Youth Volunteering

Think to a time when an individual reached out to you. Perhaps they helped with a home work assignment or talked you through a difficult time. Maybe they made sure you had food to eat and a friend to talk to. Each of these examples took only moments of their time. Brief amounts of time that you will be thankful for and remember for the rest of your life. You too can be that hero to someone. You can make a difference by choosing to volunteer.

There are a lot of people in your life who have opinions about how you should spend your time, what decisions you should make, and what goals you should aspire to. There are also a lot of people making decisions about your quality of life based on who they vote for and elect to office, what laws are passed, and what rules are implemented. These decisions impact how often the bus runs, the cost of the food you eat, what your graduation requirements are, and whether there are parks or bike lanes available for you to use. You can make the decision to have your voice heard and to impact the decisions that are made to represent your point of view. You can do this every day by becoming active in your community. Make the choice. Act with intention and determination. Make some noise! You can be heard. You can have a say in your life. Volunteering provides you a place at the table and we are inviting you to step up. 

Benefits

- Feel needed and valued
- Build skills
- Gain knowledge about issues in the community
- Explore career options
- Make new friends
- Become competitive for college admission and scholarship options

Service that Counts

- Join a Youth Council for a local agency
- Recruit your friends to read books to kids for SMART
- Organize a canned food drive at your school for Marion-Polk Food Share
- Organize a Mini Relay for Life to raise money for cancer research
- Get trained in local disaster response with the American Red Cross
- Join or start a service club at school, and plan group volunteer projects for your friends

Volunteer with your Friends

- Take a trash bag and gloves along on your next hike
- Serve a meal to the homeless at the Union Gospel Mission
- Help set-up an event that raises money for local agencies that help people, animals, or the environment
- Host a movie night and charge canned food or book donations as admission
- Organize a game night at a local senior center or retirement home
- Help replace light bulbs on porches or clean the gutters for senior citizens in your neighborhood
- Volunteer to help run the carnival at an elementary school

HandsOn Summer: Youth Service Challenge

HandsOn Summer offers 8 different Done-in-a-Day service projects July through August 26th, with a new community partner each week, geared toward youth who will be entering 7th-12th grade in the fall.
The summer is an exciting time to explore interests, build job skills, gain service hours, and give back to the community. You can register for as many Done-in-a-Day service projects as you want to participate in. Take the challenge, be the change! HandsOn Summer is a Youth Service Challenge with 5 levels. Challenge yourself to one level at a time, with additional perks at every step you choose to take.

Youth Volunteer Action Training

Develop your leadership skills! It’s fun to volunteer, but it’s even more fun and rewarding to plan and lead your own projects for other volunteers!  This training covers volunteer management and developing your own volunteer leadership skills and style.  It also covers the key steps to planning a service project, recruiting volunteers, and working with the community to make your projects a success. 

Service To Go

An innovative and fun approach to community service – right from your home, classroom, or neighborhood park! ACT NOW!

Volunteers

• Become a Volunteer
• Benefits of Volunteering
• HandsOn Projects
• Photo Gallery
• Volunteer Trainings
  • Mentor 101
  • Volunteer Action Training
  • Youth Volunteer Action Training
• Types of Volunteering
  • Youth Volunteering
  • Family Volunteering
  • 50+ volunteering
  • Court Referrals
  • Pro Bono Volunteering
  • National Days of Service
  • Boards & Committees
• Volunteer Action Alerts
  • February 2010