizer or sunblock in travel size bottles, or go get that megaphone from the guy across town.

You can offer to help other members with their causes, too! (And earn hours for it.)

  • Use your artistic skills to create spiffy signs for members attending a rally.

  • Offer to put out announcements and track RSVPs.

  • And don’t forget, with the Inter-trade feature on hOurworld, you can offer lodging, meals, or logistical help to out-of-town timebankers coming to D.C. for the next big march.

Another benefit of recruiting help through the timebank?

  • You’re inviting people to get involved in something they may not otherwise have chosen to do. But once they get a taste of being part of a movement, they may be inspired to take more action on other causes they believe in.