Next time you take a few days to travel, think about using a portion of your time off to help improve the communities your visit. United Way and CheapTickets and are teaming up to encourage travelers to take a "volunteer vacation," a growing trend of individuals seeking to give back to local tourism communities during their time away from work and home.

CheapTickets and United Way are giving travelers the tools needed to lend a helping hand to the people and places that could use it the most.Take time out of your hectic life to vacation with a purpose - either by scheduling a full volunteer vacation, or by simply taking a day or two out of an already planned leisure vacation.

The United eWay Volunteer Solutions search tool, highlighted on the site, allows CheapTickets customers to support the causes that are important to them based on when and where they are traveling.