Giving back to the community is a great way to Pass the Pulse.
We have included a number of helpful websites that help offer ideas
for volunteering in your community and also help with finding local
opportunities to give back.
4-H
National 4-H Council provides grants, establishes programs/initiatives,
designs and publishes curriculum and reference materials, and creates
linkages fostering innovation and shared learning to advance the 4-H
youth development movement, building a world in which youth and adults
learn, grow, and work together as catalysts for positive change. Council
partners with 4-H at all levels—national, state and local.
Best Buddies
Best Buddies is an international service organization founded in 1989.
Best Buddies programs work to provide individuals with intellectual
disabilities opportunities to develop social, independent living, and
on the job skills so that they can fully participate in their communities.
The program pairs students in middle and high schools as well as colleges
with intellectually disabled “buddies” as a way to develop
new friendships within the school community. Best Buddies also works
to build similar friendships on-line and at work.
Boy Scouts
"The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America supports more
than 300 local councils that provide quality youth programs, including
Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Venturing."
Congessional Youth Leadership
Council
The Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC) offers educational
leadership conferences for an elite group of outstanding young people
from across the country and around the world, whose nomination provides
them with unmatched enrichment opportunities in a distinguished academic
environment.
Our programs are designed to inspire outstanding youth to reach their
full leadership potential while experiencing the nation and the world
from a perspective unlike any other.
The Freechild Project
The Freechild Project is a website “connecting youth and social
change”. It contains a database of over 40 issues like anti-war,
nonviolence, censorship, racism, and youth media. There are also lists
of publications and links to organizations available for each issue.
The goal of The Freechild Project is to “engage young people in
critical democratic action centered on growing community, culture and
society.”
Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of the USA is the world's largest organization dedicated
to helping all girls everywhere build character and gain skills for
success in the real world. In an accepting and nurturing environment,
and in partnernship with committed adult volunteers, girls develop strong
values, leadership skills, social conscience, and conviction about their
own potential and sef-worth that will serve them all their lives.
Global Routes
Never has there been a more appropriate time to seek to help others
around the world. Now more than ever we must give generously of ourselves,
share our own life stories and learn from the wisdom of other cultures.
Through Global Routes, you can volunteer to teach English overseas.
You can help build a school or water project, or work in an orphanage.
You can choose any of these and many other service projects in Africa,
Asia, Latin America or in the Caribbean. Regardless of the place or
the project, in making such a choice, you will almost certainly find
that the experience gives back to you in ways you could never have imagined.
Global Works
Since 1990, Global Works has been leading the way in Community Service,
Language Learning and Adventure Travel programs for high school students.
Global Works trips offer an exciting and rewarding experience by providing
an additional "purpose" for travel. Community Service projects
become the impetus and "bridge" for meaningful cultural exchange
and language learning. Our groups work, play, and celebrate with communities
and families around the world.
Peace Corps
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote
world peace and friendship.
Three simple goals comprise the Peace Corps' mission:
- Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their needs
for trained men and women.
- Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part
of the people served.
- Helping promote a better understanding of other people on the part
of all Americans.
SERVEnet
Service Opportunities- "SERVEnet is a program of Youth Service
Area (YSA) resource center that partners with thousands of organizations
committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities
for young people in America, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally,
and globally. Founded in 1986, YSA’s mission is to strengthen
the effectiveness, sustainability, and scale of the youth service and
service-learning fields. A strong youth service movement will create
healthy communities and foster citizenship, knowledge, and the personal
development of young people. YSA envisions a powerful network of organizations
committed to making service and service-learning the common expectation
and common experience of all young people in America. "
The United Way
The United Way is a large organization consisting of many smaller community-based
groups. The focus of the United Way is to bring people together to help
fix problems in their local communities. Through the United Way people
can contribute to a variety of causes. People can donate money, become
advocates for change, or they can become volunteers. The best thing
about the United Way is that it connects you to people who care in your
community. On the United Way’s website you can enter your own
zip code and find out about exciting and diverse volunteer opportunities
in your own back yard!
Victory over Violence
Victory Over Violence (VOV) is a youth-sponsored initiative to help
young people identify and counteract the root causes of violence in
their lives and in their communities. VOV outreach programs began in
1999 as a response to growing concerns over the rise in youth-related
violence.
Volunteer
Match
Volunteer Match helps you search for volunteer opportunities near your
zip code. This website is where you can also locate non-profit organizations
near you.
What
Kids Can Do, Inc.
This group is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to “make
public the voices and views of adolescents”. The website provides
links for information about student research. High school students can
apply for a grant (free money) to be used for social action research.
You can also view articles written by teens and get information about
publishing your own writing through Next Generation Press.
Youth Activism Project
If you know you want to do something but aren’t sure where to
start, this is a good place. There is a link for “Youth Action
Line” which gives you a step by step guide to getting involved.
There are also great resources for fundraising and marketing so you
can start a social action group in your own community.
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