Youth Volunteering Programs
Statewide
Provo Council is a web sight has a few examples of service projects that you can do in your own neighborhood.
http://www.provo.org/council/pcyg/activities/activities.html
IHC is a web sight that has a few simple crafts and items that can be made and donated to help out children and adults at the Utah valley regional hospital.
http://www.ihc.com/xp/ihc/uvrmc/givingandvolunteering/volunteering/serviceprojects.xml
U-can-do.org is a site that is for youth and adult that helps them find service in the salt lake county and helps them find more people to serve with.
http://www.u-can-do.org/content/events_o0.cfm
iidistrict.org is a book on the web which will help you set up a service project and fill in all the steps to make it easier to do service.
http://www.iidistrict.org/pdf_files/directory.pdf
Nationwide
Volunteermatch.org is a website that has several links to organizations in Utah were you can volunteer.
Takingitglobal.org is a website that links you to several community based organizations where students can volunteer.
http://www.takingitglobal.org/opps/orgdir.html
ysa.org is a web site which announces new up coming service events and news. It also has links to grants that are available.
Service Leader.org is the ultimate guide to finding volunteering efforts and ways to help others. It is a link that links you to hundreds of other sites which are all about service.
http://www.serviceleader.org/new/volunteers/
Information and Statistics on Youth Volunteering
- Youth volunteering is up 12% over the last 10 years. (UCLA/Higher Education Research Institute Annual Freshmen Survey, 1999)
- 73% of America's 60 million young people believe they can make a difference in their communities. (Do Something Young People's Involvement Survey /Princeton Survey Research, 1998)
- Out of 13.3 million youth, 59.3% volunteer an average of 3.5 hours per week, versus 49% of the adult population volunteering an average of 4.2 hours. (Independent Sector/Gallup, 1996)
- 70% of young people ages 15-21 have participated in activities to help strengthen their community at some point in their lives. (Do Something/Princeton Survey Research, 1998
- Major reasons cited by teens for volunteering: Youth feel compassion for people in need; they can do something for a cause in which they believe; they believe that if they help others, others will help them. (Independent Sector/Gallup, 1996)
- 73% of young people think their efforts can have a positive impact on their communities. (Do Something Young People's Involvement Survey /Princeton Survey Research, 1998)
Benefits of Youth Volunteering
- Teens say the benefits received from volunteering are: Learning to respect others; learning to be helpful and kind; learning to understand people who are different from them; developing leadership skills, becoming more patient, and better understanding of good citizenship. (Independent Sector/Gallup, 1996)
- Youth who volunteer are three times more likely to volunteer as adults. (Independent Sector/Gallup, 1996)
- Youth who volunteer just one hour a week are 50% less likely to abuse drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or engage in destructive behavior. (Search Institute, 1995)
