Ideas for Community Service hours?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I went into my guidance office and they just gave me their notorious "I SHOULD know, but I don't" look and then gave me a list of community service offers from 1995....
I really want/need community service hours, but I honestly have no idea where to go.
I'd do basically anything. I'm good with pets, kids, elderly people, etc..
If you need like a general area to figure out what would be near me, I live ten minutes away from Reading, PA.
Any help?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You’d be better off asking a private college counselor, older cousins, or friends who’ve gotten into good colleges already. CC is, for the most part, unhelpful when you ask for leads.</p>

3

<p>You can try this website:
[VolunteerMatch</a> - Where Volunteering Begins](<a href=“http://www.volunteermatch.org/]VolunteerMatch”>http://www.volunteermatch.org/)</p>

<p>Do you have a local Boys’ and Girls’ Club, public animal shelter or private pet rescue groups?</p>

<p>If you just want easy 4-5 hour blocks, almost any running, biking, triathon races have volunteers who pass out race packets the day before, stand at the finish line handing out medals, offering bottles of water etc. You normally just sign up right on the race website. Here’s one website that lists these events:
[Online</a> Registration & Local Event Directory by Active.com | Sports, Running, Classes, Camps, Training Plans, Triathlons, Marathons, Soccer, Drills & Youth Sports](<a href=“http://www.active.com/]Online”>http://www.active.com/)</p>

4

<p>Does your school have a Key Club? Any other community service centered or volunteer-based programs? Getting involved in one such organization should greatly aid in your need of service hours. You could probably inquire with local child-care services, retirement homes, and hospitals, though these may require some kind of application or orientation. Hope this helped!</p>

5

<p>Okay, I think the best way to solve this dilemma is:

  1. While being completely honest with yourself, pick out two or three causes you genuinely care about.
  2. Look at your causes. Which one is the most feasible option in terms of whether you, at this age and in your location, can contribute to? For example, I had joined an anti-trafficking awareness group this year and was sorely disappointed because we didn’t (and couldn’t) have much to do, despite the fact that I was passionate about the cause.
  3. If opportunities don’t exist, one of the best ways to contribute to the community is by doing something on your own. At the end of 9th grade, none of my friends were much into community service (in my old school). Agitated, I approached a school for underprivileged street children, asked them if they needed help and bam! Ended up having the best six months of my life. It was so, so satisfying.
  4. Choose something stable. Sure, you can pick up quite a few hours in one-off events (e.g. distributing plants to cars in the middle of traffic on Environment Day…yeap, I did that :P), but your best bet would be something weekly or such. You end up developing a stronger sense of commitment to your activity and before you know it, you have tonloads of service hours :)</p>