<p>It's meaningful if it follows a passion of the person doing it and is not done strictly because "it looks good to get into college". Some times it can start out as "it looks good to get into college" but turn into a very meaningful experience.</p>
<p>I encouraged my son, a hockey player, to volunteer at a skating program for autistic and disabled children. As a sophomore, he grumbled at first, but after the first few times he went, it became a weekly activity that he really looked forward to and committed himself to getting up early every sunday morning for three years. It's been great for him in alot of ways, helping him as much as he helped the kids he worked with.</p>
<p>My sons did a lot of different things- they each accrued close to 200 hours by the time they graduated. Most of the activities involved things they were interested in, like sports. They both umpired for little league and helped out as assistant coaches. They also worked in the local 'soup kitchen'. They did the Habitat builds. They worked in the nursery at a local church. That last one was VERY good learning experience for them, as they had never experienced caretaking/entertaining infants or toddlers. One son tutored for younger students at his school. </p>
<p>My other son did a 6-man group project, which took about three months in the making, where they organized and ran a day-long leadership seminar complete with guest speakers, leadership/group cooperative exercises, lunch, and even door prizes at the end of the day (the last being a big hit!) for local high school students. The superintendent excused all interested students (about 300 attended) from regular school that day if they attended the seminar, which was held in an auditorium at the local community college. That was an exceptional learning experience for him.</p>
<p>They also went up to the local ball parks and painted the dugouts, pavilions, and picnic tables.</p>
<p>My daughter also volunteered to assist with the children's programs at a local nature center one summer. She was 15 at the time, but they accepted volunteers even younger than that.</p>
<p>My son did not do an extensive amount of community service, but he did volunteer at the local library when they initiated their new internet-based catalogue. They asked for volunteers to assist library patrons. This was in 2001 and many people using the library were not familiar with using computers and the internet.</p>
<p>My D wanted to volunteer at an animal shelter, consistent with her passion, but that wouldn't count towards her (parochial) school junior year requirement that the service be hands-on with the less fortunate. So she reluctantly volunteered at an organization that serves individuals and families in transitional housing...that is, they provide temporary housing and move their clients to permanent housing. She cared for the little ones while their parents took classes in parenting and independent living. At first, she was totally intimidated by the environment and the kids' behaviour, but she hung in to meet her 30 hour requirement---then stayed all summer, her senior year, and last summer. The great thing was that it forced her out of her comfort zone, and I think she was very proud of that. She also was recognized as Youth Volunteer of the Year, which was very nice (although too late for college applications!)</p>
<p>My oldest started volunteering at the zoo with the ponies when she was 12. It was motivated for loveoftheponies, and only vaguely by the knowledge that her school at some point required community service before graduation.</p>
<p>She learned to ride/lunge the ponies- she mucked the barn, fed them, cleaned the yard- performed basic health care as did her sister who started ( they raised the age) when she was 14. ( they also had to learn to deal with the parents/public when giving pony rides- count change etc)</p>
<p>Older D stopped when the volunteer program ended @ 18, but went on to a summer job as riding staff at a local residential camp.
Younger D stopped, when they closed the barn and got rid of the ponies :(</p>
<p>Younger D has also worked as a junior camp counselor which she really enjoys ( Both Ds have arranged their summers around volunteering/working at this camp) & is enrolled in a class at school which repairs and refurbishes computers and installs them in communities that don't previously have access. They then train the residents to use and repair them, expanding their opportunities. ( they leave for Ghana on Friday)</p>
<p>The program is local and has been around for 10 years- however I know of others in the area & Im sure there are more regionally.</p>
<p>The main thing isn't the hours, the main thing is exploring fields that you are interested in, but might not be able to be exposed to otherwise if you were looking for an entry level job.</p>
<p>Ive also found, that even kids who have trouble in school, can enjoy tutoring kids a few years younger. When you go over the material, that reinforces it in their own heads, as well as the kids often work better with a slightly older student, than an adult.</p>
<p>But it is worth exploring interests to do something that is fun- although I also admit that i am a big community service person & I think drudge work that needs to get done- is still contributing- & it is important to learn that even the tedious things make a difference.</p>
<p>Starting in middle school, our D volunteered at a homeless shelter for single mothers and children, and in high school also tutored elementary school kids at an afterschool program. These were longstanding programs put in place by her (private) school, and while some participation was required in middle school, in high school it was strictly voluntary. Now that she's at college she's part of an outreach group to the homeless through her university. These experiences have broadened her worldview and made her very interested in politics, public policy, etc. She loves doing it, and is very committed.</p>
<p>Due to circumstances beyond her control, my D had a hard time doing community service during the school year. She did a few hours here and there, but not enough to meet her school's requirements.</p>
<p>She did Landmark Volunteers for two weeks one summer. Yes it was done solely to meet the requirement. But, the kids built a ramp which made a facility wheelchair accessible for the first time. Doing it meant hacking a trail through a dense woods first. It's not my kid's normal cup of tea, but there really was a sense of accomplishment when the ramp was completed. It also gave my kid a better sense of the fact that some public facilities just cannot be reached by the disabled.</p>
<p>In college, BTW, she did more CS than in high school and it was purely voluntary.</p>
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Ive also found, that even kids who have trouble in school, can enjoy tutoring kids a few years younger. When you go over the material, that reinforces it in their own heads, as well as the kids often work better with a slightly older student, than an adult.
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<p>My daughter is a good student but math is not her strong point. She successfully tutored students in middle school math and Algebra 1 while in high school. She believes that she can explain the math to these struggling math students in a way that they will understand it better than someone who is very good at math can explain it. Since she has had trouble understanding the explanations of the teachers, she tries to explain in different ways that might be more understandable.</p>
<p>Migrant reading program through the community's churches. Once a week, volunteers head to the two apartment complexes popular with migrant workers in our area. They have tubs of books, snacks and blankets. They set up outside and the kids come to read with the volunteers, have a snack, and choose a book to keep for the week.</p>
<p>Community Service for my kids have been easy to find.
Some of the things they have done-
If you have an interest in sports-
referee AYSO soccer games, coach a AYSO team- my D did this her last two yrs of high school, they coached 6 yr old girls, scorekeeper for youth basketball league
Most retirement communities have a volunteer coordinator- one local home has bingo every sunday and they love walk in's. Play music, my D went with a group and they arranged flowers and did nails.
Summer programs- Counselor in training at day camps, help in summer school at local public elementary schools. Many places have summer programs- Botanical Gardens, Zoo, Natural History Mus. They usually take volunteers of all ages.
We have found with the animal shelters that under 18 has to be with an adult.
Other places- Food bank
Teen Court
Make soup for homeless shelter
My son was into nature and worked with an afterschool program that took at risk kids into the wilderness</p>
<p>I could have written the post above by booklady. Exact same here. In D's private school the students from very young grades have worked in programs in place from day one (and for the most part, they had choices about what areas in which to work). Buddy work with younger kids in the school; working in a daycare for low income single moms; helping prepare meals for the homeless; providing music lessons or tutoring to under-priviledged children; working in local nursing homes; raising money for their sponsored children in the third world and so on. </p>
<p>We have also taken on different volunteer experiences together since many of the most interesting experiences outside of school were not possible otherwise (but are quite doable if done with a parent). </p>
<p>Now in HS here it's just what they do, either through the school or on their own. Not because they need to build a college resume (up here in Canada, it's not even relevant to university), but because that is just what you do. There is a sense of commitment to others and giving back to the community that enabled you to live the life you have had so far. </p>
<p>I am a big believer that meaningful volunteer work is far more developmental and educational than almost any subject they'll cover in school. Students learn from working closely with people whose lives are so different from their own. Talk about getting outside of yourself and your own little world and gaining a much bigger perspective on life. The experiences build students' work and social skills and confidence in different ways. They also get a chance to discover their own interests and strengths in different capacities.</p>
<p>When I was around 16, I volunteered at an outpatient drug treatment facility for young women and their drug-exposed children. We teenagers played with the children in their day care room while the mothers had therapy. We didn't have to be certified or anything because we were there to <em>play</em> with the children and give them extra socialization, not supervise them -- there was a licensed, official day care provider present. This experience was quite eye-opening for me.</p>
<p>You are so right, Starbright. That's why I'd love to find something that my daughter really wanted to do, that brought her to another place in the world, with people not quite like us. Her drill team had them go to the drop off station of a charity re-sale shop and sort stuff as a CS project. Fine...but she did it with all of her drill team buds....still in her comfort zone.</p>
<p>I looked on volunteermatch per someone's suggestion. About 60% of the listings are for people to visit folks in hospice care. Boy, I don't know if even I could do that!</p>
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About 60% of the listings are for people to visit folks in hospice care. Boy, I don't know if even I could do that!
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My friend did the training for that and the first - and last - time she went on her own on a visit took her young daughter with her. The house she went to no one answered and the dogs inside were going nuts jumping at the door and barking and snarling. Turned out the person had died. Thank goodness she was not able to get in with her 6 year old in tow. </p>
<p>I have thought that would be something my pre med daughter should look into.</p>
<p>If we're talking about volunteer experiences that we did only once, here's a story that I'll never forget. When I was a young, single lawyer, one of my young single lawyer friends decided she needed to do some CS, so she volunteered at a local childrens' hospital. Her assignment was to take notes and draft the non-binding "wills" of children who would soon pass away. Her first boy "willed" his toy soldiers to his brother. She managed to hold back the sobbing until she left his room, but she never went back.</p>
<p>Some people have a gift for difficult tasks like that, but my friend was not one of them!</p>
<p>My D's are both very active in 4-H Community Service programs - the Cooperative Extension office is in a very impoverished area of our county, down the street from a Migrant Center. The teens babysit for children of migrants (great opportunity for those taking Spanish in school), hold Easter Egg Hunts and educational/language based toy drives for the children, and help tutor the adults. You know, I have my views about the immigration issue, as I am sure most on CC do, but my D's have exposed me to another side of this issue through their community service work - the poverty, despair and struggles going on right in our backyard have really taught us all a lesson and have reminded us to count our blessings....</p>
<p>My D really loves the inner city tutoring she does every week. The one-on-one with kids she wouldn't normally make connections with has been meaningful to her, for sure. Nursing home visits have also been eye opening. Least meaningful have been all those mandatory service days through her h.s., where at least half of the participants goldbrick.</p>
<p>She has also raised plenty of $$ for various charities as a performer. On a few occasions, she's met the recipients. I have to remind her that a personal connection is absolutely not necessary in order to perform a service. In fact, it can be somewhat narcisistic to always look for getting that rewarding feedback. The anonymous big check that is used to hire a team of professional contractors is just as necessary as the manual labor of volunteers. The Catholic Church has a program called 'Time, Talent, Treasure.' No component is considered more valuable than the other -- just make a habit of contributing a share of whatever resources that you are blessed with.</p>
<p>We worked at the local Humane Society for years. We had to work together until my S was 16. We walked and socialized dogs and cats and cleaned. Fortunately, it was a no-kill shelter or I don't think either one of us could have done it. You get a disturbing glimpse into people's souls when you see how they treat their animals.</p>
<p>^^^ Love that women's shelter project from paying 3's neice^^^ </p>
<p>Both of my DDs have been volunteering for the same companion animal rescue and adoption organization since they were in the sixth grade. It has been extremely meaningful for them. They have also raised money and participated in Relay for Life for the last two years which is a blast for them</p>