<p>We can't afford to send my son to one of those "Builders beyond Borders" places...although I'm sure the experience is incredible. Is there any way to get such an experience without actually paying money for it?</p>
<p>Many church youth groups offer ecumenical/non-denominational misson trips for which the particpants fund raise try the following:</p>
<p>Mission</a> Discovery: Christian Short Term Mission Trips</p>
<p>Mission</a> Trips - deepstreamguatemalas jimdo page!</p>
<p>The trips cost $ and the participants do assume part of the cost since the agencies who sponsor them are useally non-profits but if you look around you may find some that help with fundraising or offer shorter term trips which may be less expensive.</p>
<p>Why can't volunteering in his own community be life changing??</p>
<p>I hope these places are still safe.</p>
<p>Here are some ideas: 20</a> Ways for Teenagers to Help Other People by Volunteering</p>
<p>My D volunteered a few different places while in hs, including overseas. The one that stood out for her was volunteering at a local summer day camp for children with developmental disabilities. She would come home so exhausted each day, but when she described her day, you could tell that she was proud of her work and felt she was making the world a better place, in her small way.</p>
<p>Have written this before, but it might help--
When S2 was too old for summer camp but too young for a job he started volunteering at the local senior center. He usually goes three mornings per week in the summer, before his afternoon job. Mostly he works in the kitchen, but also does whatever odd jobs they need. The women in charge think he's sweet (?!), and he gets a great lunch each time. I don't know if it will be a big plus at college time, but it was a good option for us since it was right here in town.</p>
<p>My d volunteered one summer for one of the local science museums, helping to build and repair the exhibits. It was like sending her to intensive shop class except that we didn't have to pay for it. Plus she got the satisfaction of seeing visitors using the exhibits she had repaired/built.</p>
<p>VolunteerMatch</a> - Where Volunteering Begins</p>
<p>A great place to start your search.</p>
<p>The 20 places link lists many local possibilities. Just meeting service learning hours at the local food bank is a real eye opener. In fact- why not help the locals? They need just as much as those far away. </p>
<p>I'm especially leary of those groups who try to push religion on their "mission trips"- the volunteers instead should learn there are other equally valid belief systems and concentrate on the poverty aspects. I suppose being preached at is the price they pay to get help- it would be even better for those groups to do work with no strings attached.</p>
<p>my kids have been volunteering in local community since they were 12/14, volunteer work helps to build skills that can opened up job opportunties when they were older.</p>
<p>That said- younger D attended a high school, where volunteering in diverse community was encouraged. After working two retail jobs to save up money after high school graduation, she is currently volunteering for three months in the south of India.</p>
<p>My S had life changing experiences volunteering in our own community, especially with projects that he and his friends helped organize out of their own interests in the concerns that they were addressing. </p>
<p>This was much more life changing than was the family volunteer trip that we took about 10 years ago to the Caribbean. Overall, it was a waste of time. I think one learns much more by volunteering in your own community than by volunteering for a few days in a foreign country where you are an outsider and had nothing or little to do with creating the volunteer project.</p>
<p>D volunteers locally with a nonprofit that helps tutor kids from improverished backgrounds. She has become this org's IT go-to person; she keeps their PCs humming, develops reports, updates the web-site, fixes their databases-and consequently works closely with a group of young, idealistic, highly motivated people who want to change the world. And it doesn't cost a nickel (in fact, they recently starting paying for her transportation there and back.) </p>
<p>I know dozens more nonprofits in our area that would kill for a similarly skilled and committed volunteer. I'm sure the same is true of your community.</p>
<p>DocT is right. You don't necessarily have to do something exotic for it to be the most rewarding. There is plenty to do right here at home for most of us.</p>
<p>There was a great quote by Bruce Poch who is Dean of Admissions at Pomona in an NYT interview a few months back:</p>
<p>"While unusual activities may add a great deal to a student’s experience and have a profound effect on their world view, for some it just comes across as decorative, not substantive. Is a special experience or summer expected or a minimum requirement? No.</p>
<p>Many of those “special” experiences reflect the educational and economic background of the family more than the curiosity or talent of the student. For example, I believe most admissions officers would assume it’s not fair to expect a student who works and contributes to family expenses to take an overseas internship. I confess I often wonder why some students who live in areas that have many social service needs unaddressed will ignore the local situation but move to another country to perform a similar social service. Is it really a service trip or is it a summer vacation built for college admission purposes? It may be both and that’s not a penalty point, but it isn’t a bonus consideration either. Is the student whose family connections provided an internship at a high-profile organization more worthy than a student who delivered pizza or tended to family farm commitments? The rest of the application will give us the answer."</p>
<p>There is so much need in our local communities. Helping at free clinics, visiting a patient in a nursing home, hospice, tutoring at school- are some that come to mind. Really anything you do can make a difference!</p>
<p>Volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank, an animal shelter, or even check if your local Fish & Game department needs any help. You don't have to go far afield to help. :)</p>
<p>Many highly selective colleges look down on those high cost foreign "volunteer" programs. seeing them for what they often are, resume builders. One adcom stated in an article that he wondered why applicants would choose to spend thousands of dollars for these programs when most communities have programs begging for teen volunteers willing to make a long term, meaningful committment.</p>
<p>Our son loved the volunteer opportunities offered by our church and became actively involved in summer mission trips, Habitat, the annual river cleanup sponsored by the local river coallition, et al. His involvement in and committment to the church resulted in him being ordained as a Deacon , a fact that was mentioned in the college President's convocation address.</p>
<p>My daughter joined our local rescue squad. They paid for her training to become an EMT. She absolutely loved the experience and decided to go to a local college in order to remain on the reqcue squad. In fact, this experience helped her to choose a career path - nursing. When it comes to the hands on class work, she has found that she is far ahead of her classmates due to her rescue squad experiences.</p>
<p>My son was a Boy Scout and his Eagle project served this purpose - a volunteer experience that left him deeply impacted.</p>
<p>I agree that local committments are often the most meaningful and enduring. At the same time, if a kid is wanting a chance to stretch their wings outside the local community, a summer service trip can be good option and a chance to meet teens from around the US. These can be harder to find if you are not connected to a specific religious tradition/spirtual community or if your child is not yet 18 (a lot of groups don't want the liability risks related to supervising minors.) </p>
<p>You might look at what the American Friends' Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee are offering this summer, as these are typically ecumemical social justice projects and open to all kinds of kids (churched or unchurched). Palo Alto Friends' meeting usually does a summer service trip to central America and the UUSC JustWorks program often has domestic service projects.</p>
<p>in defense of those who chose to go abroad and spend thousands of dollars( airfare is much of it, but a good portion goes toward the volunteer project in the community), I will try and explain what I have observed.</p>
<p>I volunteered about 400 hours this past year, mostly doing environmental work. I also have done tutoring in schools/especially my own childrens schools, and have worked with centers that support housing projects.</p>
<p>When you volunteer in your own community, you have a self interest in the project. Which is fine, it means that you want to see the work actually mean something and be followed up on.</p>
<p>But some projects- are dead ends. For example- raising salmon fry with classrooms and releasing them in a nearby creek. This is done every year- but nothing is done to tag the fish or to investigate if the creek is actually navigable for the fish so they can go to the ocean and return. Its like planting something and never feeding it or watering it.</p>
<p>I want the project to be sustainable-
my older daughter taught inner city youth to write resumes and design web pages with Americorps. These are skills that move them forward.</p>
<p>One of the things I have done is provide child care for women who were attending domestic violence workshops or attending school. Maybe it is just me, but for those things, I felt my time was being well used, but when I was providing child care so they could go shopping or hang out with my friends I felt like * I would like child care so I can go shopping or hang out*.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is a difference in style of communication, but it wasn't unusual for me to feel uncomfortable, when I was helping in my community & feel like I was being put into this box that said " I have the time and money to do this for you- it is my penance"
When you didn't graduate from high school, and don't have the skills to get a paying job, it can be frustrating when others assume you are * Privileged * and don't see you are working hard to get out of a box.</p>
<p>Anyway.
When my daughter went to Africa- she had the opportunity to bond with others halfway around the world- in * their world* Where they weren't bombard with " America" and all the baggage that comes with that. She was able to provide a skill and a service yes, but she also learned much from being there- and almost as soon as she had returned, she was being sent packages from friends she had made & recieving phone calls and emails. ( and the first thing she said to me upon arriving in Seattle was " Im going back)</p>
<p>Each group of students had the opportunity to make their world a little bigger & that experience has propelled someone who doesn't like walking around her own block, to spend her own money 8,000 miles from home in order to live in another world.</p>
<p>( She also had already been accepted to the college she is going to attend- it didn't have anything to do with that in her case)</p>
<p>Do something that matters to you- not something to write about</p>