<p>My daughter, a junior had her heart set on voluteering in a local hospital this year and next as her primary EC activity....she has a strong connection to one of the departments as a result of a stay last year...she had been approved and was awaiting fall sports to end to begin 8 hours/ week....this was the first year she was permitted to apply when she turned 16</p>
<p>Just got a call that all junior volunteer programs are suspended until further notice due to H1N1 issue....</p>
<p>In addition, she also got "shut out" of Habitat for Humanity due to overenrollment as well as another local volunteer program in our area.....</p>
<p>Question is: at this late date, where could she possibly fill in for this "gap" of an EC? she is not at a school where clubs are prominant (she does participate but not significantly), nor are we in an area where jobs are abundant (and many have already been filled for the school year).....</p>
<p>peer tutoring, volunteer at a nursing home (can also just visit, or play music, or entertain in some way), can she shadow a local physician, volunteer at an after school program as teacher aid/homework helper, </p>
<p>there is also a site called sciencebuddies.com where you can apply to be a tutor/mentor to younger students and help with homework and projects… have to do a short application</p>
<p>How about running a school wide blanket drive for a homeless shelter, calling a church that does a free kitchen (you often don’t have to be a member of the congregation to do that), collecting prom dresses and giving them to girls in a less privileged school district, organizing an adopt a grandparent effort where high school students are paired with senior citizens. The possibilities are endless and if she is doing it on her own it is showing initiative and leadership as well as good will and involvement.</p>
<p>thank you all…apparently, the New Jersey Department of Health has send a statewide memo to all health professionals/hospitals/ etc. to eliminate 18 and under employment volunteer and otherwise…I don’t know if that extended to school settings but thanks for the ideas…</p>
<p>keep em coming…I think that part of the problem is that it’s November and alot of these are already in place…but doesn’t hurt to try</p>
<p>edit: school does not permit any “school wide drives”…she already tried that route…alot of the “self starting” volunteer things are not supported at her school so that preference is shown for the school sponsored events…</p>
<p>I agree that the initiative would be great though; may have to push this issue again…</p>
<p>When D was hospitalized in middle school, she noticed that the pediatrics unit had only a small amount of titles in their video library for the sick kids. When she got home, we did a video drive for the unit and collected over fifty. Why not contact the local pediatrics unit and see what the kids need. DVDs? Music? Games?</p>
<p>My kids volunteer regularly at American Red Cross blood drives. The drives are year-round, frequent and have flexible hours. The kids “work” as much or as little as their schedules allow. It’s sometimes dull greeting donors or passing out cookies and juice, but the ARC needs them and the kids know the tangible value of their work. </p>
<p>Volunteering at blood drives requires a training session. So, if your D is interested, the first step is to contact your local ARC and signup for training.</p>
<p>musica: wow, I really like that idea; the pediatric unit was where she was supposed to volunteer…thank you; I will definitely tell her that one…</p>
<p>Our local food pantry, yabeyabe only allows scheduled groups in (and she does go with our temple youth group when they are scheduled…)</p>
<p>I’ll suggest the library as well; maybe a story hour thing? thanks…</p>
<p>dougbetsy: do you think this H1N1 warning and mandate would extend to American Red Cross?</p>
<p>I don’t know. Does the health dept oversee ARC? </p>
<p>Down here in the Greater Chesapeake Chapter we haven’t received any notice of restrictions for my kids. Blood is always in demand; I don’t think they want to make it harder to get. i.e., less convenient for donors because of a volunteer shortage.</p>
<p>rodney, the drives can be done independently of the school. If she can get support from local businesses, create PSAs on the radio and get the local paper to sponsor an ad. Not having school support may even be a plus.</p>
<p>It never got out of the planning stages but at one point my girls were talking about a walk-a-thon called “Pounding the Pavement” to raise money for the local animal shelter.</p>
<p>Do activities have to be formal volunteer opportunities for them to count? Or would it be enough to find a project and then get someone to sign off on it? (My children did the latter for NHS requirements.) Or is this something to round off a college application? Would she be willing to do two or three activities, each taking up only a few hours a week?</p>
<p>Do you have an elderly neighbor (if not a grandparent) in need of companionship? I know several young people who spent hours each week with aging and ill grandparents, and mentioned this on their college apps. Do you know a mother with a disabled child looking for a break and unable to afford a sitter, who could benefit from having a “mother’s helper?” Does your child have an interesting hobby that she would be willing to share with a group? </p>
<p>Or is there a new hobby that your daughter had always wanted to explore with the potential of using it as the basis for volunteer work once she has gotten her feet wet for several months and developed a basis of expertise? (An EC does not have to be a community service activity to be intriguing to an adcom.) Would she want to learn how to sew, knit, do origami, etc. and connect with groups of people that do this? Take up a form of ethnic dancing and later perform?</p>
<p>You might try calling a local school for special needs children. Sometimes they are in need of one-time volunteers. Also try looking for a CSA (community supported agriculture) program - these use LOTS of volunteers, although this work tends to be seasonal. Off-season, she could build up a base of expertise in sustainable agriculture, work on PR activities, and such.</p>
<p>I would also try -depending on your daughter’s interests - museums and re-enactment groups, which seem to always need to replenish their volunteer ranks. Your best bet would be to visit several when they are putting on special events, and making connections with volunteers on the spot.</p>