New York Teen Connects Peers with Meaningful Community Service Initiatives

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Erin Ryou. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Enjoying a lifelong interest in singing, Erin Ryou started getting involved in her community through a nonprofit choir that performs for local organizations and events. Passion for the arts has led her to join a dance team and even volunteer to help with classes at an art center for neurodiverse children. But it wasn’t always easy to find opportunities to make an impact that aligned with both her interests and her availability.

Two years ago, after coming up against age-related barriers in her search for volunteer initiatives in New York City, Erin Ryou decided to make things easier for herself and her peers. Her organization, NYCvolunteer, filters opportunities for things like age requirements and scheduling flexibility—high schoolers tend to be most available on weekends and school breaks—with a wide variety of missions to present to young volunteers. Her goal is to make getting involved easy, fun and rewarding. Judging by the numbers, she’s succeeding. The team she has built encompasses 155 volunteers from 89 different schools, and has donated more than 500 hours of their time.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

A lot of the volunteer organizations that I was interested in had an 18+ age requirement, which was very limiting and discouraged me from getting involved. After talking to my friends, I realized that I wasn’t the only one with this issue, so I created a platform to make it easier for teenagers to find opportunities related to their passions.

Tell us about your volunteer role with NYCvolunteer.

I’m the founder and president, and I essentially oversee all the tasks of the organization–managing teams, tracking volunteer hours and organizing and planning service events. I manage our social media and coordinate with other organizations for collaborations. I also plan and attend all of our events, usually on Sundays or school breaks.

We share different volunteer opportunities, but we also hold our own. We’ve had two cardmaking events, one for a nonprofit called City Meals on Wheels. The other included a nursing home visit where we gave cards to residents. We’ve also had bake sales.
Our design coordinators mainly research and make posts for volunteer events. And our outreach coordinators work on reels and videos to expand our presence on social media.

NYCvolunteer was accepted into the Youth Leadership Council (YLC). What is that?

We applied for the YLC because we wanted to expand our organization and allow people who were familiar with the YLC to be able to be a volunteer for our organization under their banner. And also, for recognition, because the mayor is able to recognize our volunteers for their volunteer hours. It’s good motivation for people who start volunteering. There’s going to be a networking summit for YLC in June, and our members who have volunteered over 50 hours with the organization are going to be receiving certificates.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

Something that we want to do in the future is expand to different states. Right now, we’re focusing on New York. We want to influence people in different states and foster volunteers, possibly, all over the world, to create a ripple effect.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

The most rewarding part of volunteering is seeing the tangible impact that our organization makes on our volunteers and the community. Whether it’s connecting someone to a volunteer opportunity that changes their perspective or knowing that we organized an event that brought people together under a common cause they’re passionate about, it’s incredibly fulfilling to know our organization is inspiring students to make investments in their communities.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

Volunteering has taught me the value of empathy, patience and adaptability, especially when we’re able to work with such a diverse group of people. It also changed my perspective on what volunteering is. Initially, I thought volunteering was just devoting your time and energy to a cause, but I realized that it can benefit you, too. It’s mutual exchange during which you learn valuable life skills and build friendships.

Tell us about future partnerships, programs or events that you are excited about.

We’re currently trying to partner with the Queens Public Library to have a cardmaking program where volunteers can make cards on their own time and drop them off at their local library. Our volunteers would pick them up, and we would all ship them out to a local nursing home.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

It allows you to address your issues in a hands-on way. By engaging with causes, you can contribute to solutions and make a tangible difference rather than just telling people that it matters to you. Volunteering allows people to get involved and support the community. I grew up with siblings who have disabilities, and being able to witness how support and inclusion can make a difference in their lives showed me how volunteering can build a more compassionate world.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

The main thing is to research. Dedicate a day to doing a lot of research on things that you care about and volunteer opportunities that you could participate in.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

I want people to learn the importance of intention in everything they do. Of course, volunteering is a very good thing, but it should be driven by a genuine desire to make a difference in whatever you’re involved in, not just the need to put it on your resume or fulfill volunteer hour requirements for school. When we volunteer with intention, the experience is a lot more rewarding for you and the people you’re supporting, because it’s something that you actually care about.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Erin? Find local volunteer opportunities.