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If you're wondering what kinds of community service opportunities you can do as a teenager to make a big impact, or having difficulty finding opportunities to join in because of your age, this video is for you! There's so much good stuff to share on this topic that I'm actually breaking this down into two separate videos. So this will be video number one, but check back soon for the second video as part of the series. Ah! This is one of my favorite topics! Welcome back! I'm Amber Melanie Smith and I help aspiring changemakers with tips and strategies to help you change the world while living a life of impact and purpose - and that definitely includes teens! Teens you are awesome! You want to make a difference and use your skills and talents to help change the world - but the world doesn't always make it easy for you. I get you. I've been there. So through my nonprofit work, I regularly engage with people of all ages to connect them to volunteer opportunities with hundreds of causes in my local community. I know first hand that finding volunteer service opportunities can be kind of a challenge for teen. So if you're a teen, or a parent, who has tried to find community service opportunities, you may have discovered some difficulties in finding volunteer opportunities that will take people under 18, finding service opportunities that are accessible, or nearby, or finding the right opportunities that fit your special skills and interests. So here's the inside scoop - You might have heard this already - but it's not that nonprofits don't want to work with teens. On the contrary, many do! Teens are awesome! And this generation especially is kicking some serious butt in the social change arena. But nonprofits may face liability issues when it comes to working of the volunteers under age 18. Other things might stand in the way of teens getting involved - like access to transportation, or school or after school work schedules, that make it difficult to get opportunities that line up. One thing's for sure, though - teens can and have changed the world through service. I've met plenty of them through my own work. I've met teens organizing plastic waste reduction campaigns, planning events to combat bullying in their schools, and so much more. Across the country, countless other examples follow - from 13 year old Paloma Rambana who convinced the Florida Legislature to approve over a million dollars in funding to support programs for visually impaired kids. To Zach Bonner who when he was 12 years old WALKED across the country to raise awareness and funds to combat youth homelessness. To the Enloe High School student council in my home town, who every year rallies their entire school to raise over $200,000 in just five months for a charity that they picked together. It's like, what are we doing with our lives? There's really no limit to what teens are capable of changing in their communities, no matter who believes they can do it, or what stands in their way. So let's get into this! Here are some unique community service ideas that you might not have considered where you can make a big impact, build up your special skills and talents, and have a great time while you're doing it. So I've broken this down into 3 sections. 1) Community service ideas for teens that they can do that meet nonprofits existing needs. 2) Unique service project ideas that teens can design and lead to help a cause they care about, and 3) Service ideas you can combine with other things you might have going on in life - like an after-school job, extracurricular activities, or driving practice to get your license, and more. As I mentioned before, this video will be broken down into two separate videos. I'll be covering part 1 in this video and parts 2 and 3 in the video to come, so please remember to check back and check that out. For this first part I just wanted to share a couple of ideas that I've seen in my own community and also in other cities across the country. These are some unexpected, unique ways that you can get involved in service as a teen. I always like to draw attention to some of these unique ways to give back, because people have such a specific idea about volunteering and what it entails. Usually when people think of volunteering they're thinking of the very well-known opportunities - like serving in a soup kitchen or at a shelter, or building a home with Habitat for Humanity. And volunteering definitely includes those things! But it includes a lot more! Quick disclaimer that of course these opportunities will vary by city and state, but the ones that I'm going to share I've seen in a couple of different areas. Idea number one - Join a teen advisory board or a junior board, and work alongside the organization that you care about's leadership helping shape the vision, raise money for the cause, and be a spokesperson for that cause. It's pretty awesome. Teen advisory boards and leadership boards are an excellent way to hone those leadership skills, AND look great on a college application. Number two: Make videos or take pictures! This is such a cool way for teens to be able to use their skills to help nonprofits tell they're super important stories. Man, I know so many nonprofits who need this. So this would mean maybe that you are helping taking video at a nonprofit's big events, or helping interview the clients that they serve, or taking pictures of some of the ways that they're making an impact. I know a lot of animal shelters really love to have people take photos of the animals that they're trying to get adopted, because having that really good picture helps those animals. This is a huge way that teens can make an impact using the skills they already have today. Number three is being a puppy raiser! This is a great way to show the parents that you are very responsible and definitely deserve to have a pet of your very own. So a puppy raiser - I'm sure there could also be a Kitty raiser - is a volunteer that helps an animal nonprofit raise and socialize their pets that are up for adoption. So this could mean that you are fostering the pet in your home; it could mean that you're coming into spend time with the animal or helping train the animal, and a lot of other things involved in getting the animal ready for adoption. The fourth idea is to use your writing skills! When I was a teen I loved to write, and I've met so many teens today that are also really good writers. And so nonprofits need your help to write articles for their blog content, for their website, social media posts, and more. Writing is such an important skill to have, and it translates to anything you could possibly want to do in life, so why not use it to help a cause that you care about? Another idea is to host a group discussion on a really important issue that you care about. I know this seems too easy to be a legit community service opportunity, but I promise you that it is. There are national organizations that are trying to raise awareness about different issues - especially global issues - that we're facing across the whole world and they really rely on everyday people spreading the word and talking to their friends, and engaging in really interesting and in depth debates about the issues that people are facing. So if you love to have a great conversation and are good at getting your friends involved, this could be a really cool opportunity for you. The next idea is a graphic design volunteer! So many nonprofits need people with a great eye for design and graphic design technical experience - who can create flyers, and posters, or logos, or website graphics - you name it! If you've got graphic design skills and this is something you have fun doing, this is an awesome way for you to be able to help a cause that you care about. It doesn't hurt that everything you do can go in your design portfolio. Also, here's a really fun one I saw recently: Puppeteer! Yep, I said puppeteer! There are some amazing nonprofit theaters across the country who need people to help with a variety of things that they do - from being a puppeteer, to being an actor in one of their productions, or even designing or painting their props for the stage. So if you're someone who already loves drama and the stage, this could be for you. This one's really fun - host a baking party for the Ronald McDonald House! Like lots of charities, the Ronald McDonald House has chapters all around the country, so if you're interested in doing something like this just find a chapter in your city. The Ronald McDonald House houses families who are in another state or another city far away from their home who need to stay near a hospital where their child is receiving treatment for a long-term illness. So warm, freshly baked goods can help folks feel at home while they're far away from their real home. How you do this is you would gather your friends together and decide what sort of baked treats you're going to make and make them and bring them to the Ronald McDonald House. In some cases the house also has a kitchen, so you could bring your friends to the kitchen to bake them there, or even decorate them there. A quick note that many of the Ronald McDonald Houses that I know of require at least one adult to be in the group of teens, but you can still gather your teen friends to participate with you. The final community service idea in this category that I want to mention is this idea of a "take home project". So if a non-profit that you want to work with agrees, you can potentially do certain types of service projects in your own house. Some of these types of projects that I've helped implement with teens and kids in my own community include making no-sew blankets for infants or adoptable pets, creating courage cards for kids who are in the hospital, or writing letters to the troops. I hope you liked this video! If you did, please give it a thumbs up, and don't forget - if you're on Facebook - you can join in on conversations with me and other changemakers in my group, "Change the world or bust". As always the link is in the description below. Thanks so much for watching!