youth volunteering

Today’s guest post comes from Michael LaRue, a Teen Volunteer Leader with HandsOn Suburban Chicago. This blog is reposted from the HandsOn blog on 1/31/13.

1)      Let us know our boundaries: When you put teens in charge of something make sure you let them know their boundaries in the leadership. There have been many volunteer activities that I have participated in where I had no idea what I was supposed to do when it came to leadership. Whether it be overstepping my boundaries and giving instructions that the teen should not be giving. Or just standing there not knowing where to start because there have been people doing the jobs you thought were directed towards you.

Happy New Year! Thinking about what family volunteering projects you want to do this year? Find resources below, republished from findananny.net blog on December 20, 2012. Volunteering as a family not only helps to make a real difference in the world around you, but also teaches your children a sense of civic responsibility, compassion and a desire to help others. Figuring out the best family-friendly volunteer activities, however, can be a bit overwhelming if you’re just starting out in the socially-conscious realm of volunteering. These thirty blogs are filled with valuable information and ideas for volunteering as a family, on a local and global scale.

The theme for this year's National Conference on Volunteering and Service is "Turning Point." At Points of Light, we are highlighting turning point stories about the moment or moments that inspired one's service to society.

Today's guest post is written by Rachel Shuster, a 10^th-grader at Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills, N.Y, who  is an inaugural member of the generationOn National Youth Advisory Council.