Amanda McGlothlin

For Amanda McGlothlin, volunteering is not just good for the community, it's good for her studies, too.

A senior in advertising at the University of Texas at Austin, McGlothlin volunteers at Heart House, a local nonprofit after-school program for at-risk children.

McGlothlin gives her time to teach grade-school children twice a week. She's also putting her own unique stamp on Heart House through a photography project that's producing candid images for the organization's outreach. (She'll be using the best of the images in her own school thesis.)

McGlothlin originally found out about Heart House at VolunteerMatch while researching volunteer opportunities that would benefit local children.

"I like teaching the kids new things and learning things from them that I didn't know," she said. "I always forget how smart children are!"

According to Anna Land, a Heart House founder, 125 volunteers spend about four hours a week helping the children at Heart House. The organization recruits 80% of its volunteers through VolunteerMatch.

"Without VolunteerMatch, we at Heart House would be unable to find the passionate, dedicated volunteers that allow our program to run," Land said.

Best of all, McGlothlin says she won't be giving up her habit of giving back after graduation, either. She's headed for the Peace Corps where she hopes to continue teaching those who need it the most in Latin America.