Lend a Hand: A Guide to Volunteering for Youth
JANUARY
Join or start an effort to map youth services in your community
Make a New Year’s resolution to become a mentor
Help a community center organize a youth diversity workshop for Martin Luther King, Jr., Day |
FEBRUARY
Send valentines and toiletries, like toothpaste and soap, to a shelter for runaway and homeless youth
Bring a youth to work on Groundhog Job Shadow Day
Take young people to visit your mayor’s office, city council, or State legislature in honor of President’s Day |
MARCH
Aid in a spring musical at the local high school
Organize a mural-painting project at a youth-serving agency
Encourage your employer to designate your workplace a Safe Place where youth in crisis can get emergency help and shelter |
APRIL
Teach youth about financial literacy
Take on a project for National Volunteer Week or National Youth Service Day
Run a poetry workshop for youth at a residential program |
MAY
Consider becoming a foster parent
Coach a sports team or start an exercise club
Donate young adult books to a school, library, or youth center |
JUNE
Encourage employers to recruit and hire summer interns
Drive youth to camp
Ask your employer to donate office or business space for summer youth activities |
JULY
Help youth organize a car wash or walkathon to raise money for a drop-in center or a sports team
Lead a hiking trip or teach sports skills, such as swimming, gymnastics, or tennis
Tutor high school students in Math and English |
AUGUST
Donate school supplies to an afterschool center
Join a youth group in building affordable housing
Organize a “block party” and get to know the young people in your neighborhood |
SEPTEMBER
Organize a used book drive to benefit a local school or youth agency
Teach nutrition and meal planning to high school students or youth at a transitional living program
Start a peer counseling program, in which youth advise other youth, at your school or workplace or in your community |
OCTOBER
Run for office on a youth-friendly platform
Join your community’s youth advisory board
Help high school seniors fill out college applications at a school or community center |
NOVEMBER
Help a youth shelter by doing paperwork, writing a newsletter, maintaining a Web site, balancing the organization’s books, or giving legal advice
Commit to working for a runaway or youth-in-crisis hotline
Sponsor a canned food drive for a youth shelter or food bank |
DECEMBER
Lead or make donations to a gift drive at a residential youth agency
Invite young people to holiday dinners at your home
Volunteer at a youth group’s holiday fundraiser |
Whatever your motivation, it doesn’t take much to help youth all year long.
(Many of the ideas in this guide can be done any time of the year.) |
This document links to Web sites with information on ways to volunteer to help young people. Inclusion of this information does not imply endorsement by the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth (NCFY). Moreover, the points of view or opinions expressed on these Web sites do not necessarily represent the official position, policies, or views of FYSB, HHS, or NCFY.
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