I’m a junior and want to participate in volunteering or fundraising. My school doesn’t require volunteer hours so they have little to no information about that. My mother advised me to participate in fundraising walks since I’m on the track team but I feel that shows no initiative. I have my own fundraising idea but she believes it’s to risky. Any advice?
I don’t think you necessarily need to show initiative through starting your own fundraiser. It seems like a lot of people think starting a charity walk is the key to college admissions, but it doesn’t have to be. Don’t start a fundraiser for the sole purpose of having it on your resume, admissions officers will be able to tell if you have a real passion for helping others or if you did it to try to impress them. In my opinion, it’s probably better for your community if you join an established organization and volunteer there. For example, find local walks/runs and volunteer at the sign up booth, water station, etc.
Do you have other interests besides track? Does your school have clubs you are interested in? Have you stopped by your local parks and rec office and asked about volunteer opportunities or jobs? You can also search online for volunteer opportunities in your area.
I think you should research other opportunities in your community and through your school. A lot of local hospitals and animal shelters have open volunteer positions. Also, the Red Cross and other organizations hold many events where you can get volunteer hours and do things such as CPR certification and leadership training. (I did this one summer and although it was kind of boring I went with a friend so it wasn’t so bad and we got a lot of volunteer hours.)
If you want to fundraise, you should look for organizations such as Relay for Life where you can fundraise for a bigger organization. Being the team captain of a Relay for Life team could look good on an application and more importantly you can find that you really enjoyed the experience. There are other organizations that have opportunities to fundraise.
My one other suggestion is to volunteer at your religious center. I personally did a lot of fundraising for my church and volunteered as a teaching assistant for younger kids at the church.
Thank you. I want to start a fundraiser to get equipment for blind students in developing countries because I’m blind and know how life changing technology can be.
But maybe with SAT prep and craziness it’s not the time.Also clubs in my school are very sparse. The most they offer is seasonal sports and my main ones have been cheerleading and track. I’ll be looking into your suggestions 