Community Service Program Ideas for Young People

Young people need to develop a social conscience and the habit of giving back to their communities. Here are some links to organizations that do important work. Partner with them to provide local young people the opportunity to become responsible for making the world a bit better, whether locally or globally.

General Projects

• Do Something - Site creators believe that "young people have the power to make a difference." This site gives them tools to do so: ideas, message boards, info on grants, a zipcode-searchable database of volunteer opportunities, and more.
• Goody Goodies - Invite area teen, Macallan Durkin, and her parents to present program about their experience living in Africa and Macallan's business, Goody Goodies. The money she raises helps children in Botswana. Part of the program can include teens making bead animals with kits Macallan sells.
• An Inconvenient Truth - Show the movie about global warming to teens and help them design an environmental project involving the library or community. Go to the globalwarming.org site above for great ideas or try one of these: recycling paper, cans, bottles in the library for a year and taking them to recycling center; raising money (bake sale, car wash, etc.) to purchase energy-efficient light bulbs and recycled paper for the library, including a presentation to the library director/board, encouraging them to purchase these products; setting up and managing a collection spot at the library for people to bring used printer ink cartridges and then taking them to the proper area recycling area.
• MySpace Impact Awards and projects - Link on your library's web site
• No-Sew Blankets - To be donated to homeless or animal shelters, nursing homes (Check with local sewing supply stores for donated materials, in exchange for mention of store in library publicity) Idea from Southlake Library, Texas
• Read for a Reason - See PowerPoint presentation of San Diego County libraries partnering with local animal shelter to get pets adopted (Pat Downs, YA Librarian)

Charities with Needlework Projects

• Check with local hospital neonatal units, domestic violence/homeless shelters, teen parenting programs to see if they accept knitted baby blankets, sweaters, hats.
• Headhuggers.org (Knit, sew, crochet for someone who has hair loss due to chemo, brain surgery or burns)
• Knitting Charities (Since knitting is very big with young people now)
• Knitting for a Better World
• Knitting Program Ideas (from librarians)
• Men and Boys Knitting Up a Storm article
• Miracles Happen (Make items for newborns
• Project Linus
• Warm Up America
  
  Habitat for Humanity
• Main site
• Learn and Serve program

Heifer International (If you click on the interactive map on the Heifer site, it allows you to choose countries. You can identify projects in the US and even in NYS.)

Read to Feed

• Read to Feed Curriculum Materials
• Projects other groups have done with kids
• Press releases
  **Idea for tying reading into Heifer: Find sponsors in your community who would pay ($.10, $1, whatever) for each book kids read. Kids pick an animal from Heifer Project to be sent to needy family, paid for by funds collected.
  
  Other Organizations

• Action without Borders
• Defenders of Wildlife
• Do Something
• Freechild Project
• Hudson Valley Raptor Center - Area wildlife organization w/Adopt-a-Bird Program
• Human Rights 101
• Humane Teen
• National Youth Service Day (April)
• Network for Good
• Rainforest Action Network
• Rock the Vote
• SERVEnet
• Southern Poverty Law Center - Mix It Up Grants Program
• Teens, Crime and Community
• Voices of Youth
• What Kids Can Do
• Youth Noise (Toolkit for volunteering)

Environmental Projects

Grant - The Captain Planet Foundation provides grants of $500 to $2,500 for projects promoting the understanding of environmental issues and focusing on hands-on experiences for students ages 6-18. The Captain Planet Foundation does not make grants for endowments, general operating expenses, capital or building campaigns. Upcoming deadlines are June 30, Sept. 30, and Dec. 31. Applications must be submitted via an online application form.

Earth Day or Environmental Awareness Programs

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