Where to Find Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering is all over social media, in TV commercials, and even plastered across billboards on the highway, but volunteering is sometimes easier said than done. If you don’t even know where to go to find volunteer opportunities, you’re stuck. Well, I’m here to help. Volunteer events are much more common and abundant than you may think.

ACP alone offers hundreds of service hours including: helping a teacher after school, school-wide Feed My Starving Children opportunities, and volunteering with the concession stand both after school and during games, such as football and basketball. Nate Rowan, president of Key Club, announced in September the 5000 hour challenge and in his article, titled 5000 Service Hour Challenge, he named multiple other volunteer events around school; however, if these volunteer activities around school both Nate and I provided don’t appeal to you, Tutor Club is a great alternative. Started by senior Margaret Krenke, the Tutor Club is devoted to helping raise a student’s grade. All can participate in this club as both a person receiving tutoring or a person tutoring another. These volunteer events are great ways at earning in school service hours.

If you’re in need of out of school service hours, I’ve got you covered! If you’re competing for the Impact Scholarship like I am, you’ll know you need a total of 100 service hours by your senior year. It became my friend group’s after school activity to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children. We would stop by the Dutch Bros Coffee, located directly across from FMSC, then proceed to pack food boxes for places all over the world. Personally, I love animals and hold any type of animal dear in my heart, so, during
my sophomore year, I found a volunteer event called RAIN, which stands for Rescue Animals in Need. Every Saturday morning I would drive up to Petco and help clean the cages of cats who were up for adoption and prepare kennels for incoming puppies who lived in foster homes. I earned about four hours a day and you can too; RAIN is always looking for volunteers. Multiple other events in Chandler are always open to volunteers, such as the Chandler Public Library. They offer other volunteer events that involve resolving books, helping someone find a book to check out, reading to children, and occasional activities with younger children.

Service opportunities are everywhere. I volunteer with the Salvation Army every year the third week of December and on December 24, and I give out toy donations for families in need and pack food bags for the homeless who come in on December 25 for a dinner and Christmas celebration. Have you ever seen those big, green, decorated trees in the mall? Well, those trees have small tags on them, and the tags have a child’s name, age, and what he or she wants for Christmas. These tags are from the Angel Tree Program, which the Salvation Army sponsors and puts on every year. When a child’s tag doesn’t get picked, they are considered a forgotten angel. When I volunteer on December 24, I meet these forgotten angels and have the opportunity to pack them a special bag to make their holidays brighter. Every time I leave a Salvation Army volunteer event, I feel overjoyed, for I see hundreds of children while handing out toys, each with the biggest smile you’ve ever seen. Volunteering is one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve encountered, and I highly encourage you to join in on the fun!