AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Greater Austin YMCA has set a big goal of recruiting 1,000 volunteers before the end of the year.

“One of the cool things about volunteering at the ‘Y’ is that we have a variety of opportunities that meet whatever someone’s particular need is,” said Sean Doles with the YMCA.

Some opportunities include recruiting 500 youth sports coaches.

“We have hundreds of teams throughout the year basketball, volleyball. Whether you are a parent that wants to be involved with your kids, or just someone who really enjoys working with kids and to be clear, we provide background checks for all of our volunteers,” said Doles.

 Volunteers are also needed for the more than 100 special events organized each year by the YMCA.

“We have more involved opportunities like our Youth and Government program, where we have literally over 1000 kids that come from all over the state and take over the Capitol and learn how to practice democracy,” said Doles.

The Greater Austin YMCA’s effort of recruiting 1,000 volunteers before the end of 2023 is called the “Plug In” campaign, a call to get more people to give back to their community.

“One of the things we found coming out of the pandemic is people are really searching for meaning. They want their time and their work to have meaning, they want to connect to that sense of purpose,” said Doles.” So we’re encouraging them, Power Your Purpose. We’re sort of like a catalyst that can help connect you to those opportunities.”

 To volunteer click here: AustinYMCA.org/volunteer or email volunteer@austinymca.org.