Volunteering one's time to help others is always a wonderful way to get to know other like-minded individuals while working for a good cause. In Turkey and especially in Istanbul, there are many ways to share your talents and time by helping others.

Here are a number of active, entertaining and expat-friendly avenues to volunteer in Turkey:

Istanbul&I is a volunteer youth community dedicated to social impact and helping disadvantaged and displaced communities. It has upward of 300 volunteers from over 50 countries and regularly hosts events such as weekly speaking clubs held in Turkish, English, French and Arabic and the seminars series ÇayTalks, which continues this Wednesday, March 28 with a discussion on The Pressure to Be Perfect. On Friday, March 30, Istanbul&I celebrate the two-year anniversary of its founding with a special party that will take place from 9 p.m. onward at their center in Karaköy and will be a great opportunity to find out more about their projects and how to contribute.Volunteers of Onar Istanbul pose for the camera after one of their events.

Speech Bubbles is an English-language volunteer theater group and performing arts school that organizes two big musical productions as fundraisers for local charities each year. Formed by Tom Godfrey over 25 years ago with the intention of putting on English productions for his students, Speech Bubbles has since blossomed into a full-blown theater group with volunteers of all ages from all over the world that also teaches performing arts classes to children on weekends. You can catch them performing "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" this Saturday, March 31, and the following Sunday, April 4, at Profilo AVM. Their summer production will be "Singin' in the Rain."

Onar Istanbul, aka the Foreign Women's Support Association, is a multicultural and non-political organization made by women for women that provides foreign women in Istanbul self-awareness development, prevention against physical and psychological harassment, legal support and tools for smooth integration into local communities. Their mission is to empower women and stop gender-based violence, which they do through educational programs in schools and universities as well as self-development and women's empowerment programs and by offering psychological and legal support.

There are approximately 40 volunteers and collaborators and this Saturday, Mar. 31 they will be holding a Call for Volunteers at the Nazım Hikmet Kültür Merkezi in Kadıköy that will take place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Cihangir Cool for Cats is a volunteer groups started by a British expat nearly eight years ago to assist the needs of the street feline population in Cihangir, one of Istanbul's highly expat-populated neighborhoods. In addition to providing and advising of opportunities as well as providing details on shelters in need of volunteers, Cihangir Cool for Cats also holds regular quiz night fundraisers with a raffle in which proceeds go to help the street cats and dogs in the city.

Çorbada Tuzun Olsun Derneği (May There be Salt in Your Soup Association) is an Istanbul-based association that assists the homeless in Beyoğlu by operating as a soup kitchen. Operated by dozens of volunteers and welcoming newcomers, this mobile soup kitchen distributes free soup to the homeless nightly from Taksim Square and in front of Firuzağa Mosque in Cihangir.

The Yusra Community Center, located in Istanbul's picturesque neighborhood of Balat is a volunteer-run organization that provides information and assistance to people, and in particularly children, in need. Started by Shahla Raza, a filmmaker from India, the Yusra Community Center has supported more than 70 kids through offering art, language, computer, pre-school and photography lessons and occasionally dishes up fundraising Indian feasts, which have been featured on TRT World. They welcome volunteers in the fields of art, music and sports.

Tomorrow is Better is an organization that began with Syrian music teacher Maisa al-Hafez playing her guitar and singing for Syrian children in the parks of Istanbul, after which she would distribute gifts. It

has since grown to include dozens of volunteers organizing events such as a Syrian children's talent show, which took place last year, and their upcoming art festival. Hafez is also the founder of the Istanbul Mosaic Oriental Choir and her story as a refugee from Syria as well as other members' of the multicultural choir is documented in the touching feature-length musical documentary "Ballad for Syria," which was released last year and continues to receive high acclaim in the international festival circuit.

'Lily'- Love in the Language of Yarn - is a nonprofit charity with the primary objective of providing hand-knit blankets for Syrian children in refugee camps in Turkey. Started by a Dianne Jones, a British expat living in Kuşadası, 'Lily,' which operates on a strictly volunteer basis through the donation of funds, yarn, knitting, crocheting and the transportation of blankets, also occasionally helps to relocate Syrian families into homes. The documentary "Square Hugs," which was filmed by International Women of Istanbul members Linda Caldwell and Katherine Baker to help support the organization, tells the story of Lily and Dianne's venture to start the charity.

Based in İzmir, ReVi is an active group of dozens of international and local volunteers with the goal of helping refugees with sustainable work opportunities and solutions, which they do through a number of programs such as attending dinners held by refugees and assisting families in knitting and making bracelets that are sold around the world. They hold new volunteer meetings every week.