adventures of a typical high school student

Welcome back everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about a topic that has become a bigger part of my life throughout the last year or so: volunteering. I had always wanted to do something meaningful in the community so I joined my school’s Key Club at the beginning of last school year, which came with a requirement of 50 service hours before June. At first it seemed daunting and I wasn’t even sure where to start volunteering since my only experience was helping out at my dad’s Rotary club’s events.

I found a few places I enjoyed to contribute to which helped me easily meet and slightly exceed those 50 hours, and I even signed up for another volunteer organization/club for this school year. It’s a teen auxiliary of my local Assistance League (a national nonprofit) chapter, and it’s officially called Assisteens. Assisteens requires 20 service hours before June in addition to two-hour monthly meetings so it’s less of a commitment than Key Club, but they only accept hours from their designated events and philanthropies. Either way, I intend to exceed the minimum requirements for both organizations and in case you guys are involved in something similar or are just looking to make an impact on the community, here are some ideas for how to get some hours and help others out!

*As a side note, I’m trying to make some of these original. I’ll add in the most common ideas which are obviously great places to start, but just know there are so many worthy causes out there!

1. Animal shelter – see if there’s a rescue shelter or a nonprofit one near you!)
2. Local Boys and Girls Club – they often need camp counselors in summer, plus people to watch the younger kids all year round
3. Local YMCA – I volunteered at mine in the fitness center and at the front desk for a while, the duties may be different depending on yours
4. Beach clean-ups if you live near a beach or any body of water
5. Library – often people are needed to read stories to younger kids or help shelve books, etc.
6. Elementary school tutoring programs – my high school has many programs set up with all the local elementary schools where kids can tutor on certain days of the week; see if yours has something similar and if not, start your own!
7. Tutoring in general – again, many schools have some sort of free tutoring programs and if yours doesn’t, talk with admin about starting one!
8. Camp counseling at a day-camp or sleepaway camp – my school also lets upperclassmen apply to be counselors at 6th grade outdoor school, any camp that you are interested in or that will accept you is great! If you’re already a CIT at a camp you’ve personally gone to, that’s even better.
9. Hospital – again, your duties will depend on what types of programs are available at your local hospital; mine has a great volunteer program that many students sign up for, but you have to be 16+
10. Senior living communities – you can go and do basic tasks/chores, but I know some people who are musically talented also go to senior centers and play music because the older people enjoy it
11. Organizations related to the military – I know this is vague, but there are many nonprofits that do things for soldiers such as assemble care packages and make cards; as always, if there’s not one near you, start your own!
12. Any charity organizations you may already be a part of (like Key Club and the Assistance League Assisteens for me, some of my friends are in others such as Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts, National Charity League, etc.) provide events and specific partner organizations to volunteer at – take advantage of these and if you particularly like one, get more involved with that philanthropy!
13. Habitat for Humanity – you don’t have to go build houses abroad, there are also local ways to get involved
14. Volunteer trips – these could be mission trips if you’re involved with a church, but there are also lots of other ways to travel somewhere and volunteer (again, it doesn’t have to be a different country!! There are lots of opportunities in the US/locally)
15. Fundraisers – participate (or better yet, organize) in fundraising for any cause important to you through working a stand, talking to people, marketing, etc. and donate all the profits. You can obviously get creative with ideas; some basic ones are bake sales and car washes.
16. Soup kitchen
17. Homeless shelter
18. Holding some sort of drive (ex. shoe drive, food drive, clothing drive, book drive, etc.) – similar to fundraising, working with a local charity in collecting items and donating them or organizing your own drive and donating them to people/a place in need is a great way to get involved
19. Food bank
20. Coaching a younger sports team or any other activity for younger kids – this is great if you do a sport or are really good at some activity and would like to help others hone the craft!

**Another tip is to use websites like volunteermatch.org that will direct you to many local charities in need of consistent help and workers, or special events that need one-time volunteers. You’ll be surprised at how many options they show you!

I hope these ideas helped you out and inspired you to go and try one (or more) of these amazing ways to make an impact on your community! If you’re like me and don’t know where to start, try joining a volunteer-related club at school or a similar organization. Volunteering always gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside and it makes me happy that there’s so many opportunities out there to help people and continue getting that feeling. Let me know if there’s anything I should add to this list and what your favorite place to volunteer is!

-Brooke