Introduction | Summer Needs | Great Ideas | Resources for Getting Started
President's Volunteer Service Award
---

Summer offers young people, families, seniors, and groups opportunities to make a difference in their communities. The USA Freedom Corps has put together some great ideas for different types of volunteer activity, including:

• Young volunteers
• Families
• Senior volunteers
• Groups (businesses, schools, houses of worship, and civic organizations)

Borrow any or all of these ideas. Once you decide on what you want to do, we can also share some Resources for Getting Started.

Young Volunteers

Get involved in your community this summer while you are on summer break. During the summer, you may find you have the flexibility to help an organization that needs you for a few hours a day or week, a few days a month, or even working full-time. Here are some ideas for how you can spend your summer – or a part of it – making a difference.

• Pass along your love of reading to a younger person by becoming a tutor. Local libraries are a great place to start looking for opportunities to become a tutor during the summer.
  
• Volunteer as an athlete escort, awards presenter, or sports announcer at one of the many Special Olympics local and state competitions held across the country. Search for an event in your area by going to http://www.specialolympics.org.
  
• Show your talent at a local senior home and bring joy to those that do not get out as much anymore, or spend time with a senior, listening to great stories or learning a new craft. Call a local senior center to see what help they need.
  
• Become a Junior Park Ranger. Through the Junior Ranger program of the National Park Foundation, you can help preserve the beauty of our public lands. Almost every National Park in the United States has a Junior Ranger program - please click here to find one near you or where you may be traveling to.
  
• Organize a car wash with your friends or set up a lemonade stand and donate the profits to a homeless shelter or a food bank in your community.
  
• Volunteer at a day camp or kids club. Many camps, especially those that offer free or reduced price tuition, are sometimes understaffed. By sharing your time and talents, you can help some very deserving kids have a summer to remember.
  
• Volunteer to collect food and re-stock the shelves of your local food bank. Ask your friends to join you. For more ways to help, go to http://www.secondharvest.com.
  
• Say thank you to the men and women who defend our country. Many organizations can help you write letters and assemble care packages, and then mail them to men and women in military service throughout the world. You can also find other ways to help support our troops and their families. For more information, click here.
  
• Use the USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network or check with your local congregations, faith-based organizations, volunteer centers, senior centers, YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs and other programs for more volunteer opportunities.

Families

Summer offers families more opportunities to get out and do things together. Plan to spend some of your family time this summer doing something that makes a difference for people who need help and hope.

• Join others in a Habitat for Humanity build. All levels of construction experience are welcome and needed, including novices. Visit http://www.habitat.org/ to find out how you can make another family’s dream of homeownership come true.
  
• Statistics show that 16 million American school children receive a free or reduced-price meal through the National School Lunch Program. During the summer months millions of kids and their parents are faced with finding an alternative. Volunteer together to collect food and re-stock the shelves of your local food bank. Ask another family to join you. For more ways to help, go to http://www.secondharvest.com.
  
• Swing your family into action – join the KaBOOM! team in building a playground for kids. No experience needed … just long pants, closed toe shoes, and a smile on your face. Be a part of a one-day playground build that will bring joy to kids for years to come. Visit http://www.kaboom.org for dates and cities of upcoming KaBOOM! builds.
  
• Have you already planned your family vacation but still want to get away and volunteer together? Consider a Volunteer Work Weekend at one of the YMCA's many facilities. In exchange for your work in the outdoors, you can receive lodging and meals and participate in a variety of programs. Visit http://www.ymca.net to find opportunities near you or where you may be traveling.
  
• Combine your holiday with volunteer service. Many organizations offer volunteer vacations and destination service activities that let you work together to build trails, assist with archeological digs, and building houses. For more information on how to connect your family with volunteer opportunities on public lands all across America, visit www.volunteeramerica.net/vacations.htm.
  
• Is your family going camping or heading to the beach this summer? Spend some time picking up litter and helping to keep our country beautiful. The increase in visitors to our public lands during the summer months increases the amount of trash left behind and affects the fish and wildlife that make our public lands their home.
  
• If you live in the suburbs or a small town, you can open up your home this summer to a child growing up in a city, and let him/her experience the joy of a "Fresh Air" vacation. Families are offering children from disadvantaged backgrounds wonderful vacations and creating summer experiences for the whole family to cherish through the Fresh Air Fund. Please visit http://www.freshair.org for more information.
  
• Use the USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network or check with your local congregations, faith-based organizations, volunteer centers, senior centers, YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs and other programs for more volunteer opportunities.

Senior Volunteers

Seniors are an important part of volunteer networks, both for the experiences and wisdom they bring to their service, and for the flexible schedules they may have. Children who do not have mentors are particularly at risk over the summer. Don’t miss this opportunity to help out with some of the particular needs that arise during the summer months. Start spending your summer, and every season, making a difference.

• Summer vacations bring visitors from throughout the world to our Nation's museums and historical sites. Contact local sites for opportunities to sign up to be a docent, work in the gift shop or information desk, or help with exhibits.
  
• Are you a former educator? Join AARP’s Educator Community, the National Retired Teachers Association (the NRTA). The NRTA’s With Our Youth! program provides opportunities for retired educators and young people to work together to address the needs of the broader community. Please click here for further information on how to become involved.
  
• Take the opportunity to get outside and enjoy America’s beautiful natural resources while helping other people enjoy them too. America's parks need your help assisting with the building of trails, monitoring wildlife and water supplies, archiving historical materials, and educating fellow citizens on our country's history. There are a variety of available environmental volunteer opportunities geared particularly towards seniors. For more information, visit the Department of the Interior’s Take Pride in America website at http://www.takeprideinamerica.gov/ to help our Nation’s public lands.
  
• During the summer months, children leave their books and their classrooms behind. Studies show that when kids don't participate in educational activities on a regular basis, they can lose the lessons learned in the classroom. Volunteer at your local library by reading to children and engaging them in fun learning activities. Call your local library to find out how you can help.
  
• Visit the patients at a local children's hospital. Reading to a child, playing board games, and telling stories will help them have fun and speed their healing. You can also help by escorting families to the right rooms and providing clerical assistance, among other ways.
  
• Statistics show that 16 million American school children receive a free or reduced-price meal through the National School Lunch Program. But during the summer months millions of kids and their parents are faced with finding an alternative. Volunteer to collect food and re-stock the shelves of your local food bank. For more ways to help, go to: http://www.secondharvest.com.
  
• Look for volunteer ideas on http://www.seniorcorps.gov. Senior Corps, part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, oversees programs such as Foster Grandparents, Senior Companions, and RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program).
  
• Use the USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network or check with your local congregations, faith-based organizations, volunteer centers, senior centers, YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs and other programs for more volunteer opportunities.

Groups

Work schedules and other demands can sometimes slow down during the summer. This is a great time to get together with others at work, your place of worship, or your neighborhood group to organize a volunteer project and make a difference in your community. Here are some of the ways you can help:

• Organize a food drive at your place of work. During the school year, 16 million children receive a free or reduced-price meal through the National School Lunch Program; however, during the summer months millions of kids and their parents are faced with finding an alternative. Visit America's Second Harvest at http://secondharvest.org to find a local food bank in your area, and help them make sure they have enough to feed those in need.
  
• Get together with others to collect supplies and assemble school supply kits for Iraqi school children. For everything you need to know to set up the project visit Operation Iraqi Children at http://operationiraqichildren.org.
  
• Hold a blood drive in your building or organize a visit to a local blood bank. The need for emergency blood supplies never ends, and in fact increases during the summer months and the winter holiday season. Contact the American Red Cross to see how your group can help, or visit http://www.redcross.org for more information.
  
• Work with others at your place of worship or business to organize afternoon or weekend activities for the kids in the community – especially those who can't afford to go to camp. It's important to keep youth engaged during the summer months in educational and recreational activities.
  
• Take a look at your company's basic business activities, and think about how you can best serve your community. For example: a public relations firm can help promote a fundraiser or food and clothing drives; a book store can donate children's books and magazines to summer reading programs; and a veterinary practice could donate time to help care for animals in a animal shelter.
  
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that close to 96 billion pounds of edible, prepared, and perishable food is thrown away every year in America. Your organization can help get this food to millions of Americans who are hungry or at risk of hunger:
  
  
  • Restaurants, grocery stores, wholesalers, and other food organizations can let food banks know that they have food available.
  • When your organization is hosting a large event let the local food bank know that any surplus food will be available for pick-up.
  • Companies with vans and trucks can help pick-up and deliver the food.
  • Organizations can coordinate employee volunteer projects to help organize and distribute food at the food banks.
    
  For more information on organizing food rescue programs you can visit http://www.secondharvest.org.
  
• Organize a group service project for your summer softball league or incorporate a service project into your company's annual summer picnic. Your group could meet at a park to build playground equipment, paint benches, or beautify a neglected area – and then relax over a picnic lunch and admire your handiwork. Contact your local parks department to see what projects could be done or check out http://www.kaboom.org to find out how to build a playground.
  
• Get your organization involved in promoting community safety by joining your local Citizen Corps Council – a new presidential initiative that helps communities be safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to any kind of disaster. Citizen Corps Councils develop community action plans, assess possible threats, and identify local resources. And if your community does not have a Citizen Corps Council, your organization can help start one. For more information visit http://www.citizencorps.gov/.
  
• Use the USA Freedom Corps Volunteer Network or check with your local congregations, faith-based organizations, volunteer centers, senior centers, YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs and other programs for more volunteer opportunities.