Your son can volunteer at a local church for the 1st communion class. He can be an aide and help the teacher take roll, pass out papers, take kids to the bathroom, and copy worksheets. I know of a church in Santa Ana, but that is a far drive. You have to call the director and he/she will sign the papers and give him credit/hours for each day and the hours he volunteers. I believe a lot of different churches need volunteers to help pass out food and clothes too.

My daughter spent a lot of time volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. If you check on their website, you can find your local chapter and it's more than just helping build a house for a needy family - there are many roles and committees you can be a part of. I've been with her at the building site and have also helped in their thrift store to benefit the build - very rewarding.

kayrom1 makes a good point, and while it applies to sports and other extracurricular activities as well, I will say don't be afraid to have your son volunteer a few hours here or there until something "sticks."

My son was lucky (or unlucky, I guess) that he had two built in volunteer opportunities at his sisters elementary school, and coaching the same sport he grew up in. Those two easily took up 10-12 hours a week, and some whole days. It wasn't until he offered to take an unpaid internship his senior year at a nonprofit health organization that he really stood out. They liked him, they hired him for the summer (well above the fast food rate), and I strongly believe that volunteer opportunity was the key to his receiving a $2500 scholarship this fall.

So while we don't know why Anon's son is volunteering, I do suggest it in something that interests him, but at the same time, test the waters a bit, too.

In the past, and as a requirement for service hours at her high school, my daughter volunteered as a counselor-in-training with our local YMCA. During the summer and now this school year, she's volunteering time after school to work in the gift shop at the hospital located next to her school.

You can also Google "volunteering + your state" to get additional ideas for volunteering.

A friend whose son is about to graduate passed on some useful information about volunteering and college applications --

She says that colleges are looking for students to have a passion about a particular cause or situation. They don't want to see a few volunteer hours from the local nursing home, a few shelving books at the public library, a few doing something at church. They want to see a consistent pattern of involvement in one or two particular things.

My daughter is an altar server at church, and went on a five-day youth group service trip last week, so she has about 150 hours already under her belt. You think she's written them down for credit? Noooo. ;-)

Does you son have a civic interest or concern? Service learning can be such a meaningful experience if the students really has an opportunity to volunteer doing something they are passionate about. Make sure that you check with the school about any specific requirements. Guidelines vary from state to state - and even district to district.
I hope your son finds his volunteering to be a meaningful experience. Good for you for helping him find his way through the process!

Hi Anon,

Your son might start with the school if these hours are for a graduation requirement. The administrator in charge of the program will have a long list of volunteer opportunities.

If this is for altruistic reasons or college apps, he'll have to do the legwork himself, but it's not that hard. Virtually any nonprofit can direct your son to a project depending on how many hours he needs. Senior centers, churches, programs with kids, and programs for animals are a few ideas off the top of my head.

Make sure he writes his hours down and keeps the paper in a safe place, because as he starts to apply for colleges and scholarships, it'll be handy to have it all in one place.

I work in an extended care vacility and we always need volunteers for Sunday morning to porter the residents down to the chapel and back. They are also used for shopping outings to help make purchases or help them buy a coffee etc.

Thx for starting me in a direction.

Talk with the office about places that interact with the school if you want his volunteer hours to count on his record. Otherwise, there are places such as Humane Society/Animal Shelters, retirement homes, nursing homes, YMCA, etc. You may even check into other volunteer services your local community has available for high schoolers.