| 100 Ways Teens Can Serve Their Communities
For service organizations or agencies that involve teens, "100 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Community" can be a powerful starting point for creating change. From something as simple as "walk a neighbor's dog," to the more structured "become a peer counselor," this list has something all members can relate to. Developed by Youth Service America, a resource center and premier alliance of over 300 organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for young people to serve locally, nationally, or globally, this list is sure to generate thought, discussion, and activity.
Through service, teens can be active agents of positive change in their communities. But figuring out how to get started in service can be intimidating for teens. The reactions can range from thinking there's nothing productive to be done, to being overwhelmed with all the possibilities.
Involving the teens in creating a list of service activities, small and large, can help put the possibilities into the proper perspective. The following list, created by Youth Service America, can be a starting point for teens to create lists relevant to their own community's needs.
100 Ways To Make A Difference In Your Community
- Help teach a younger child to read.
- Help cook and/or serve a meal at a homeless shelter.
- Gather clothing from your neighbors and donate it to a local shelter.
- Make "I Care" kits with combs, toothbrushes, shampoo, etc. for the homeless.
- Pack and hand out food at a local food bank.
- Adopt a "grandfriend" and write them letters and visit them.
- Visit senior citizens at a nursing home.
- Rake leaves, shovel snow, clean gutters, or wash windows for a senior citizen.
- Pick up groceries or medicine for an elderly person.
- Go for a walk with a senior citizen in your community.
- Deliver meals to homebound individuals.
- Hold an afternoon dance for your local nursing home.
- Teach a senior friend how to use a computer and the Internet.
- Paint a mural over graffiti.
- Invite local police officers to present a drug awareness or safety presentation.
- Tutor a student that needs help learning English or some other subject.
- Organize a canned goods drive.
- Clean up a vacant lot or park.
- Organize a campaign to raise money to purchase and install playground equipment.
- Plant flowers in public areas that could use some color.
- Volunteer to help at a Special Olympics event.
- Set up a buddy system for kids with special needs in your community.
- Raise money for Braille books for visually impaired people.
- Read books or the newspaper on tape for visually impaired people.
- Bring toys to children in the cancer ward of a hospital.
- Contact your local political representative about key issues.
- Register people to vote.
- Organize a public issues forum for your neighborhood.
- Volunteer at a polling booth the day of an election.
- Take a friend to the polling booths.
- Vote.
- Offer to pass out election materials.
- Plant a garden or tree where the whole neighborhood can enjoy it.
- Set up a recycling system for your home.
- Organize a carpooling campaign in your neighborhood.
- Adopt an acre of a rainforest.
- Clean up trash along a river, beach, or in a park.
- Create a habitat for wildlife.
- Create a campaign to encourage biking and walking.
- Test the health of the water in your local lakes, rivers, and streams.
- Contact your local volunteer center for opportunities to serve.
- Volunteer at your local animal shelter.
- Help build a home with Habitat for Humanity.
- Walk a neighbor's dog or pet sit while they are on vacation.
- Teach Sunday school.
- Learn to be a peer counselor.
- Send a letter to one of America's veterans or overseas soldiers.
- Volunteer at your local youth center.
- Participate in a marathon for your favorite charity.
- Become a candy striper at your local hospital.
- Mentor a young person.
- Serve your country by joining AmeriCorps.
- Become a volunteer firefighter or EMT.
- Donate books to your local library.
- Donate clothes to the Salvation Army.
- Start a book club in your area.
- Adopt a pet from the Humane Society.
- Hold a door open for someone.
- Give up your seat on the bus or train to someone.
- Donate your old computer to a school.
- Give blood.
- Coach a children's sports team.
- Become an organ donor.
- Teach a dance class.
- Participate in Job Shadow Day (February 2).
- Organize a project for National Youth Service Day.
- Volunteer on a hotline.
- Meet with local representatives from your area.
- Don't drink and drive.
- Listen to others.
- Write a letter to the editor about an issue you care about.
- Learn first aid.
- Shop at local, family owned businesses.
- Become a Big Brother or Big Sister.
- Take a historical tour of your area about your community.
- Write a note to a teacher that had a positive effect on you.
- Get together with some friends to buy holiday presents for a family at a shelter.
- Recycle.
- Drive responsibly.
- Get CPR certification.
- Don't litter.
- Shop responsibly.
- Don't spread or start gossip.
- Tell a custodian that you appreciate him/her.
- Hold a teddy bear drive for foster children, fire victims, etc.
- Make a care package for an elderly or shut-in person.
- Teach at an adult literacy center.
- Sing for residents at a nursing home.
- Befriend a new student or neighbor.
- Babysit.
- Look for the good in all people.
- Coordinate a book drive.
- Donate money to your favorite charity.
- Make quilts or baby clothes for low-income families.
- Bake cookies and bring them to your local fire hall or police station.
- Donate toys or suitcases to foster children.
- When visiting someone in a hospital, talk to someone that doesn't have many visitors.
- Around the holidays, visit the Post Office and answer some letters to Santa.
- Start a neighborhood welcome committee.
- Visit SERVEnet.org to find volunteer opportunities in your area.
20 Additional Ways for Teenagers to Help Other People by Volunteering
- Homeless Shelters
If you live in a city of any size, then there is at least one homeless shelter that helps homeless people with meals, beds and other services. Most homeless shelters welcome volunteers and have a variety of programs through which you can get involved. You might help prepare or distribute meals, work behind the scenes in the business office, help organize a food drive to stock the pantry, etc. You can learn more about the problem of homelessness and ways you can help by looking at this site. Look in the phone book for a local homeless shelter if you are interested.
- Food Banks
Food banks often work with homeless shelters, but they also serve poor people living in the community (especially around the holidays). Food banks collect food, manage their inventory and distribute food to those in need. The following link shows you the different volunteer opportunities available at food banks around the country:
Any food bank will offer similar opportunities in your area. Look in the phone book for a local food bank if you are interested.
- The Guideposts Sweater Project
If you would like something to do in your spare time at home, one innovative way to volunteer is to get involved in The Guideposts Sweater Project, sponsored by Guideposts magazine. People around the country knit sweaters that are then sent to needy children around the world. This article gives you a description of the project and a pattern for the sweaters. Don't know how to knit? Not a problem, because the article also links to sites that teach you how!
- Ronald McDonald House
There are Ronald McDonald Houses around the country - almost every major city has one. The idea behind all Ronald McDonald Houses is very important. When a child is seriously ill, the child is frequently treated for long periods of time at a hospital or university medical center. Many families have to travel long distances to get to the hospital, and "where to stay" becomes a problem. Staying at a hotel becomes extremely expensive, and a hotel can be a lonely and sterile place. Ronald McDonald Houses provide a low-cost "home-away-from-home" for parents and children to stay during treatment. Volunteers help prepare meals, talk to families, take care of the house and so on. The programs offered at the Dallas Ronald McDonald House are typical, and you can read about volunteer opportunities there. Then call the Ronald McDonald House in your area to find out more.
- Special Olympics
As described on the web site for Special Olympics International, "Special Olympics is an international program of year-round sports training and athletic competition for children and adults with mental retardation." The site also describes a wide variety of volunteer activities, including sports training, fund raising, administrative help, competition planning and staffing, etc. Look in the phone book for a local office or search the Special Olympics Web Site for more information.
- Habitat for Humanities
Habitat for Humanities builds and gives houses to poor people in local communities. Volunteers not only help others, but can learn a great deal about building houses by getting involved. See the Habitat for Humanities web site for more information. Call the national office or your local office for information about volunteer programs in your area.
- State Parks
Many state parks offer volunteer programs, and in these programs you can try anything from educational programs to trail construction and maintenance. This site for the North Carolina State Park system shows some of the possibilities available. Contact a state park near you and see what options are available if you are interested.
- City Programs
Most large cities offer a wide range of volunteer opportunities. Look in the phone book and call around to see what might be available where you live. [Do not be discouraged if your first few calls seem to hit a brick wall. Many city governments are large and fairly disorganized. Keep calling around until you find someone who understands what you are talking about and who is willing to help.]
- Helping Others Learn to Read
When you think about it, reading is one of the most important skills an adult can have. Many adults, however, have never learned how to read. Literacy volunteers act as tutors who help illiterate children and adults learn this important skill. There is probably a literacy program in your area. See also Reading Is Fundamental (RIF).
- Hospitals
Many hospitals have volunteer programs to help patients both inside and outside the hospital. This page for the Summit Medical Center is typical. The volunteers programs allow participants to explore medical careers and gain work experience. Contact local hospitals to learn more about opportunities in your area.
- Libraries
Many libraries need help reshelving books, running children's programs, making books available to the community, and so on. This program specifically for teens at Phoenix Public Libraries trains teen volunteers to assist library staff and the public during the Summer Reading Program. Contact a local library for volunteer opportunities in your area.
- Senior Citizens Centers
Many senior citizen centers offer volunteer programs to provide friendship and community activities to senior citizens. If you would like working with senior citizens, call a senior citizen center in your neighborhood and see what kinds of volunteer programs they have available.
- Animal Shelters
Many animal shelters are non-profit or government organizations, and therefore they welcome volunteers to help take care of animals, keep facilities clean and work with the public. Call a local animal shelter for more information. Or find Mission: Humane projects to help animals at HumaneTeen, an animal protection site just for teens!
- United Way
The United Way is a nationwide umbrella organization for thousands of charitable organizations. The United Way raises billions of dollars and distributes it to these charities. There are local United way affiliates across the country and they need volunteers. Contact your local affiliate for more information.
- Red Cross
The American Red Cross helps people in emergencies - whether it's half a million disaster victims or one sick child who needs blood. Volunteer opportunities exist across the country. Contact your local Red Cross for more information.
- Salvation Army
The Salvation Army provides social services, rehabilitation centers, disaster services, worship opportunities, character building activities for all ages and character building groups and activities for all ages. Volunteer opportunities exist across the country.
- Environmental Organizations
The Sierra Club (and numerous other environmental groups) encourages volunteer support to help with environmental activities. You can help in many ways: by helping lobby on conservation issues, by leading hikes and other activities, or by lending a hand at the Chapter Office. Contact the local office of an environmental organization near you. See also the Earth Day site.
- Political Campaigns
If it's an election year, there are thousands of opportunities to volunteer in political campaigns around the country. You can learn more than you imagine by helping a candidate win election. This article talks about some of the options. Pick a candidate whose ideas you believe in (either on the local, state or national level) and volunteer to be a part of his or her campaign.
- 800 Number Volunteer
Many 800 help-lines rely on volunteers to staff the phones and handle other tasks. If there is an 800 phone bank in your area, you may be able to volunteer to help out.
- Web site creation
Many small charities and organizations do not yet have web sites. You can help by learning how to create a web site and volunteering your services. You could also raise money to pay for the web site, or seek help from a local company in the form of a donation. When creating a web site for a charity, you will want to take care to listen very carefully to the people who work for the charity to understand exactly what they want their web site to look and feel like. This will be extremely important to them, and you should be willing to change and improve the site to match their mental image. See this page for information on creating web sites.
|
