<p>I helped my aunt out in her store, Abarrotes "La Manzanita", in Mexico over my last two summer breaks. Most of it was volunteer work, but I never really payed attention to how many hrs I did or anything. I'd have to say it was 100+ hrs over June-July for 2011 and 2012 each. It wasn't anything official and my aunt never said anything about what exactly it was, but it was certainly voluntary. </p>
<p>Also, would colleges want any verification of this? I can't go and ask my aunt for anything like that (considering that she doesn't speak any english and her store isn't big or name brand over there to have such documentation).</p>
<p>Working in a family business is absolutely an EC. Just estimate your hours. And no, colleges won’t need verification of this. They don’t require verification of ECs generally. For most schools, ECs just aren’t that bid a deal - they just want to know that you are engaged in something outside of school. Those that use them to differentiate between otherwise excellent applicants are usually looking for ECs of the sort that can be readily verified if need be - a call to the guidance counselor or a quick check on Google. In practice this rarely happens and few people are dumb enough to outright lie about something that is both unimportant and easily checked.</p>