One of our core values is a dedication to supporting charities. Over the past few months I've been trying to come up with new ways to highlight and help charities. Last week we were talking about our trip to South Padre Island and how much the kids enjoyed a visit to Sea Turtle, Inc. (a sea turtle rescue non-profit). It got me thinking about volunteering on vacations.

Typically when I think about volunteer vacations, traveling to Africa or Central America to do humanitarian work comes to mind. But why is that way? Do you really have to travel that far or even dedicate your entire vacation to make a difference? The answer is NO!! Don't get me wrong, there is a place for those kind of trips and it is something we would like to do with our children now that they are getting a little older.

What if we changed that idea that it takes some special effort to volunteer on vacation? Could you find 30 minutes from one day of your vacation to serve lunch at a homeless shelter? Maybe it is as simple as finding a place like Sea Turtle, Inc who offers a great experience in return for a small donation. Maybe purchasing an extra bag of groceries for the local food bank. There are probably countless small things like this that we can do on our vacations to make a difference.

How have you volunteered on vacation or helped non profits with your vacation? Tell us about your experience, traditional or creative. What creative ideas do you have for how you could make a difference on vacation? Know of a charity that could benefit from tourist support? Add a comment with your ideas on how to make your vacation more meaningful or share it with us on Facebook.

Do you run a non-profit that counts on tourism or is located in a vacation hotspot. Could you use a tourism boost? Jump over to our Facebook page, like us and then post a little about your charity and any specific needs you have right now.

For now we will use Facebook as our hub for highlighting these types of charities and opportunities for you to volunteer on your vacation.

Don't just take a vacation, take a Meaningful Vacation!

We are excited to announce that Meaningful Vacation is now offering additional services. In addition to our growing selection of vacation rentals we now offer almost everything you need to plan your vacation. You can book airline tickets, car rentals, ground transportation (airport shuttles, private car services), discounted lift tickets, ski rentals and other activities at some of the hottest vacation spots.

Click here to search for whatever you need to plan your vacation. As always 10% of each sale is donated to charity. Book all your vacation needs today!

Don't just take a vacation, take a Meaningful Vacation.

One of the great charities that we support, Vacations For Veterans, recently reached a pretty big milestone. They surpassed 1000 vacation homes donated. One of the things that helped push them over this milestone was being featured on NBC. You can view the video of the NBC Making A Difference segment here. Please take a look at the video as it really shows the great things that they are doing for injured veterans.

Their growth is very exciting and I really want to do more for them. If you own a vacation rental please consider donating a week in your property. Even if it is an off-peak week, they are more than happy to take that donation. If you don't own a vacation rental and would like to donate funds you can also do that to help support their cause.

If your vacation rental is listed on Meaningful Vacation and you donate time to Vacations For Veterans let us know. We are working on how to do a special promotion of your property. Don't have your property listed with Meaningful Vacation, what are you waiting for? List your vacation rental today!

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Looking for a great and easy way to earn money for charity? We are excited to announce our newest fundraising promotion. Thanks to a great arrangement we have large selection of vacation rental properties that pay us a commission. For each nights stay that is booked we earn a commission and we will donate 25% of our commission back to charity. Simply book your stay and forward your confirmation email to us letting us know which of the non-profits that we support you would like the commission to be sent to.

We already have two great charities signed up. You can either support World Orphans or the Denver Rescue Mission. We hope to be adding more new charities in the near future so check our fundraising page to see the most up to date list.

 

Over the past few weeks we have added some great new vacation rentals. We added ten Jamaica villas that range from one to six bedrooms. These are our first rentals outside the United States. The second property is a lake front two bedroom cottage near Waterboro Maine. We also added a two bedroom ocean view home in Kapoho Hawaii. The final new listing is a two bedroom condo in Branson Missouri and is located on a golf course.

Check out these great new listings or any of other vacation rental listings.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to receive the latest vacation rental deals and news about Meaningful Vacation.

Don't just take a vacation, take a Meaningful Vacation!