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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Oct 8, 2015 16:50:15 GMT
Miss Lerin is in 5th grade and they are required to do 2 hours of volunteer work each quarter this year (of their choosing). This quarter we served food to the hungry somewhat locally, which was a great experience, but they require the volunteers to be there at 3:45pm and their school doesn't get out until 3:40. It's a 20 minute drive there. We did it yesterday, but the school asked us to find something else to do for next quarter that wouldn't require me taking them out of school early (I picked them up at 3:30, so they missed the last 10 minutes of the day and we were a few minutes late).
I've looked online for different things they could do, but pretty much everywhere I've looked require the kids to be 13 to volunteer. Any ideas of something else that a 10 year old (and 6 year old, little sister wants to be a part and help out too!) that we could do?
I'm stumped!
And they don't want the kids "collecting" anything for their volunteer hours. I am still going to try to start a donation drive to help out the place we volunteered at yesterday, but whatever time/effort we put into that won't count towards the hours she needs for the school requirement.
TIA |
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Oct 8, 2015 16:54:57 GMT
Our local food pantry always has lots of opportunities for kids... things like bagging macaroni and cheese into family size portions. They usually are looking for volunteers on Saturdays.
Also dog walking for the local humane society is popular.
My daughter has volunteered and taught singing at a local non profit pre-school.
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Deleted
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May 17, 2024 17:25:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 16:55:20 GMT
For the 10 year old, see if the schools or library have a peer reading program. Around here, kids of that age partner up with emerging readers and read together.
If they are interested in nature, check with your local nature preserves, national wildlife refuges, etc. and see if they have any volunteer options there. The ones around here have a number of options for all ages, from one-time tree-planting work to ongoing assistance in the visitors' center or helping with species counts.
Obviously, parents need to be in attendance for any of these.
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Post by monklady123 on Oct 8, 2015 16:56:23 GMT
My church runs a clothing bank and a lot of our young kids help out there. We've also had kids not related to the church help there. Maybe you have something like that in your area?
What about a community center that has some event that might need help? or a local fair or festival that might need help with setting up.
Maybe reading to kids at a local preschool? Helping with library story time?
Otherwise I think I might ask the school for ideas, especially considering her age and the fact that you've learned so many places want the kids to be 13. If it's a requirement then the school must have some options for parents to consider.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 8, 2015 16:58:32 GMT
The 6 year old is going to be the "problem" My kid's middle school has a 20 hour a year minimum requirement, so we needed to find regularly opportunities when my son was 11. He did the vast majority at the local community food bank sorting food. As he was under 14, I had to be there, but that was true for pretty much all volunteers in that age range. A ton of his friends volunteered at the humane society. One girl had an innovated idea that might work for you - she played the piano at the local retirement home once a week. I think she played 20 minutes or so each week - the residents loved it.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Oct 8, 2015 17:00:44 GMT
I just had another thought. Google Volunteer Connection for your community. Ours puts out a whole list for youth opportunities including minimum age, minimum hours etc.
ETA a quick search of ours shows that if you want to do something where the younger one can be involved, think family volunteering. Meals on Wheels or other food deliver services where you can drive and they can bring out the food, community clean up, and snow clearing for the elderly/disabled were the only ones a quick perusal of ours showed for a 6 year old.
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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Oct 8, 2015 18:21:39 GMT
For the 10 year old, see if the schools or library have a peer reading program. Around here, kids of that age partner up with emerging readers and read together. If they are interested in nature, check with your local nature preserves, national wildlife refuges, etc. and see if they have any volunteer options there. The ones around here have a number of options for all ages, from one-time tree-planting work to ongoing assistance in the visitors' center or helping with species counts. Obviously, parents need to be in attendance for any of these.
I would be with them for whatever they do!
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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Oct 8, 2015 18:24:53 GMT
The 6 year old is going to be the "problem" My kid's middle school has a 20 hour a year minimum requirement, so we needed to find regularly opportunities when my son was 11. He did the vast majority at the local community food bank sorting food. As he was under 14, I had to be there, but that was true for pretty much all volunteers in that age range. A ton of his friends volunteered at the humane society. One girl had an innovated idea that might work for you - she played the piano at the local retirement home once a week. I think she played 20 minutes or so each week - the residents loved it.
yes, this is what I am finding. That some places will let the 10 year old volunteer but not the 6 year old.
I think we might do the "feeding the hungry" again, but just let them take a tardy for leaving school early. I don't think either of them have ever had a tardy at school, so 3-4x's per year, shouldn't be a problem. I just hate that the school frowned on it yesterday.
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J u l e e
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Jun 28, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by J u l e e on Oct 8, 2015 18:31:38 GMT
Does it have to be an organization. Can you do something like take a walk in the park and pick up trash? I consider that community service and should be acceptable for volunteer work. And you're spending time outside, together, being active, and making a difference in your community.
Same with raking leaves for an elderly neighbor.
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Post by littlemama on Oct 8, 2015 18:38:49 GMT
I think community service at the middle school level is a pretty large burden on the parents. (I am not opposed to volunteering and community service, I am opposed to essentially mandating it for parents).
Our school district requires 40 hours of community service for graduation and it is quite difficult to find opportunities outside the schools for the younger kids. Most places have a requirement that they be 16 or 18 or have a parent there. My DS has 155 regular hs comm service hours plus another 50 for NHS.
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Post by Bitchy Rich on Oct 8, 2015 18:41:09 GMT
I think we might do the "feeding the hungry" again, but just let them take a tardy for leaving school early. I don't think either of them have ever had a tardy at school, so 3-4x's per year, shouldn't be a problem. I just hate that the school frowned on it yesterday.
I wouldn't like that either. I think it's great that your school is requiring kids to do 2 hours of volunteer work, but I'm surprised they don't have channels set up to help the kids. I'm sure that plenty of parents aren't as enthusiastic/involved as you are. Can you feed the hungry on Saturday or Sunday instead of during the week? Or like someone else suggested, take your children to a senior center. I had my toddler at one when my grandma was sick and people were rolling out to the hallways to see him when we walked around. He was literally gathering a crowd by doing nothing. |
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Post by mrssmith on Oct 8, 2015 18:41:52 GMT
What types of things are other kids doing?
Do you attend a church? Maybe there would be something there.
Playground or park cleanup? Check with the park district, community center or school.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 8, 2015 18:52:29 GMT
Does your area have a Feed My Starving Children? That's a great one that even kids in kindergarten can do. The volunteers come and measure out ingredients into packages to make meals that are shipped out to something like 70 countries worldwide. The ratio of kids to adults varies by age, but it's something that young children can do. DH has volunteered for it with his business networking group, and it's something we want to do as a family now that DD is old enough. Feed My Starving Children |
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Post by bc2ca on Oct 8, 2015 19:04:36 GMT
At that age our volunteer hours were spent doing beach clean-ups. There is one pretty much every Saturday morning at different beaches in our area. When looking for other opportunities we found VolunteerMatch.org really useful |
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Post by anonrefugee on Oct 8, 2015 19:07:49 GMT
at this time of year non-profits still mail donation request letters. The smaller ones use volunteers to stuff packets or envelopes. We don't directly ask for kid volunteers, but if approached I'm fine assigning a responsible younger child to this. Do you know a director or can you call an agency?
How specific are they on type of service? When our kids were younger they could serve in water stations at races and aid stations during events- passing out water, fruit, etc. It was community service. We had to be there and help make original connection but school and event organizers were willing to sign off.
do they want the kids to come in contact with others? Or can it be a more solitary activity like making "busy bags" for hospital stays, toiletry kits, etc?
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Post by fridaynightscrapper on Oct 8, 2015 19:28:17 GMT
We adopted a family every year. We started when my daughter was 5 and continued until she went away to collage. We received them thru a local church and a few years thru the Salvation Army. It really hit home when she went to their house and saw it was not like ours. We usually delivered to the family. Many times they had no television, minimal furniture, no toys. She would always leave saying we needed to do more for the families. Even at 5 she was able to shop with me, learn their names and talk about them before and after the visit. She helped me wrap gifts for Christmas and Easter, during the summer I would wrap birthday gifts, even if I didn't know when the actual day was, just to celebrate. You can also try the giving tree at Christmas and let your children pick someone their age and purchase a gift and wrap it. A couple of times we just would pick a random Saturday and do a drop off. They were surprised and welcomed the food and supplies and a few toys, and we felt good about helping others.
Ijust saw where you cannot get hours for collecting. Maybe dropping off and seeing the family would count?
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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Oct 8, 2015 19:34:45 GMT
Does it have to be an organization. Can you do something like take a walk in the park and pick up trash? I consider that community service and should be acceptable for volunteer work. And you're spending time outside, together, being active, and making a difference in your community. Same with raking leaves for an elderly neighbor.
They didn't give us much information about it. But we do have an elderly neighbor that she could rake leaves for. That is a great suggestion, thank you!
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quiltz
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Post by quiltz on Oct 8, 2015 19:38:57 GMT
@miss lerins momma, my children would have an "appointment" and not a "tardy" on their school record.
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Post by Miss Lerins Momma on Oct 8, 2015 19:48:17 GMT
@miss lerins momma, my children would have an "appointment" and not a "tardy" on their school record.
I wish that were the case here... if they leave school before the announcements start, then they are given a tardy for the day. Appointment or not. And it doesn't matter if they are going to do something for school or not either.
I wish it were different. But I understand them having rules and not wanting to bend them for anyone.
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Mary Kay Lady
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Post by Mary Kay Lady on Oct 8, 2015 20:03:08 GMT
What about volunteering at a 5K run? We have quite a number of them in my area and they like volunteers to help distribute snacks and water to the runners.
What about visiting elderly in a nursing home? Many of them don't get many visitors. Could your girls go in and play games and read with them?
Do you have a Ronald McDonald House in your area? We have one and I've know of groups who volunteer to bring in a meal for the families who are staying at the house. I wonder if your girls could go and play with the kids who are staying there?
Do you have a hospital in your area? Could your girls go and play with some of the children who are in the hospital?
Do you have a food bank in your area? Maybe you could see if you could come in and help sort the food and distribute it?
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Post by gritzi on Oct 8, 2015 20:06:24 GMT
Our local food pantry will accept help from 10yo. I don't know about 6 though.
Our local animal shelter will also allow children, accompanied by a parent/guardian, to walk & play with the dogs &/or play with the cats.
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smartypants71
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Post by smartypants71 on Oct 8, 2015 20:09:12 GMT
My son and I volunteered at a Special Olympics event. As long as he was with a parent, they didn't have any restrictions. We worked the long jump, and my friend and I had our boys 10 and 13 at the time, raking the sand pit.
ETA: These events are usually on Saturdays in my experience.
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Post by Yoki on Oct 8, 2015 20:39:33 GMT
My son is 12 & has 30 hours of community service a year for his school. I know that these suggestions are location dependent, but here's how we meet them ... We do trash walks in our neighborhood, like J u l e e suggested. We started volunteering with a local animal rescue group. They have a partnership with Petco to keep kittens/cats at the store to help get them adopted. We go once a week to play with them. We have a non-profit that refurbishes donated computers to give to schools/families that need them. We help clean up equipment, install software, untangle wires, etc ... We also have a diaper bank that is willing to find volunteer jobs for kids of all ages. As a runner, I LOVE the suggestion of volunteering at a race! I'll have to see if my son is interested in that. Plus, you'll usually get a free t-shirt & lots of appreciation from the racers. |
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Post by lumo on Oct 8, 2015 21:02:44 GMT
DD (7) and I volunteer at the local animal shelter, playing with cats and dogs.
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pridemom
Pearl Clutcher
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Post by pridemom on Oct 8, 2015 22:43:08 GMT
My church packs Buddy Packs,backpacks filled with easy to prepare foods and snacks for needy kids to take home each weekend.
Other ideas are:
Visit a nursing home: Sing songs, play instruments, hand out handmade cards, etc.
Make homemade treats and take to the police department.
Help shelf books in school library.
Pick up trash in a local park.
My younger kids helped at the older kid's sports games by handing out programs, cleaning off the snack bar tables, emptying trash, etc.
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Post by myboysnme on Oct 8, 2015 23:16:04 GMT
Does it have to be an organization. Can you do something like take a walk in the park and pick up trash? I consider that community service and should be acceptable for volunteer work. And you're spending time outside, together, being active, and making a difference in your community. Same with raking leaves for an elderly neighbor.
They didn't give us much information about it. But we do have an elderly neighbor that she could rake leaves for. That is a great suggestion, thank you!
I thought the same thing. The younger one could put leaves in clear leaf bags for pick up. The other thing they might be able to do is visit a nursing home and take some halloween treats to hand out in their costumes. They can get 2 hours for that just in putting the treats together and handing them out. Don't worry about diets, etc. The residents can choose to take them or not, and take some for the staff as well. |
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melissa
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Post by melissa on Oct 9, 2015 0:44:44 GMT
Does the school put out a list of suggestions? Dd's former private school had community service requirements, but they also offered not only a list of area organizations and the like that had needs, there were community service activities that were based out of the school and organized by the students such as a coat drive, can drive, collections for the animal shelter, tutoring for the older children, etc.
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eastcoastpea
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Post by eastcoastpea on Oct 9, 2015 10:57:34 GMT
Play cards, make easy crafts, play Bingo with people in nursing homes. I sat with a woman with dementia for a while and played Go Fish and did crafts with her.
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Post by magentapea on Oct 9, 2015 11:04:31 GMT
You could make blankets for Project Linus link. We made fleece no-sew blankets both at home and at cub scout meetings and donated them to the local children's hospital. |
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Post by bearmom on Oct 9, 2015 11:56:13 GMT
How about they take leaves, do yard clean up, or shovel snow (if it snows where you live) for an elderly neighbor.
Bake goods for the fire/police department.
Make no sew blankets for a shelter.
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