This is the first in a five-part series on where to find true love.
If you're looking for fun and relaxed venues for meeting potential dating material, try volunteering your time. Though you might not expect it, volunteer work can be downright romantic -- you might end up meeting your heart's desire at an art fair, a formal dinner dance or a fashion show.
"Volunteering is an enjoyable and psychologically rewarding option for people who are tired of bars, nightclubs and other typical dating scenes," says Santa Monica, Calif., dating consultant and workshop leader Renee Piane. Plus, "volunteering tends to attract people who have a more evolved sense of social responsibility," she says. "Service to the community becomes more important to many people as they mature."
Chances are there's a singles volunteer organization or two in your area. Churches and synagogues often have single volunteer clubs. Hospitals, museums and libraries sometimes do, as well. Check your Yellow Pages and start calling.
You may also want to contact your local Chamber of Commerce regarding any single charity groups they may organize. If they don't have groups for singles, you and some friends could always offer to start one.
SingleVolunteers.org offers an easy way to plug into single volunteer organizations around the country. Opportunities range from getting down and dirty building houses for Habitat for Humanity or participating in a beach cleanup, to dressing in your finest duds to help out at the Palm Beach Leading Men event benefiting the Cystic Fybrosis Foundation. If your area is lacking a SingleVolunteers chapter, their Web site offers information on how to start one.
Even if you have a busy schedule, volunteering doesn't have to be a huge time commitment. Organizations such as SingleVolunteers and VolunteerMatch.org offer plenty of opportunities at one-time events.
Many of these individual events require little training. By agreeing to attend a volunteer event or social, you must read and accept the organization's terms as stated in the volunteer agreement. This usually just entails arriving at the volunteeer project site on time and participating until the project is complete.
