I want to volunteer(im a teen). Where and How?

Question

I've been looking for somewhere I can volunteer at, but I haven't had much luck. I'd rather work with animals and/or children, but I suppose it wouldn't have to be those things. I've been looking through the internet for places near my home but I can't seem to find anywhere. Is there a good site? or something? I am about to give up on looking. I have been trying to find a place since a week before Christmas. Oh, and I'm only 15, so I can't drive yet. (I'd have my parents drive me somewhere to do the volunteer work at of course.)

Answer 1

call your village hall or county government. they should be able to direct you. look up animal shelters in your area if you're interested in that. you can try homes for developmentaly disabled children as well. good for you for doing this.

Answer 2

I've done a lot of volunteer work and in most cases, in order to work with either kids or animals you have to be at least 16. Call the local vet offices and shelters to see if they'll take someone younger.

You may want to check out your local hospital to see if they take candy stripers. I was a candy striper starting at age 14, and it's mostly people your own age because it's a teen program. All hospitals will have a program like this, so you may want to look into it. I loved it and went once a week for four years.

Answer 3

since i dont know where you liev it would hard for me to be more specific but you should try loaves and fishes, meals on wheels inc. they help feed home bound elderly and always can use kitchen workers on the weekends. you dont need to get a food handlers card if you are only volunteering.

its not kids and animals but its still a group of people who are fun to work around and i had a blast doing it for 9 years. you dont need to drive except have transportation to actually get to your local center.

Answer 4

VolunteerMatch (http://www.volunteermatch.org), Idealist (http://www.idealist.org), Change.org (http://www.change.org) and CraigsList (http://www.craigslist.com) all list volunteering opportunities with thousands of organizations. There's also this government sponsored site (http://volunteer.gov/gov/) which provides volunteer positions through USA federal land agencies like Fish & Wildlife, Forest Service, National Parks, etc. Also, contact your local volunteer center; you can find this via the Points of Light Foundation web site (http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/).

Why not take public transit?