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For a pdf of this document that you can download, click here.
It is great that you have decided to get your group involved in community service! But I bet you are wondering…Where do I start?
Here are a few questions to consider before getting started:
- What are the interests of your group? Would your group like to volunteer with animals, the homeless, youth/childcare or is your group open to volunteering anywhere?
- What is the availability (days of the week & time of day) of your group and how often you are going to be available to volunteer? Is your group interested in a one time (episodic) volunteer opportunity, or are you looking to make a regular weekly or monthly commitment?
- Are there any limitations to where your group can volunteer for transportation or other reasons? Does your group need to volunteer in your direct community or are you open to traveling to neighborhood communities?
- If your group has youth younger than 14 years old, will there be enough adult chaperones to attend the service project in the instance that your group gets split up? *Most agencies require adult chaperones for children under the age of 14 years old.
Now that I know more about my group’s interests, availability and limitations…How do I find a volunteer opportunity?
There are several options to help you find an opportunity to fit your group’s needs:
- Visit the Volunteer Center’s website, www.volunteerwaukesha.com and search by group or youth opportunities
- Call the Youth Program Manager at the Volunteer Center at (262) 547-8459
- Call a specific non-profit agency that you are interested in working with. Many agencies will have a Volunteer Coordinator available to help your group get started.
Age appropriateness in youth service activities
The service of young people is an important resource in solving community problems. But like any volunteer, they need to be matched with volunteer opportunities that are appropriate. Developing age appropriate service activities will ensure that they and the agency they are serving receive the most out of their experience.
As young people grow from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, there are appropriate service opportunities for them at every age. Just as young people have opportunities to participate in age-appropriate athletics from Little League to varsity sports, so they can have increasingly complex and involved service experiences as they grow up.
What is and is not an age appropriate service project
for K-5th grade students?
| Is Age Appropriate |
Is Not Age Appropriate |
| Participating in an environmentally conscious project, like a river or bike trail clean up |
Testing water samples from a local lake or river and documenting the findings for the community |
Making placemats for a soup kitchen or homeless shelter |
Volunteering in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter |
Read-a-thon projects, where students read to younger kids |
Organizing a phonics fair to help improve reading skills |
Initiating a liter patrol at school during lunch or recess |
Starting a recycling program for the entire school |
Collecting used books for a shelter for homeless children |
Writing letters to corporations asking for donations for a shelter for homeless shelter |
Performing plays and skits depicting community problems and their solutions |
Holding a youth summit to dialogue about problems in the community and possible solutions |
Visiting senior citizens who live in a nearby home |
Colleting and writing personal or community oral histories by interviewing senior citizens |
What is and is not an age appropriate service project
for 6th-8th grade students?
| Is Age Appropriate |
Is Not Age Appropriate |
| Youth Action Councils, where they design service activities for other young people in their school or community |
Self directed and self guided Youth Actions Councils without adult supervision |
Helping food banks with inventory |
Delivering meals to homebound residents without adult supervision |
Participating in a community clean up |
Building a playground in an underprivileged neighborhood |
Volunteering at a soup kitchen, nursing home, or day care center |
Making placemats for soup kitchens, nursing homes, or day care centers |
Starting a conflict resolution program |
Starting a peer counseling program |
Tutoring elementary students after school |
Tutoring youth in juvenile justice centers |
Planting a garden at a homeless shelter |
Renovating a homeless shelter |
What is and is not an age appropriate service project
for 9th-12th grade students?
| Is Age Appropriate |
Is Not Age Appropriate |
| Cleaning a polluted lake or river |
Making posters about pollution |
| Researching general information on political platforms and distributing it to peers |
Developing a political candidate’s talking points for a debate |
| Making a panel for the AIDS Quilt and give awareness presentations |
Facilitating an AIDS support group |
| Helping design a playground in an underprivileged neighborhood |
Building a playground in an underprivileged neighborhood without adult supervision |
| Holding a forum about racism to find possible community solutions |
Organizing and facilitating a weekend diversity retreat |
| Working as aids in group homes for adults with disabilities |
Making holiday decorations to be used in a group home for adults with disabilities |
| Setting up a peer counseling program |
Providing therapy for drug or alcohol addicted peers |
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| 1717 Paramount Drive • Waukesha, WI • 53187-1041 • 262-547-8459 |
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