Parenting :: Ideas for Volunteer Projects

Photo credit: Beatta Bosworth of B-n-B Photography

Volunteering is a great way to get tweens and teens thinking about what they can do to make the world a better place. I like to organize events that my daughter can be involved in where we focus on helping out a local charity or organization we support. Last year, we were part of the #GivingTuesday event and we were able to fill 25 Project Night Night Bags that went to a local women and children’s shelter. But deciding on which organization or project to work on can be daunting. There are so many great ways to support your community and The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards , a national recognition program for youth volunteers, lists ways your child can get started giving back today. We also had a chance to interview a youth volunteer already making a name for herself.

Ideas for volunteer projects that children can work into their 2014-2015 school year include:

Putting together care packages for our armed forces, with encouraging notes
Cleaning up a local park in need of a little love
Spending time at a nursing home or retirement community
Organizing a coat drive, as we head into the cooler winter months
Putting together a canned food drive for local homeless shelters
Becoming a mentor to a child in need

Photo credit Beatta Bosworth of B-n-B Photography

You can help your child by brainstorming a list of project options (find some more ideas here) and helping them obtain the resources they need for a successful volunteer project. From there, a fun way to keep your child on track is to create an activity log together, and then hang it in your kitchen to keep track of progress throughout the school year. Visit your local craft store, pick up colorful poster board, stickers, markers, glitter, and start creating! Of course, you can always check out Pinterest for other great inspiration!

Annika Cushnyr, of Alburquerque, N.M. is a 2014 Prudential Spirit of Community State Honoree. Annika is a junior at Bosque School and collected 4,000 new and used books to start a “giving library” so that children and their families who visit a local medical center can get free books to take home and keep. We had a chance to interview Annika about the inspiration behind creating the giving library.
Tell us the inspiration behind creating the Giving Library:
I was inspired to create the Giving Library by my love of reading. I can’t imagine a life without reading and I was shocked to find out that 48% of my home state of New Mexico is functionally illiterate. Almost half of my state couldn’t enjoy books the way I do. Through research I discovered that lack of access to books is a large factor in illiteracy. By starting a Giving Library in a place people already visit they could have access to free books to take home and keep. This access to books is one of the first steps to ending illiteracy.

How did your community get involved in this project?

My community was very supportive of the project. Thousands of books were donated to the project and many people sent words of support and encouragement.

If someone wants to help out in their community – what steps would you recommend?

If someone wants to get involved and help their community my advice would be to do it. You don’t need to start a huge project or solve world problems you just have to take a small first step. Many times your small efforts will grow into larger projects. To see your project succeed you need to put yourself out there. Talk to your community and tell them why they should care about your work. Show them how their lives will be impacted by your project. If your community understands their personal connection they will be much more willing to support your work.

Any news you want to share with our lovely dandelion moms?

The Giving Library is doing very well. The Medical Center was very supportive of the project and has fully taken in on. I still post occasional updates on the blog atStartMyLibrary.weebly.com if you want to keep up with the project.

Apply for a Prudential Spirit of Community Award:

Finally, if you know a youth volunteer in grades 5-12 who is already changing the world, please encourage them to apply for a Prudential Spirit of Community Award: 2015 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards application. The deadline to apply is November 4^th, 2014. Awards are granted at the local, state and national level, and 102 State Honorees receive $1,000 and all-expense-paid trips to Washington, D.C., where 10 volunteers will be named National Honorees.