your local adult literacy program

... something that I got involved in recently that I'm going to shamelessly put in a plug for: Adult Literacy. When you shop around for community organizations that in need of volunteers to make a difference in other people's lives, what you discover is that adult literacy programs are almost always in need of people to help out. In a county where 27,000 residents have low literacy skills, there's a lot of folks that might have trouble reading this. So if you're so inclined, think about helping someone out - imagine what it would be like without basic literacy (reading signs, filling out job applications, etc.). Even if you're not into tutoring, there's fundraising, advocacy, etc. etc.

If you're in Washtenaw County, there's Washtenaw Literacy, where they have both basic literacy and ESL programs. If you're somewhere else, call your local library - I'm sure they'll know how to get in touch with a program in your area that needs volunteers.