Looking for Community Service Ideas

Parents Forum
1

<p>My son is in 9th grade and is looking for some ideas for community service.</p>

<p>He would like to find one or two types of community service that he can contribute to on a regular basis over the next few years.</p>

<p>He is not really looking for "the best one for the resume" or anything, but rather is not sure what possibilities are out there and I thought some more experienced parents could help.</p>

<p>He is interested in philosophy and religion, participates in boy scouts and Civil air patrol (but neither group does community service, really) and his church group isn't real active -- so nothing there, really.</p>

<p>He is a very quiet, thoughtful kid, very mature gets along great with adults and older students, doesn't have much in common with most kids his age (not a tv watcher, nor a video game player, no group sports -- just doesn't share much interest with his current peer group).</p>

<p>Opportunities we know about -- volunteer at humane society, teen court, library council, volunteer at soup kitchen, habitat for humanity.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any opinion about these opportunities? Any ideas for any others? He is really open to ideas, we just don't know where to start.</p>

<p>His favorite would be something with an inter-faith group, but we haven't been able to locate anything.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

2

<p>It's disappointing to hear that your son's Boy Scout troop doesn't offer community service opportunities. My son's group was always up to something positive for the community. Maybe as parents you could sponsor a service related badge or activity and get the troop interested.</p>

<p>For us the activities that were the most age appropriate were those that involved kids interacting with kids. Organizing games at an orphanage. Teaching computer skills. Cleaning up hiking trails. English practice for ESL kids.</p>

3

<p>I would recommend joining his high school's KEY Club. I may be a bit biased considering that KEY Club is pretty much my life, but it offers a variety of volunteer opportunities so he can choose the ones that suit his fancy. We've made a float for the local 4th of July parade, went to SF to go soup-kitchening, gardened in the Oakland wetlands, decorated a haunted house for kids in foster care, built houses for Habitat for Humanity, and so much more. If he likes something, I'm positive he could ask the club officers to make it a regular thing. KEY Club changes lives, though like I said before, I'm pretty biased.</p>

<p>And if there's no KEY Club, I guess you could go to an Interact club. Though KEY Club is SO much better. ;D At our school anyway. I know a couple of Interacts that are amazing.</p>

4

<p>Is there a hospital nearby? I volunteered as an escort at the hospital delivering letter, cards, balloons, etc. to the patients. I also wheeled them to different places and helped get coffee, snacks, etc. It was very rewarding.</p>

<p>I always liked seasonal volunteering too. Maybe helping wrap/shop for gifts during the holidays, decorate local retirement with decorations (can be any holiday: Valentines Day, St. Patricks day, Thanksgiving, etc.) homes/hospitals/hospices, etc.</p>

<p>Also, try idealist.org and volunteermatch. Those sites should have some directories of opportunities!</p>

5

<p>Our local food bank (regional, serves northern half of the state) is an excellent place to do community service ndd really meets a need. Tasks range from helping with mailings to actually sorting and stacking food donations. It involves working with a variety of people, from employees to full-time volunteers to people fulfilling court-mandated comunity service requirements. Our particular food bank may be unusual because it is especially large and well organized but I think helping provide food to needy people in your commuity is a very satisfying and meaningful service for anyone. Our high school usually does one trip there each year to give all the students a few hours of service, and many others continue on their own. Food bank might be something for you and your son to look into and also is nice for a family to do together occasionally.</p>

6

<p>A high-schooler's view:</p>

<p>Recommend that he join at most 2 service-related activities. This way he can contribute lots of hours to each activity. One should be his school's service club--Key Club, Beta Club, anything. Once he is in the club, he has opportunities for regular service. Also, he can start up some new ones through the club--maybe lead a club-sponsored fundraiser or something. He could even get elected to club office if he stays committed. </p>

<p>Anyway, one service activity that I consider to be my most rewarding (personally and in terms of college) is tutoring. I do peer tutoring thrice a week (one through Beta Club, one through French Honor Society, one through the school's Peer Writing Center), and I also do ESL tutoring once a week for kids at the local elementary school. Tutoring is really great, and it can be started up through any club your son is in. He can start a peer tutoring activity in his foreign language club, or in math, or in science...whatever it is. And it lets his teachers know how interested he is, since he would have to go through them to get the thing organized.</p>

7

<p>My suggestion is for him to work with the organizations that he's already involved with, and help them get involved with community service. I know that such service is extremely important to the scouts, and assuming that your son plans to become an Eagle Scout, he'll have to do a project as part of that.</p>

<p>My S and I got involved in facilitating an American Friends Service (Quaker)-created nonviolence program, Help Increase the Peace. We got the facilitation training last summer, and then worked together to bring the program to our city. We have done this through collaborating with our church, local schools, and a youth organization that my son is in. </p>

<p>I have found that organizations often want to do community service, but don't know how. If one goes to them with ideas and a program, they are happy to collaborate.</p>

<p>We offer the training at no charge, but ask the organizations to provide a facility, food and supplies. This all can be done very cheaply. The program is fun, nonreligious, using experiential games and dialogue to teach skills like conflict resolution, listening, communication and team building. </p>

<p>Here's a link to the program. Please PM or post if you'd like more information. AFSC will give scholarships if cost is a problem (I am fairly sure that one can write off any costs of training for community service purposes). There also may be training done close to you than the training AFSC offers over the summer. Some local groups offer it.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.afsc.org/hipp.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.afsc.org/hipp.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I also suggest that your son think about things that he enjoys doing, and then asks organizations involved with those things for ways that he and other young people can volunteer. He should visit the organizations and then bring back the info to the Scouts and Civil Air Patrol. He could also arrange to have a representative from the organization speak to the youths.</p>

<p>Doing things like this will also put him in a position to become a leader in the organizations that he's involved with. So often, the leaders in youth groups don't do anything but what adults tell them. If, however, a young person steps up with ideas and doable plans, usually the adult advisors and other teens will happily fall behind them.</p>

<p>This also would allow your son to grow in terms of confidence and leadership skills.</p>

<p>Feel free to PM me if you'd like more specific, personal info about my S and my experiences.</p>

8

<p>I was going to recommend Key Club as well!
S got involved in his 9th grade year,and by the time he was a senior (current) has worked his way up the leadership ranks to being a Lt Gov for our state,which makes him responsible for 9 HS clubs in our district.He didnt start out wanting to be a leader, but Key Club has a way of nuturing leadership opportunities for the kids involved.It's also a good social network,he'll meet kids in his school,in his geographic area and perhaps even statewide and nationwide.
The volunteering opportunities are numerous and wonderful. It's great because the opps are provided for you and you can pick and choose what suits your personality.S has done many things over the years,including transport/bingo/activities at a local nursing home (steady for two years),tutoring,one shot actitivities like walks/runs for charities,Safe Halloween festivities (his favorite,likes to dress up and entertain).He's become quite good at fundraising,and is so satisfied to see that their efforts can make a difference.He has attended conventions on local and state levels.He's had lots of interaction with adults who mentor the clubs (through Kiwanis) and has attended their meetings.He's learned to do paperwork,keep deadlines,fufill obligations.Also created a website for the District along the way.
It's something they can stay with for all four years of high school.Teacher who is the club advisor was able to provide a wonderful letter of rec for S since she knew him so well.</p>

9

<p>wow -- thanks for the great ideas!</p>

<p>He is homeschooled, so Key club is not really an option. We will contact the local high school though and see if they have a key club. I am a little doubtful (more like an "I stayed out of jail this year" club) but it is a possibility and in our district, homeschoolers can participate in afterschool activities.</p>

<p>I really wish he already had opportunities through boys scouts or civil air patrol and the suggestion that he work through them is great! either both or at least one of the groups should really be having service opportunities on a regular basis. He does plan to become an Eagle Scout and organizing community service opportunities would be great leadership experience.</p>

<p>Northstarmom -- I will have my son read the link you posted and let me know if he is interested. Thanks for that, it really sounds neat!</p>

<p>Thanks alot -- he and I will be sitting down together and going over all the possibilities and coming up with some plans for the year.</p>

<p>thanks again!</p>

10

<p>You mentioned a library council. Something more basic that might be a possibility is becoming a library volunteer. At our public library we're always in need of volunteers to shelve books and are very appreciative of the dependable ones. I'd also vote for key club. My daughter joined in her sophomore year and loved it. She's continued volunteering at college. </p>

<p>My son's boy scout troop also doesn't do alot of community service but it would if there was an adult volunteer to lead the way. Perhaps this is the same thing with your son's troop. It seems that the parents that are leaders are just more interested in outdoor events and their enthusiasm for that is very appealing to the boys. However, when we do something like Scouting for Food or one of the boys has an Eagle project there is also a good turn out for that.</p>

11

<p>Maybe he could start somethings with his scout troop, I know the Eagle Projects involve community service, so it's definitely done? They could clean up or volunteer in other ways at parks in the area. Also, as other people have mentioned, he could volunteer to tutor at a middle school or elementary school during their extra study sessions. I'm a brother of APO (a service fraternity), and I tutor twice a week at the local elementary school, 3rd, 4th, or 5th graders who are looking for extra help in reading/writing and math. I find it very rewarding, when you can explain to someone how to do something they don't know how, and then they do it infront of you.</p>

12

<p>Does your United Way have a Volunteer Connection service? Look at their web site. Ours does, and you can search for opportunities based on age and interests. The good thing about that is you know the organization is really looking for help and will therefore be willing to take him and actually give him something meaningful to do.</p>

<p>Try this:
<a href="http://national.unitedway.org/volunteer/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://national.unitedway.org/volunteer/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My sons volunteer through school mostly (Jesuit school - big commitment) but one of my sons also volunteered on his own at the County Democratic party offices. They are really glad to have him, and he's enjoyed it.</p>

13

<p>Our son benefitted enormously from being on the local rescue squad and becoming an EMT.</p>

<p>IMO the rescue squad can be very good for a teen who may have an interest in medicine; who likes high-stress, high-responsibility situations (though of course the adults on the squad will always have the primary responsibility on any call); and who would enjoy meeting and working regularly with the adult volunteers on the squad.</p>

14

<p>Is your son in OA? Their mission is cheerful service. If he isn't in OA, he might want to find out if his troop has OA elections. If not, he could contact the OA lodge in your area and see if they can arrange for the elections in the troop.</p>

<p>Another thought is to contact the ranger at your council's Boy Scout camp. Every ranger I know has a list of service projects a mile long. Some require group effort, but many could be done on an individual basis. My son painted latrines at camp last summer. Hmm... I don't think he mentioned that on his applications. It's likely few other applicants have done that particular service activity, so it might have made him stand out just a tad. On the other hand, most colleges probably don't have a need for latrine painters.</p>

15

<p>Tell your son to do a google search for the name of the county you live in and the words volunteer opportunities. Put it in quotes (example: "San Diego volunteer opportunities") This is how my daughter found a searchable database of short term and on going volunteer opportunities in our area.</p>

<p>Also, while your church may not do many service projects, many religious denominations do have service agencies that can be great resources for kids looking to get involved. For example, Catholic Charities, Jewish Community Services, Lutheran Services, etc. Best way to find those is to have your son look in the phone book under charity organizations (he'll probably find others as well). Then, he can start calling around to ask what types of opportunities they may have for him.</p>

<p>The nice thing about many of the faith-based organizations is that they often handle a wide variety of services. For instance, my daughter's main service contributions were all under the auspices of our local Catholic Charities - she's done everything from working at their annual Christmas store for low income families to distributing food through their food bank to planning a weekend retreat for the wives of inmates to assisting the coordinator of African Refugee services with special projects, all through that one organization. She liked this because she has been able to do a wide variety of types of things with Catholic Charities, yet could list a substantial number of hours for just one organization (although she did detail her main projects on a separate activity sheet).</p>

<p>Another activity that my daughter enjoyed during the summer between her freshman and sophomore years was volunteering as a junior docent at a local historical site. She learned a lot and it did a great deal for her self-confidence as well. Many museums have similar programs, so again, your son might think of which museums he enjoys visiting and then give them a call to offer his services.</p>

<p>I also know that many Red Cross Chapters have some opportunities for junior volunteers, often they involve some training.</p>

16

<p>Just wanted to add one thought: Most kids are more likely to remain committed if they are doing something that ties in with their overall interests or goals. So, encourage your son to think about what really interests him, as well as what he really enoys doing, and then brainstorm what types of organizations are related to those interests.</p>

<p>If he likes sports...he might volunteer in an after school sports program at the local YMCA</p>

<p>If he is interested in health careers...he might enjoy working at a hospital or working on the rescue squad</p>

<p>If he's interested in reading...he might enjoy being a literacy tutor through a local library or in a local elementary school (being homeschooled he probably could help out in school classrooms during the day, something many elementary schools might appreciate)</p>

<p>If he's interested in the environment...he might enjoy organizing a "Clean up the neighborhood" or "Neighborhood recycling" program</p>

<p>And so on....</p>

<p>Which also reminds me: not all community service has to be done through an existing organization. Perhaps your son could think about what needs to be done to better your local area and then organize a project or program to get it done.</p>

17

<p>The only kids I know who were in Civil Air Patrol also became Certified First Responders and then got involved with Search and Rescue. It seems to all be related around here. This kind of training is considered a community service around here where people do need rescuing from time to time.</p>

<p>Since your son is home-schooled and thus has a highly flexible schedule, what abut training guide dogs or service dogs? </p>

<p>Doesn't becoming an Eagle Scout involve a community project of some kind, as well?</p>

18

<p>Our son also does search and rescue (besides EMS). He loves search and rescue, but in our area searches are infrequent. IMO this activity is worthwhile if your son has an interest. However, he should also find out whether it will actually involve much time (beyond training). If not, IMO he should take on other activites as well.</p>

19

<p>The kids who I know who are involved in search and rescue also help train others, so whether or not they do any S&R, they're still out there working with the community.</p>

20

<p>Some of the community service things my kids have done:</p>

<p>tutoring math</p>

<p>volunteer to help with the city rec programs, help teach swimming, jr. counselors, help at community events sponsored by the city, etc.</p>

<p>volunteer at local science obervatory/museum</p>

<p>library volunteer</p>

<p>pack food bags at church</p>

<p>clean up days, weeding school garden etc.</p>