Volunteering. It’s a great way to serve others, help out your community, and advocate for causes you support. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but many people find it to be a beneficial experience, for the cause they are volunteering for, and themselves. Volunteering can provide you with the joys of making a difference in your community and the world, developing meaningful connections with others, and discovering your passions and gifts in life.

If all those great things make you want to step up and get involved with volunteering, you should try it out! Step out of your comfort zone and check out some of the great volunteering opportunities listed (mentioned?) below.

It can take some extra effort for students to volunteer, as their lives are already busy with involvement in school, extracurriculars, and personal life. 

• Volunteering with honors societies- Many Honors Societies at Bob Jones require that students volunteer for a certain number of service credits/hours to remain a member of the club, or to receive benefits- like cords at graduation- for their service. Other times, honors societies will offer optional volunteering opportunities for students to be involved with if they choose. These range from in-person service, to monetary or supplies donation drives.
  • National English Honor Society (NEHS)
  • National Honor Society (NHS)
  • Science honors society?
  • History honors society?
• Volunteering with clubs/organizations- There are plenty of clubs for people with all sorts of interests that offer opportunities to serve our community. Clubs are great for brainstorming, creating, and leading projects that you are invested in, and volunteering with groups of people with similar interests to your own (change this to something else).
  • HOSA – blood drive
  • Environmental club
  • YAFE- Young Advocates For Equality
  • Some clubs have a sole focus on volunteering/outreach programs:
    • Key club
    • Junior citizen
    • Student 2 Student
• Volunteering with outside groups/organizations
  • Girl Scouts (GSUSA) and Boy Scouts (Scouts BSA)
  • Churches
• Volunteering as an individual- There are many great opportunities to volunteer on your own. You can support an organization or cause that you like, or start your own efforts! You could organize a drive to provide school supplies for underprivileged children, collect donations for homeless people/shelters, or use your skills and creativity to make something that will have a positive impact on another person (making blankets for premature babies at hospitals, writing cards to someone who needs a little hope, or creating gifts for people living in nursing homes/hospice care).
  •  Volunteer at a pet shelter
  • Raise awareness for an issue (environmental, health, etc.)
• Check out websites that organize volunteering opportunities for people to find. Find ones in your area or ones that you can support from other places.
  • VolunteerMatch 
  • The Volunteer Center of Madison County
  • JustServe
  • We are Huntsville – volunteering page
  • Rocket City Mom – Summer volunteering for teens – This article has some great suggestions for where students can volunteer. 

Christine Pham, a junior, said that when looking for ways to volunteer, you should, “Find something you enjoy and love to do that you would find yourself coming back for.” Volunteering should be all about our love for helping others and serving our community/world. 

Another student in the Publications class gave the advice that students should, “Just find a business that you’re interested in or a thrift store and ask about volunteering. It’s really simple and you might have to go through an orientation, but it’s always a good way of contributing to helping others.”

Volunteering can also make you feel good/happy- it’s a joyful experience all around, for the impacted, and the ones making the impact.