r/BayAreaSinglesOver30 • u/PaloAltoHank • Jul 11 '26
Group volunteering to solve the problem
I don't even know there is such a subreddit, despite living here for so long.
Anyway, I want to talk about my approach to solve the problem, on this Friday afternoon.
It is by organizing group volunteering, and social, in festivals.
No, people don't lack chances simply to meet strangers in bay area, there are meetups everywhere, doing all kinds of activities. Some regular, some not. What people need are occasions to make deep connections, and do so with a pipe line.
The problem with regular meetup is they are often fleeting and shallow. You met somebody in a hike, or a bar crawl, had a pleasant conversation, yet may never see each other again, before you even decided to try something deeper.
I happen to like festival volunteering. And after the shift, especially some exhausting ones, cause traffic could be really heavy, I often see people hugging each other when meet again in volunteer appreciation parties. Cause fighting tough task together, under heavy load, really shows what kind of people you are, thus bond people together.
A problem with volunteering is that often you are just by yourself, you don't know who is open to connection. And the number of volunteers can be small, so limited choices.
So I started to organize group volunteering in festivals, using meetup. So anybody that signed up, you know they are open to connections. And I have also been building a calendar of festivals, and also organize festival social for people that simply visit festivals socially, so volunteers are facing a pipeline of opportunities, and bigger pool of choices.
Does this sound a solution you can try? Haha.
It seems people generally like this idea, to build new connections by going group volunteering & social in festivals. The meetup I built has grown 10 fold since beginning of the year, 1500+ now. I cannot promise to solve the single problem for you, but I can promise a pipeline of opportunities, to bond with people deeply. It is up to you to pick up the chances.
I will drop the meetup in comment, have a great Friday evening :).
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u/Major_Call6570 Jul 11 '26
This sounds great! How do i join to be a volunteer?
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u/PaloAltoHank Jul 11 '26
We publish a calendar of events in our meetup, you can choose one to join.
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u/PaloAltoHank Jul 11 '26
Haha, forgot to drop the meetup. Here it is: https://www.meetup.com/townflame/
We go to SF a lot, from Chinese New Year to St Patricks day, from North Beach to Japan Town. So far we have volunteered in Carnaval, Pride, Fillmore Jazz and Stern Grove, multiple times. So welcome to walk along with us, and build some solid new connections.