<p>I know that SCA (student conserv assn) sponsors an inexpensive USA service prgm ($50 registration + air fare). And a New Z org that sponsors int'l prgm w/ fees starting at $300/wk (plus airfare).</p>
<p>Are there any others inexpensive domestic or foreign prgms?</p>
<p>I know tons of free programs. Call a house of worship & volunteer for their charity programs. Most of them offer foodbanks, tutoring to needy kids, preparing meals & performing chores for the housebound elderly. (Didn't Della Reese promote one like that?) The Red Cross, Elks, VFW --- the list is endless. There is always a need for volunteers in any community.</p>
<p>Or even better - find a need in your community and start your own program!</p>
<p>Call up the obvious suspects and ask what kind of help they could use. Senior centers, soup kitchens, Boys and Girls Clubs etc.</p>
<p>Summer camps for children with special needs are often looking for volunteers and some offer room and board so there is no expense to the volunteers. My kids have volunteered for a week each summer at a special needs camp, and locally as a counselor for a special olympics athlete, for a day for fund raisers (road races) for cancer, for the local recreation departments teaching soccer or skiing, etc, etc.</p>
<p>I think she means INTERNATIONAL service.</p>
<p>Well, the post said domestic or foreign.</p>
<p>There's no reason why community service at a teen level should cost anything at all, much less an arm and a leg, and all these great suggestions show that.</p>
<p>nyc, are you looking for something "full-time" for the summer, involving a residential experience? Or something local and meaningful? And are you in NYC? My kids have worked with and I have supported the California contingent of a service organization that also has a NYC wing, and I'd be happy to tell you more in a PM, if you're looking for a local option. Students work with community groups, including WW II veterans, families who have lost loved ones in Iraq, immigrant families, and those overcoming serious medical challenges, to produce short digital videos in their words, voice, and images (not movies, more like collages with audio) to help capture and share their experiences. The videos are shown in community meetings and made available in the Smithsonian and Library of Congress, among other places. The students bring technical expertise to those who don't have as much experience, and learn to help bring a voice to a larger community while sharing their technical skills more widely. The results are often moving and empowering. PM me if you'd like to know more.</p>
<p>thanks all</p>
<p>Another suggestion check out volunteermatch.com. They advertise on NPR all the time.</p>
<p>nyc: Just be leery of the pre-packaged programs marketed at families who feel their kids need some "I built homes in rural Mexico/Jamaica/pick poor tropical country" program to make them look like they're really in touch.</p>
<p>Personally, I'm cynical of them. A mega-church in my area who caters to upper middle class families has a "volunteer" project that's a glorified trip to the Mexican beach. I interviewed a few kids for my Ivy alma mater and I couldn't help but feel negative about these $3000 "volunteer" trips.</p>
<p>The links given by previous posters are great. Even better is to perhaps plan your next family vacation around some real volunteer efforts. Spend time seeing a fascinating locale but then spend another half of the vacation really serving, alongside your entire family. That'll really say something to your kids.</p>
<p>Good luck though.</p>
<p>Volunteer at the local fire department. Save lives!</p>
<p>T2 - Couldn't agree w/ you more about the expensive prgms (not interested, thus the post to find some alternatives). D2, however, would like to volunteer abroad and if I can find a suitable prgm, I'm happy to have her go.</p>
<p>D3 has been volunteering at a "local" stable that offers lessons to dev disabled kids. She want a change, but definitely a vol "program," so that she can meet and socialze w/ other teen volunteers.</p>
<p>my daughter wants to do this program- she is waiting till after high school though
<a href="http://www.global-visionaries.org/about_in_the_news.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.global-visionaries.org/about_in_the_news.html</a></p>