Is your student's New Year's resolution to volunteer more in the community? Start with what they love to do most to find a made-to-order community service opportunity.
For example, if your students like to cook or bake, they could make a dish for a soup kitchen like SHIP on a regular basis. If they like children, they can volunteer to be a teen mentor for a child with special needs, at an organization like JFS. If they like horses, they might volunteer at Mane Stream, which provides therapeutic riding. If they like to run, they could run a 5K raise to raise money for a local charity. If they want to enter a medical profession, they could volunteer at the Rescue Squad or the hospital. Do they get along well with their grandparents? Perhaps they could do chores like raking leaves, taking out the garbage and recycling, shoveling snow, putting away groceries for an elderly neighbor.
Still stuck? If you are in New Jersey, try looking at the Jersey Cares website.
Volunteering is a great way for students to help others, while at the same time exploring possible career choices and making valuable contacts. :)
ReplyDeleteI am in total agreement with you and encourage my students to get involved in at least one community service project. Sometimes they can even create their own project which might be even better. I have also noticed many more scholarships available for volunteering and community service.
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