"There's a lot of time where I'm either waiting in public transit, or you go on a trip and there's nothing to really do," said Phelps, "Do you play with some app that's not really going to do anything for you, or do you do something that might actually help someone?"
Phelps said he also downloaded the app because, "There are so many things that could come out of The Extraordinaries that have the potential to be very, very good. I wanted to make sure I had it so that when those things come along, and I'm sitting there with 10 minutes in front of me, I can give 10 minutes, and do something that is hopefully going to help somebody."
He has contributed mostly to the Bibliothèque de Toulouse project by helping to catalog historic French photos. He also played with the Smithsonian Institution and the Library of Congress image tagging projects, and has been watching the progress of KaBOOM!, where you can help build a map of places where kids can play.
He thought it would be great if in the future people could fill out a profile and match their particular skills with microvolunteer opportunities. For example, he'd like to be able to easily find opportunities where he could use his ability to speak French.
"Not that I wouldn't go in and kick the tires and find out what is interesting and what is exciting," says Phelps, "but having certain skills, I think, is really important for being able to help different places. My job is very organizational and administrative based, and I think there is a lot of good that could come out of somebody who has that skill set helping somebody who might not."
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Since my original conversation with Phelps a couple weeks ago, he has also contributed to GoodDogz, where you can help build a database of dog shelters, share information about dogs who need a home, or take a photo of your favorite dog.
He would also like to spend some time on Heal the Bay (where you can report pollution in your neighborhood, storm drain, or at the beach), and on Breakthrough (where you can record a 30-second audio clip telling the government what immigration means to you). He's also figuring out how he can contribute best to wdydwyd where you can take a self portrait answering the question, "Why do you do what you do?" ask a friend wdydwyd?, or call a voicemail line and record your answer to wdydwyd?
Let us know about your experience using The Extraordinaries in the comments or contact a member of the team.
Photo by Lane Hartwell on behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Britt Bravo also blogs at Have Fun * Do Good, BlogHer.com, WE tv's WE Volunteer blog, and the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship blog. She is a Big Vision Consultant.
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