 Volunteering
in the community is a great way to serve the people in the area
where you live. Many non-profit organizations are run by people
who give a lot of their own time and money to make your community
a better place, and volunteers help these services to continue.
In addition, community service is a great way for teenagers to
become aware of needs outside themselves. Don't wait until your
teenagers are required to perform mandatory community service to
help them get more involved in your community.
 Our
first experience with volunteer work came about when our daughter
was about 12. I was working full time, and we were looking for something
for her to occupy her time during the summer. We contacted our local
"volunteer center" to find out about available volunteer
opportunities in our community. Through that center we found out
about a local day camp for disabled children. It is administered
by adults but almost completely run by teenagers. The older kids
(ages 16-21) are employed by the organization as camp counselors,
and the younger teens (ages 12-16) are volunteers. Each disabled
child has a teen "pal" for all activities. They go to
the park, go swimming, and a variety of other activities for about
4 hours a day. Volunteers sign up for 1 week at a time, and can
volunteer all summer if they want.
This kind of volunteer work isn't for everyone, of course, but
our daughter had a great time volunteering for this organization
and worked there every summer for four years. A lot of the volunteers
come back as paid counselors when they turn 16. The younger teens
also love hanging out with the older teens, and the disabled kids
love all the attention. This service gives the parents of these
kids very needed time off and is a wonderful resource in our community,
while also offering a unique experience for the volunteers.
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