There are many opportunities to volunteer around the community. You may be interested in volunteering to receive hours for the National Honors Society, college applications, your resume, church, or just to make a difference in the world.
Many out-of-school places require you to be a certain age or require you to volunteer with a parent. However, there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer at the school that don’t require you to be a specific age. Some of these may include selling tickets at sporting events, tutoring, joining Future Teachers of America, joining Wellness Club, or other opportunities that may pop up during the school year, such as decorating teacher’s doors.
If you are interested in volunteering outside of school, you will need to call and ask about the requirements to volunteer. Local places accepting volunteers are United Way, New Lease on Life, Akron Children’s, The Blackburn Home, local church events, The YMCA, Second Harvest Food Bank, and the Rescue Mission.
United Way has many events that you can sign up for, some have more requirements than others. One popular event is the “Saturday of Caring” event. During this, you meet at the listed location to unpack and bag groceries as well as deliver them to the requested locations, if you can. This event does not have a specific age limit. Create a free account and sign up on their website. You can get 1-3 hours of volunteer time.
In order to volunteer at Akron Children’s Hospital you have to complete an application and an interview. There are also specific GPA requirements, such as a 2.5, as well as a need for three letters of recommendation from teachers, coaches, or other professionals you have worked with. All of these are listed on their website. Their volunteer program is very thorough. Volunteers read to patients, run errands, assist with projects, and provide creative distractions for patients.
If you attend church you can ask about volunteering at your local church. Most churches have many great opportunities for service hours. Church of the Rock in Poland offers volunteer work.
If you like volunteering, or are looking for hours to qualify to become a member of the National Honors Society, Lowellville offers many different groups that are focused on volunteer work. The LHS Wellness Club hosts Wellness Night, and volunteers can receive up to five hours . Wellness Night is an event that all families at Lowellville are welcome to attend. There are different stations to rotate through which offer different types of wellness activities. Some stations in the past have been dance, yoga, and sound bowls. Volunteers go from station to station to direct people on where to go next, volunteers also get to experience these stations.
The LHS National Honors Society is an organization that you can join during your junior year of high school. In order to join you must have at least 30 service hours, as well as a GPA of 3.4, however this will change to a 3.7 for the class of 2027 and above. National Honors Society members must also have good character, which is observed by peers as well as your school record, and proof that you are a leader in your community. You can demonstrate this by submitting letters of recommendation from the leader of your extracurriculars. The NHS has many opportunities for service hours after you join.
Another group students can join is Future Teachers of America. In Future Teachers, you are assigned a teacher to help during your study hall. As a future teacher you grade assignments, staple papers, run errands, among other tasks assigned by the teacher they are volunteering for. Working as a future teacher qualifies towards volunteer hours for the NHS.