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Looking for places to volunteer as a teen? Getting service hours for school can be a fun and meaningful way to give back to your community—especially if you find a cause you care about. To help you connect with local and national organizations, we’ve put together a list of 16 easy volunteer ideas for high schoolers. Whether you’re looking to get 2 service hours or 200, we’ve got a whole list of impactful ways you can get involved.

1

Local nonprofits

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  1. [1] Local nonprofits can be dedicated to anything from preventing domestic violence, to preserving local parks, to helping the homeless. Check out a local nonprofit's website and look for a link that says “get involved” or “contact us.” Even if they don’t look like they’re actively recruiting volunteers, it’s totally worth sending an email to check.
    • Reach out with something like, “Hi, my name’s Sammi and I’m a local high schooler. I’m really passionate about what you do, and I’d love to get involved. Do you have any opportunities for volunteers? I’m happy to do whatever I can to help.”
    • You can even send in a resume or just a brief sentence listing a few skills like, “I’m a diligent worker, and I have strong social media skills.”
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2

National service organizations

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  1. Check out Habitat for Humanity , the American Red Cross , or the Humane Society . A national organization gives you the chance to find lots of volunteer opportunities, make a big impact, and connect with a larger community. Even though they’re national organizations, they’ll usually offer local chapters where you can do work right in your own community. [2] Here are a few national service organizations that offer both virtual and in-person opportunities:
4

Animal shelters

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5

Hospitals

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  1. While you won’t formally interact with or treat patients, you might work at a front desk, offer patients and family members beverages or snacks, retrieve needed items, and more. To volunteer at most hospitals, you’ll have to pass a background check and tuberculosis test, have up-to-date vaccinations, and go through training. As a result, this will be a repeated commitment rather than a one-off gig. [5]
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6

Retirement homes

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  1. is an incredibly meaningful way to volunteer. You can run errands, provide companionship for seniors, help out caretakers, participate in small group activities like game night, etc. Depending on the home, this could be a one-time service opportunity or a long-term volunteer position. Here are a few more ideas you could consider: [6]
    • Get a group of musical friends together and ask the home if you can put on a concert.
    • Offer to help residents with arthritis write letters.
    • Visit with residents and enjoy a meal together to provide company.
    • Walk dogs or take care of pets for the elderly.
    • Help seniors with technology.
11

Trash pickup events

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  1. Search online to see if any local environmental groups are hosting a trash pickup day. [11] If not, check with your school and ask them if you can organize one. Get a teacher or staff member to approve your event, create flyers, recruit your friends, and get to work!
    • Ask your school or a local service group if you can borrow supplies. You’ll need gloves and trash bags at a minimum, though it would be ideal to have a few trash grabbers, too.
    • Start at a park or beach to be safe. If you work alongside a road, be very careful and wear bright clothes or high-visibility neon vests.
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12

Food and toy drives

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  1. Partner up with a local organization to help you deliver whatever you collect to the people who need it most. [12] Then, post about the drive on social media, put up flyers at school, and set up collection points. Instead of delivering the goods to a local organization, you could also partner up with one of these national organizations:
    • Operation Gratitude (contribute to care packages for deployed soldiers)
    • Toys for Tots (collect toys for children whose parents can’t afford Christmas gifts)
    • Feeding America (collect non-perishable food items to bring to local food banks)
15

Places of worship

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  1. From food banking hours to community cleanups, be sure to log any hours you spend volunteering alongside your religious organization. If you're not religious, you might still be able to participate! Many places of worship will welcome volunteers for food drives and other charitable events.
    • Keep in mind serving as a youth group leader or doing work that benefits the place of worship might not count as service hours. Some schools consider that work that benefits a private organization rather than the broader community. [15]
    • Regardless, it’s always worth checking with your school to see whether your hours will count or not!
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      Tips

      • Remember that one person can absolutely make a difference!
      • If you need the service hours for school, make sure you bring your school’s form and get whoever’s coordinating the volunteers to sign off on your hours.
      • If you need to create your own form for documentation, type up a page that says your name, the date, and the organization name. Leave blank spaces for the hours completed and a supervisor’s signature. You’ll have the supervisor sign and fill in the hours.
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