Teen Volunteering and Where to Start

Finding Volunteer Opportunities in Your Own Community

Mar 1, 2009

Whether it's a requirement or a desire, volunteering changes lives. For some teens, finding a cause is easy, for other's it's not. Where should they start?

There are many volunteer opportunities available for teens. But before jumping in, there are a few things teens can do to help narrow the search.

Connecting Interests to Volunteer Opportunities

One of the first things teens should do is begin with a self-inventory, a look at their own interests. Oftentimes these interests can translate into volunteer options. For example, teens who like animals could work at an animal shelter or offer to walk someone's dog. Those who have an interest in art could do face painting at a neighborhood event or design flyers for a cause.

Connecting Personal Lives to Volunteer Opportunities

Teens can also look at their own lives and identify areas where they have been affected. Watching a family member or friend suffer from a disease or illness may encourage a teen to raise money to support research or donate time to an awareness campaign. If a natural disaster like a hurricane or wildfire has destroyed or damaged their own home, a teen may want to look for ways to help others prepare for such a catastrophe.

Connecting Community Needs to Volunteer Opportunities

Another area to consider is the community where they are living. By looking at the people and places around them and their needs, teens can find things to do to really make a difference close to home. Knowing about homeless classmates at school may provide an opportunity to begin a food drive. Visiting a local park or lake and seeing trash littering the grounds could prompt a cleanup day.

If a teen is still having difficulty coming up with the right opportunity, there are numerous websites set up to match interests with activities in their own communities. Some of them are one time activities, while others are ongoing and provide a continuing outlet for service. Network for Good is one place to start the search. Teens have to click on the "I want to volunteer" tab on the page, and fill in their state and zip code. A list of opportunities in that area will come up. They will need to make sure those options say "suitable for teens."

When looking for volunteer opportunities, teens need to understand it is not necessary to find a cause or event that will "change the world." Volunteering starts at home and there are no efforts too small. Instead, it is about making the difference in the day of one person or one animal. Teens should remember that what they do to help others today may not have an immediate impact, but could have a lasting effect on the person and the community.

National Crime Prevention Council has put together Volunteering: Do What You Like to Do, a publication to help teens with their volunteer efforts.

The copyright of the article Teen Volunteering and Where to Start in Youth Development is owned by Doris Keeler. Permission to republish Teen Volunteering and Where to Start in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.