If you have hit a brick wall in your genealogical research and you think that you have tried everything to break through it, think again. Miracles can happen in any part of your life, including your genealogical research. Today, I learned about a group of kind-hearted genealogists that perform random acts of genealogical kindness for family history researchers that are in need of a little assistance.
Once a month, each of these generous individuals is willing to donate the time that is required to complete one genealogical research task in their geographic area. If you are fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of one of these random acts of genealogical kindness, you will be responsible for any costs that are associated with your research task such as parking, photocopying, postage, and the like. What you will not pay for is the researcher’s time, which is worth quite a bit of money. Many genealogists charge between $40 and $60 per hour or more, depending upon what they are doing.
If you are wondering where to find these genealogical do-gooders, I will not make you wait until the end of the post. That would just be cruel. Visit the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) website to learn all about the global genealogical goodness that has been taking place since 1999. If you would like to request assistance from the volunteers, please be sure to read the guidelines on the web site before you submit a request.
What kinds of things have the volunteers at RAOGK helped with? There are so many great stories from grateful benefactors listed on the web site that include finding obituaries, taking pictures of ancestors’ headstones, locating Civil War records, and validating family legends. Will you be a lucky recipient of a random act of genealogical kindness?