Community service ideas

[stephinsocal]

Have your teens found great ways to serve your community? I'd love to hear what they're up to.

[Gratia271]

My children work with children coming from hard places (poverty, domestic abuse, cognitive impairments) to help them with their school work. The organization they work with meets in different schools to accomplish this.  It is usually once per week.

[regentrude]

My DD was a volunteer physics tutor.

 

[Guest]

Mine have tutored, performed musically, done food baskets, assisted an adult at summer reading programs, and various park tasks - removing staples from picnic tables, painting and trail building and restoration. As part of scouting they have done all.sorts of things - cleaning up and refurbbing church basement storage areas, removal of invasive species, building bird and bat boxes and placing them, teaching you ger children about reptiles and amphibians, running bike rodeos, flag ceremonies for public events, community education for water usage as well as storm drain marking, trail restoration, hurricane cleanups, assorted eagle projects, holiday programs at nursing homes,camp counselor. One thing there is a need for here is volunteer camp counselor at the special needs camps...most campers are city kids and have never met a country kid or touched a frog.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Heigh Ho

[brendafromtenn]

My kids have volunteered once a month for the past four years at our local Food Bank.  They are responsible for taking food out to the recipients vehicles. We invited other homeschoolers in the area to join us with this.  And we go eat lunch afterwards.  It has been an activity that ALL the kids don't want to miss.

 

My son, who is in scouting, has also helped our American Legion by setting out flags for all "flag holidays" in our local town.(Memorial day, Independence day....etc...) He also built a walking bridge at a Veteran's museum as his Eagle project.  My daughter has just recently started volunteering at our local library.  

 

[daijobu]

Volunteer as  coaches for MathCounts and Math Olympiad.  Volunteer with Technovation after they competed last year.  

[Erica in OR]

My two volunteer at the library weekly. There's a wonderful teen librarian with a great team of teen volunteers. Besides the usual stuff (shelving, setting up for events, etc.) she gives the team continued opportunity to have real input in teen programming and materials. So, it helps out the community, but also is a good way to have an impact on something they care about.

 

Erica in OR

[Carrie12345]

These days, volunteer firefighting, helping with co-op/community classes for younger kids, helping with events at our local environmental center.

 

 

 

[charlotteb]

Here is what my teens have done:

 

Cleaning at a homeless shelter

Helping with food distribution centers

Serving Thanksgiving dinner to less fortunate

Teaching Sunday school and Awana at church

Singing in church choir

Playing violin in church choir

Running sound board and media for church

Playing violin at a nursing home monthly

Making cookies to deliver to hospital

 

As a part of my high school graduation requirements, my children are required to volunteer somewhere at least once a month. They can chose how they do it, but of course are limited to what's around us.  Church has obviously been the easiest and all three kids have volunteered there usually weekly.  But they also have found other places too!

Edited May 8, 2017 by charlotteb

[stephinsocal]

Thanks for your great responses, everyone. We've always done ad hoc kinds of service projects through scouts and church, and I'm thinking of adding a more regularly scheduled commitment--maybe Meals on Wheels a couple of times a month. I appreciate all the ideas.

[....]

Besides one-time projects with Youth Group through church, my teens have regular volunteer jobs that they go to every week.

 

Both dd15 and ds14 work at an equestrian physical therapy facility.  They help special needs kids and adults ride the horses.  They also lead the horses, catch the horses in the pasture, give them baths, clean their hooves, clean the barn, etc.  They've been working there for about a year.  

 

DD15 volunteers with a pit bull rescue once or twice a week.  She goes to the facility and takes care of the dogs.  She also goes with the dogs to adoption events and helps there.  She has helped set up fund raisers, she helped run the adoption tent at a 5K, she does their photography for their website/Petfinder, etc.  She has been working there for several years.

 

It depends on what's around you geographically.  We're in Texas...so horses, etc. are everywhere here.  

[Alicia64]

We're starting a regularly scheduled activity: deliver meals to seniors for Meal on Wheels. I read that it's good for kids to be around seniors who aren't relatives.

 

One son is also being the only assistant at theater camps for little kids.

 

That's it for us so far. Watching this thread!

 

Alley

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

 

They volunteer at a food bank, nursing home, and other projects as they come up.

[frogger]

We have always just done things because they ought to be done but now that my son is in high school I'm wondering if things need to have some kind of verification that they were in fact done. If we as a family go pick up trash every year(for a simple example) how would that be verified? Does service have to be done with some official organization? To be honest, I struggle with the documenting of service. It feels gross as though it is no longer service but has ulterior motives but I suppose I must get over that.

[Laurel-in-CA]

We have always just done things because they ought to be done but now that my son is in high school I'm wondering if things need to have some kind of verification that they were in fact done. If we as a family go pick up trash every year(for a simple example) how would that be verified? Does service have to be done with some official organization? To be honest, I struggle with the documenting of service. It feels gross as though it is no longer service but has ulterior motives but I suppose I must get over that.

 

Documented volunteer service makes a great first resume. I wouldn't have thought of this, but my older kids were in 4H and as part of their record books had to document service hours every year. Then we found that 4H was a reporting organization for the presidential service awards (as is scouts, key club in public schools, etc.), so in high school we sent their hours in that way as well. Let me tell you, presidential service awards are a very nice thing to put on college applications and on even p/t college job applications and are a great thing to talk about at interviews.

 

Think of volunteer service as unpaid job experience....especially if done consistently and on a schedule. That may help you and your kid feel better about reporting it.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Oldest dd has taught religious education classes (one year as an assistant and one as the main teacher) and a week-long summer camp at our church (this will be her second year).  She plans to help with the summer library program.  DH also takes the older children to visit and help with activities at the local nursing home.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Lisa in the UP of MI

[Lori D.]

Our homeschool youth do community service as a group. A few things they have done:

 

- collect canned goods, diapers, and hygiene supplies for the local food pantry

- wrap gifts for Toys for Tots

- collect, sort, and package items + write notes of encouragement to send to overseas soldiers

- visit local nursing home -- bring cards and cookies, sing/perform, and sit and visit

- buy ingredients and do meal prep to put a week of meals in fridge/freezer for local Ronald's McDonald's house

- work day -- at a local church that hosts some of the youth events, or for homeschool member families with needs -- pull weeds, landscape maintenance, interior housecleaning, etc