Two weeks ago, Cabot Creamery (yes, cheese!) and developer Chalo Inc. kicked off a rewarding initiative for those active in their communities. Through Reward Volunteers, an app for iPhone and iPod Touch, anyone putting forth volunteering and community service hours can track their commitments in order to earn points and prizes for themselves or their cause.
To take part in Reward Volunteers, users must connect the app with their Facebook account, and, of course, be active in a volunteer organization. Tracking service hours in the app is easy—simply find your organization and then use the scrolling numbers to input your time spent. Reward Volunteers will then leave a post on your Facebook Wall so all your friends know how altruistic you are.
Prizes for participation will be awarded monthly, and include items such as Cabot gift baskets, gift certificates, vacations and even $3,000 in cash. The Reward Volunteers program ends July 7, when five organizations will also win $3,000 cash awards.
Aside from the Facebook-requirement, there’s really no downside to participating in Reward Volunteers because all organizations are eligible to have volunteers participate. If you’re already committed to your community you might as well log-on and see if you can win yourself a bonus. If you aren’t an active volunteer, now might be the time to start.
