Is it possible for a 12 year old to volunteer?

Question

my daughter who is 12 years old wants to volunteer somewhere. i don't want her to volunteer at animal shelters since I'm worried about her getting bit by a dog. she wants to help out at a hospital but do hospitals let 12-year olds volunteer?

Answer 1

Try asking your local library if they allow volunteers. This would be a safe place for your daughter to help out. If she had any downtime, she could simply read a book.  

Answer 2

More and more places are requiring background checks for their volunteers, so it makes it difficult for children to volunteer unless they are with a parent or with a group.  

Hospitals definitely would not let her volunteer, not just because of her age but also because of all the regulations about privacy of information.

Some suggestions:  Have her join a group such as Girl Scouts that emphasize community service. Look for groups at school or your religious affiliation that do community service. What kind of places do you volunteer for and can she join you when you do volunteer work?

She could try contacting nursing homes or assisted living places to see if they have volunteer work for her.  She might be able to help at a shelter for women and children. Our local one is always looking for volunteers to clean or to stock the food pantry shelves or short through donated clothing and baby items.  

And an animal shelter probably won't let her work with the dogs at her age.  At ours, you have to be at least 16 years old to walk the dogs but they will let younger kids brush the cats or clean or do laundry.  

Answer 3

Forgotten friends is a small non-profit all-volunteer organization dedicated to the protection and placement of homeless, abandoned, abused and neglected dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, and other animals. We provide a safe, secure, and healthy environment for a small number of animals waiting for a loving, caring adoptive home. We receive no payment for our efforts, only the personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment we feel when placing a rescued animal into a loving home forever. Please save a pet with donations or contributions. We will use donated money to open a pet rescue in the Windham area, to try to improve the lives of local animals, and to make a real difference. We also accept aluminum cans and pet supplies. For more information or to schedule a pick up of donations, or to schedule volunteer time, please call us. For the betterment of the lives of stray, abandoned, and special needs cats and dogs, our goal is to;

*Open an animal shelter in the Windham area

*Find loving homes for animals in need

*Provide shelter, food, and medical necessities

*Give loving care and companionship for as long as needed.

For donations, contributions, and volunteer work;

*Email: [e-mail]

*Address: http://www.myspace.com/helpforgottenfrie...

Answer 4

Some hospitals do allow young people to volunteer in hospitals.  Working with an adult volunteer, you can help sort and deliver mail, deliver flowers.  If this is something your daughter is really interested in, it would be worth a phone call to your local hospital to see if she could volunteer.

There's also a national organization that has about 30 chapters nationwide, the hands on network.  Many of the chapters have the word "care" in the name - such as Pittsburgh Cares here in Pittsburgh.  These volunteer organizations have activities where children can volunteer - either with parents or by themselves.  Do a Yahoo search on hands on network to find out if your community has a local chapter.

Hope this helps - Julie