Volunteering

Volunteering Opportunities for High School Students

Many high school students are involved in various volunteering efforts, from school ground clean-up projects, to tutoring, to volunteering at a local hospital or animal shelter. Beyond these individual efforts, here are some ways that high school students can work together to give back to the community.

Join a community service club
Community service clubs are common at many high schools around the country, and they offer students an opportunity to make friends and learn leadership skills while helping others. Not to mention, being heavily involved in community service looks great on a college application!
Organize or participate in a sport tournament
High school students are in the unique position where they have frequent access to gyms and athletic fields, as well as athletic equipment. This makes it easy to organize sporting events or tournaments to raise money for various charities; additionally, it’s easy to get school athletes to participate and generate hype for the events.
Hold penny wars
Penny wars are a great way for different student groups to compete to raise money and awareness for their charity of choice. Each group has a large labeled jar that is placed in a common ground on campus (usually in the cafeteria, library, or main office). Then, the whole school donates either coins to their favorite charity. Each cent from a coin that lands in a charity’s jar counts as one point for that charity, while each bill in the jar subtracts points from that charity. The organization with the most points at the end of the penny wars wins all of the money that was collected, although often times, the second and third place organizations are offered a percentage of the money raised. This event is a great way to demonstrate how every penny helps!

If you’re in high school and looking for a way to get involved, try out one of these activities to see how much you can give back to the community.

Filed Under: Volunteering Tagged With: High school, Student, volunteers

Best Volunteering Opportunities for College Students

College is a great time to find ways to volunteer, as many different student groups, fraternities and sororities, and dorms will frequently organize community service events. Here are a few volunteering activities that are particularly unique to college students.

Tutoring and mentoring
Many undergraduates find getting involved in a local tutoring or mentoring organization to be incredibly rewarding. College students are very close in age to many of the teens that they mentor, which means that they can often be seen as the best role models. Tutoring is also a great way to review basic concepts and better prepare for coursework at the college level.
Peer Health Exchange
Peer Health Exchange is an organization in which college students visit public high schools that don’t have a health education program. Here, they spend twelve sessions talking with teens about diet, exercise, nutrition, sexual health, and substance abuse.
Campus Kitchens
This organization recruits a group of students to collect, repackage, and re-cook the leftover food from the dining halls after each meal. Once prepared and packaged, the food is delivered and donated to local homeless shelters, nursing homes, or soup kitchens.
Open mic nights
College campuses also have a high number of talented performing arts majors, singers, and musicians, all of whom make open mic night events so successful. Not only can these events raise a large amount of money for charity, but they can also generate publicity and raise awareness about the charity as well. These are some of the most fun and most lucrative fundraising events on many college campuses.

These four ideas are just a few of the many ways college students can get involved with charities on campus. For more ideas, check out a student activities fair or visit the school’s website to learn about the different charities other students are supporting.

Filed Under: Volunteering Tagged With: Campus, Fraternities and sororities, Student

Best Ways for Young Professionals to Volunteer

Sometimes it can be tough for young professionals to find ways to volunteer, especially if they’ve recently moved to a new city or started a new job. But don’t despair! Here are three fun and rewarding volunteering opportunities for young professionals.

Join a junior board
Junior boards, sometimes known as associate boards or auxiliary boards, are becoming increasingly common for charities. While most charities are run by the executive board, which is usually comprised of the founders and highest donors, the junior board is an opportunity for young professionals to have a say in the growth of the organization. Junior boards often plan fundraising events, coordinate volunteers for various events, and raise awareness about the charity.
Run for a reason
If you’re athletic, consider getting involved in your city’s next 5k, 10k, or half or full marathon to raise money for your favorite charity. Not only is participating in a run a great way to promote your charity and fundraise, but it’s also an opportunity to meet other philanthropically minded individuals and get in shape. Many charities make it easy to raise money for them by offering personalized webpages to fundraise online; still, even if a charity doesn’t offer this tool, there are many online fundraising websites runners can use to collect donations.
Organize or participate in fundraising parties
Fundraising parties are also incredibly popular among young professionals; they provide the chance to explore the city’s nightlife, meet others, and have a great time, all in the name of charity. They’re also quite easy to organize, as many bars and restaurants will be willing to donate venue space, provide appetizers, or offer discounted beverage packages in exchange for publicity.

These are just three simple ways that young professionals can get involved with charitable organizations. If you’re looking for another way to volunteer, contact local charities to see what they need help with most.

Filed Under: General, Volunteering Tagged With: Fundraiser, Fundraising, Volunteering

Kentucky Charities: Show Your True Colors

A question that fellow Kentuckians are asking each other is “What color are your tire stem caps?” S&S Tire from Lexington, KY is now participating in a charity called “Caps 4 a Cause.” They are now carrying pre-packaged tire stem caps in five different colors. Each color represents a charity located locally in Kentucky. If you are wondering what a tire stem cap is, it is the little cap that you remove off your tires when you are about to put air in them. The packages are only $5 each and 100% of the net profits go to the charity that the colored caps represent. Kentucky’s Children’s Hospital is Royal Blue. The Wounded Warrior Project is yellow. The Susan G. Komen Lexington Chapter is pink. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Kentuckiana is light blue, and the American Heart Association, Central Kentucky Chapter is red.

Each Kentuckian can show their true colors as they drive around town, revealing the charity that they support. S&S Retail Director Rick Paynter stated that these tire stem caps could make a significant difference in their community. Imagine the statement that it would make if everyone had colored tire stem caps representing the charity of their choice. You can get your charity tire stem caps and any of the 13 S&S Tire locations. Their website www.caps4acause.com has a location finder.

What a creative way to reach out and help raise awareness in the community and money for the local charities. Something as little as a tire stem cap that is hardly thought about could actually make a difference in the lives of those whom these charities touch. Whether you want to ride around with pink, red, yellow or blue tire stem caps is not the most important thing, it is helping others in your community.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Kentucky, Royal Blue, Wounded Warrior Project

Habitat for Humanity: From Somalia to Chattanooga

Image via Wikipedia

Tribal wars raging in Somalia resulted in the untimely breaking up of the Abobaker/Zain family of four. Through a refugee program, they were able to be reunited once again in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Habitat for Humanity and the Chattanooga’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program made it possible for them to call Chattanooga their home. With their combined efforts, and the help of many people including local Muslims, the Abobaker/Zain family now has a four bedroom and two baths home.

Abobaker says that it is like a dream and that they do not want to go back home. Their home is only one of the seven that have been constructed in the local area.

The Chattanooga Neighborhood Stabilization Program is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for all residents, through helping to cultivate community partnerships and identifying areas in need of revitalization. Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit Christian organization that believes that the rich need wise and honorable ways to divest them selves of their overabundance, and that the poor do not need Charity, but Capital, and not case workers, but co-workers. They began their ministry in 1968 in Koinonia where 42 half-acre housing sites were created, with a community park and recreational area. Habitat for Humanity has built over 350,000 houses now, which have provided shelter for over 1.75 million people in over 3000 different communities around the world.

Even though the Abobaker/Zain families feel overwhelmed by all of the support and help that they have received, they know that they have truly been blessed by both of these programs to be able to be reunited once again as a family, and to have an affordable home of their own. As refugees, this really provides them with the opportunity to start over, to rebuild their lives and to experience the American dream.

Filed Under: Habitat for Humanity, Volunteering Tagged With: Family (biology), Habitat for Humanity International, Somalia

The Handyman and Volunteering

An excellent volunteer opportunity for those skilled with tools is handyman work. The opportunities service local needs and involve all kinds of projects.

Hanging Gates and Clearing Brush

People think of handyman work as repairing decks, fixing faucets and putting up paneling. However, the opportunities can also involve clearing brush from a property, helping to perform controlled burns in wildfire areas and cleaning up public areas such as dog runs. The skill sets are also varied, from plumber to auto mechanic and from carpenter to computer technician.

Finding the Opportunities

Just about all volunteer opportunities are local, although national databases are available on the Internet. Surfing the web for opportunities can be done at most public libraries if the volunteer does not own a computer. For those who like to do things the old way, perusing the Yellow Pages for nonprofit organizations and giving them a call will build a network into the available opportunities. Public librarians can help out if the prospective volunteer gets stuck.

Volunteering to Build Customer Contacts

Handymen are often in business for themselves. Volunteering is an excellent way to make contacts and display skills to people who may want to hire the services later on. Just the act of volunteering raises the estimation of others, and performing high-quality work could very well lead to more business down the road. If nothing else, building a more expansive network of contacts can only help build the business.

Volunteering for the Fun of It

The other side of volunteering is the feeling of having given back to the community. Many people volunteer only to gain this satisfying experience, and handymen are no different. This of course includes handy women as well. Anybody skilled with tools is needed and appreciated in the volunteer world. Gender is hardly ever an issue.

While often overlooked when considering volunteer work, handymen are in high demand for many different tasks and projects.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Handyman, Philanthropy, volunteer

Donations: Dressing to the Nines

Prom, almost every high school girl dreams of going to prom in that perfect dress with the boy of their dreams. Many low income and working class girls do not get to experience this dream simply because it is just far to expensive to buy the dress, shoes and jewelry or even get their hair done.

Three years ago Santa Cruz City Councilman Tony Madrigal approached Pamela, the owner of Classic Cleaners, for help with a prom dress giveaway. Pamela was one of those girls who dreamed of going to the prom, but could not afford it. She says that she went to the beach and acted like she was too cool for prom, even though she desperately wanted to go. Because of her own personal disappointment, she jumped at the chance to bless the lives of other young girls who could have faced a similar situation as she did.

In just the first year, 1,000 dresses were donated to help less fortunate girls across the nation. That number quickly grew to 1,800. This year, they are hoping to bring in 2500 dresses so that they can help many more girls, especially with the economy being what it is today, there is more of a need then there was before.

The community has really stepped in. In the past, they have donated dresses, jewelry, shoes and even make-up. The unique area that they live in offers many opportunities for even local designers to donate. The local school counselors make sure that all girls in need are aware of the giveaway, but it is open to anyone.

Classic Cleaners cleans all of the dresses that are donated so that they are ready for the lucky girls. In years past, the girls have tried them on and modeled them for each other. Some of the dresses even came from as far away as Florida. Pamela points out that those dresses start at $490 retail, and so it is a big day for these girls. She compares it to getting married or buying your first house.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Dress, Florida, Prom

Volunteering for Meals on Wheels

The Meals on Wheels program for delivering complete and ready-to-eat meals to homebound clients has been around for decades. The mission began to simply deliver meals, but the volunteer opportunities have since expanded.

Feeding, Supporting and Transporting

Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver meals as always and do several other important services. H.O.P.E (Healthy Options Program for the Elderly) delivers an extra bag of groceries once a month to clients who require extra nutritional support. Care Calls involve calling homebound clients to check in on them that everything is all right. This is in lieu of friends and family members who are either unavailable or unable to take action if something is wrong. Volunteers in Handy Wheels go to the client’s house and perform repairs. Medi Wheels drivers give rides to medical appointments. For clients who can prepare their own meals but have a hard time going to the grocery store, Groceries to Go volunteers do their shopping and deliver the groceries twice each month.

Requirements and Rewards

Usually the volunteer needs to own a vehicle appropriate for the service. An amount of sensitivity is required and a friendly, patient personality. For home repair, skills such as carpentry and plumbing are needed, along with general handyman skills such as yard work.

The rewards for helping the elderly and homebound clients go beyond the satisfaction of having helped those in need. The elderly have rich life experiences that, when allowed to do so, they like to share with the younger generations. Friendships can develop that are rich and meaningful, putting perspective into the volunteer’s own life experiences. After all, the elderly have been the volunteer’s age, but the volunteer has yet to reach the age of the client.

Volunteering for Meals on Wheels does not take very much effort, although some skills and usually a vehicle are required. The rewards far outweigh the volunteer’s efforts.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: Hunger Relief, Meals on Wheels, Philanthropy

Volunteering, the Peace Corps and Education

The Peace Corps started in 1960 and has been an important program for educating developing countries in several ways. As the understanding of what education means advanced in the US, the principles have been put into place for Peace Corps volunteers to share with other countries.

Critical Thinking

Students in the US today take the notion of critical thinking for granted because it has become integral with curriculums across the nation. However, this was not always the case. During the 1960s and 1970s, critical thinking was a radical idea. How dare passive students challenge the authority figures? Wasnâ€™t education simply preparing drones to work in factories? As it turned out, critical thinking became an important step to master in a studentâ€™s education, whether encouraged by curriculums or not. The world was changing, and critical thinking became necessary for high-level decision making in a world dominated by Total Quality Management (TQM) and its offshoots, by political hard sell techniques and by issues having to do with environment and sustainability. Translated into Peace Corps volunteering, developing countries need to know about the skills required to make wise decisions based on information, not mindless traditions.

Two-Way Street

Volunteers in the Peace Corps not only teach other people about Americans, but also learn about other people. This is a highly enriching experience through a broad spectrum. Languages, cultures, social structures, political systems and economics are just some of the opportunities to share and learn. Certainly some experiences may not be comfortable, but they are all rich with new knowledge and understanding of the world. This kind of experience cannot be found in classrooms or through most internships available in the US. Peace Corp volunteers nearly always come out wiser for their efforts.

The Peace Corps has evolved along with the world. When considering what volunteer paths to take, this should be among the top choices, especially for new college graduates.

Filed Under: Society, Volunteering Tagged With: Peace, Total Quality Management, United States

Volunteering: Keeping on Your Toes

Emma Dark’s passion in life is dance. When she was born, she faced developmental problems, but to the surprise of many of her doctors, she has exceeded well beyond their expectations. Emma wins people over with her drive and determination. She was a candidate for VSA New Jersey Arts Achievement Award. While Emma has overcome obstacles in life, and has had success, she does not stop there. Emma has put her talents to use, by helping others learn to dance.

Emma participates in the pathways program for children with special needs. Each week she volunteers for ten hours as a dance assistant at the YMCA and the Madison Community House. She works with children ranging from the ages of three to ten. Helping these children does not feel like work to her, she thoroughly enjoys it.

Emma would also like raise money for the Special Olympics Area 3 Swim Team as her mother has done. Her mother, Rosemary gets people in the community to make handmade scarves, which she then sells them at Bottle Hill day. It is clear that her mother has set a good example for Emma to follow.

Emma feels that volunteering is her calling in life, and has combined that with her love of dance. There are countless children who she has helped get into position, and helped with tap and ballet work. Emma is probably not even aware of the positive influence that she has had in the lives of many for years to come. And her story will inspire many more to be an influence for good just as she is. To have made a difference already, being just a senior in high school, it is clear that she will do so much more.

Volunteering has an impact on those who are serving and also those who are giving that service. Certainly, Emma will continue to help other youth learn to keep on their toes.

Filed Under: Community, Volunteering Tagged With: United States, volunteer, YMCA