Best Way to Be a Volunteer

We’ve got a mother-daughter team here. They wrote a book to­gether, write an advice column for the Girl Scouts Web site to­gether, and now will show you how you can get out and volunteer together. (Well wait, you don’t have to volunteer with your mom, but at least go out and volunteer.) They are Harriet S. Mosatche, Ph.D., and Elizabeth (Liz) K. Lawner:

Step l: Find out what’s needed in your community

HARRIET: The first step is a critical one. There’s no point doing something when the need doesn’t exist. And since every community can use help somewhere, do your volunteering where it will serve a real purpose. How do you gather this information?

Read your local newspapers-they often include information about volunteer opportunities. Talk to your parents and your friends’ parents-perhaps they’ve heard about an agency or organization that could use some help. News stories on radio and television offer other possibilities when you’re gathering information. Maybe an ani­mal shelter in town is being overrun with strays after the holidays. Perhaps a new senior citizen facility would welcome young people as volunteers. Those are the kinds of stories that could present you with just the volunteer experience you’re looking for.

LIZ: Sometimes ideas for volunteer opportunities just come up. For example, with my Girl Scout troop, I entertained residents at a nurs­ing home on Valentine’s Day for four years because my grandfather happened to live there, and I knew that without us they wouldn’t be doing anything special on that holiday.

Step 2: Decide what issue you’d like to tackle in your volunteer work

HARRIET: If you’ve done your homework, you’ve learned about a variety of different problems in your community. Choose one on which to take action. If you have a hard time making that decision, ask yourself some questions: Would you like to work with older people, young kids, or animals? What one topic interests you more than any other? (Is it literacy, child care, disabilities, abandoned ani­mals, housing shortage, substance abuse?)

LIZ: I’m really interested in working with littie kids, so I volunteered along with some of my friends to teach sports skills to 5- and 6-year-old Daisy Girl Scouts. I also babysit, but I get paid for that most of the time.

Step 3: Decide how much time you have for volunteering

HARRIET: Are you available one afternoon a week? One hour a day? One weekend a month? To be fair to yourself and the place where you’re volunteering, your expectations and theirs should co­incide.

LIZ: Once you start your volunteer experience, you should keep a chart of what you’ve done, and how much time you’ve spent doing it. That way, when you need the information (maybe for a college or job application), you’ll be ready.

Step 4: Find others who are interested

HARRIET: Step 4 involves getting together to volunteer with a friend or two or three, your family, members of your Girl Scout group, or other youth at your house of worship. If you prefer to vol­unteer on your own, you can create your own program. But it’s of­ten more fun and more productive if you team up with others. Just be sure that the people you plan to work with share your interests. If you’re passionate about reaching out to those who are mentally retarded, find others who care in the same way.

LIZ: My 16-year-old brother started a tutoring program at the pub­lic library with one of his friends, and they recruited about fifteen other tutors to work with them. That way, every weekday, at least two or three high school students are available to work with younger students. And I’ve heard that the high school students have fun hanging out at the library together.

Step 5: Volunteer

HARRIET: By the time you get to step 5, you’re ready to actually volunteer. You know how much time you have, when you’re available, what kind of work you’d like to do, with whom you’re volunteering. Now, spell all that out in a letter or e-mail to the organization (library, homeless shelter, after-school program, and so on). And don’t forget to provide your qualifications. If you’re failing your English classes, volunteering to tutor language arts at the library would probably not be a good idea. And if you’re allergic to cats, volunteering at the pet hospital doesn’t work either. You might include a resume, which sum­marizes the skills and experience you will bring to your volunteer work. Before sending out your e-mail or letter, ask a parent to review what you’ve written. It’s important to involve an adult in your family anyway, since you’ll probably need a parent’s permission before you can begin your volunteer work.

LIZ: The book my mom wrote with some help from me, Girls: What’s So Bad About Being Good? How to Have Fun, Survive the Preteen Years, and Remain True to Yourself ‘(Prima, 2001), contains a sample letter that could be helpful in applying for a volunteer opportunity.

HARRIET: Although it’s discouraging if the place where you want to volunteer turns you down—maybe you’re too young or you don’t have the right kind of experience-don’t allow that rejection to turn you away from volunteering. Find out why you were turned down, since that information will help you decide how and where to pur­sue other volunteer venues. Every community has many opportuni­ties—you just have to find the one that works for you.

LIZ: When I volunteer, I feel really good knowing that I’m helping other people. And usually I have fun, too!