Summer Service Ideas

Summer months bring long days, warm weather, school vacations - and great opportunities for kids to volunteer and families, camps, and youth groups to serve together. Here are some suggestions for a successful service experience:

1.       Start with things your kids love to do.

2.       Consider issues your kids care about. 

3.       Combine passions + issues for the biggest impact. 

4.       Encourage, support, and help your kids learn.

Ideas for summer involvement:

·       The Longest Day is all about love. Love for all those affected by Alzheimer’s disease. On the summer solstice, team up with the Alzheimer’s Association and select an activity you love — or an activity loved by those affected — to help end Alzheimer’s. Together, we will raise funds and awareness for care and support while advancing research toward the first survivor of Alzheimer’s. thelongestday.alz.org

·       Hunger hits especially hard when kids are out of school for the summer. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) ensures that low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals when school is not in session. This summer, USDA plans to serve more than 200 million free meals to children 18 years and under at approved SFSP sites. Promoting summer feeding sites in your community is one of the most important things you can do to ensure no child goes hungry this summer. You can find summer feeding sites and tools to help raise awareness as well as information about how to become a summer feeding site at the USDA’s website. Families in need can text ‘Food’ to 877-877, and receive a text back with the address and program information for sites closest to them, or information about how to find food resources in their area. Additional resources are available from No Kid Hungry and ideas for how youth can help from Generation No Kid Hungry.

·       Do something different this summer. Habitat for Humanity’s weeklong break trip program, Collegiate Challenge, isn’t just for spring break. This summer, bond with your new campus chapter leadership, take a church on a mission trip, or grab four friends to go serve and discover a different part of the country. http://www.habitat.org/youthprograms/collegiate-challenge

·       Our country is full of dazzling landscapes where students can play and learn—and there’s an opportunity for us to make this experience a reality for more and more of our youth. Every Kid in a Park gives fourth graders and their families a free one-year pass to any of our nation’s public lands and waters. Plan your trip at https://www.everykidinapark.gov. As you plan your trip, find out how you can volunteer in a national park.  https://www.nps.gov/getinvolved/volunteer.htm

·       This Summer, thank a Veteran and pledge the gift of time. The Department of Veterans Affairs is asking citizens across the country to join in serving our nation’s Veterans. Volunteers can find out the needs of your local VA facility by visiting http://www.va.gov/vasummerofservice

·       Help build awareness about the importance of teaching children to swim to help prevent drowning.  On June 22, waterparks, pools and other aquatic facilities around the globe will host local WLSL lessons in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record. Swimming is a life-saving skill for children and a vital tool to prevent drowning, the second leading cause of unintended, injury-related death for children ages 1-14.  http://www.worldslargestswimminglesson.org

·       Help protect wildlife by pledging to camp this summer! National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Campout is a summer-long celebration of camping as a way to connect with nature and wildlife. Take the pledge to camp — in your backyard, your neighborhood, your local parks, state parks, and national parks, cabins, RVs, treehouses… you name it! National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Campout is also part of Great Outdoors Month in June.  http://www.nwf.org/Great-American-Campout.aspx

·       Become a force for good while earning college credit this summer. The Advanced Leadership Academy (ALA) is a college-prep program for high school juniors and seniors who are serious about spearheading positive social change. Participants (known as “Project Managers”) select the cause they want to impact, develop their project management and leadership skills, and then create their unique plan for change to put into action when they return home. Join the ALA July 6–11 at Loyola University Chicago. Learn more, sign up for one of HOBY’s webinars, and register here. Application Deadline: June 15.

·       National Summer Learning Day is a national advocacy day aimed at elevating the importance of keeping kids learning, safe and healthy every summer, ensuring they return to school in the fall ready to succeed in the year. Your participation sends a powerful message across the nation that summers matter and offers an opportunity to showcase how summers can make a life-changing difference in the lives of young people. http://www.summerlearning.org/summer-learning-day/

·       Use the Read & Act: Kids Making a Difference collection of inspiring children’s books from FirstBook paired with free downloadable discussion guides from YSA to help youth ages 6-12, understand how they can use their unique talents, interests and passions to spark action in their own communities. https://www.fbmarketplace.org/read-and-act

·       Make sure that your family and community are equipped to protect its littlest and most vulnerable citizens. Raise your voice, use your skills and together, we can help turn the tide and build a generation of prepared citizens. Lead Get Ready Get Safe Prep Rally activities and events to help build community awareness and educate children and families about simple things they can do to stay safe in emergencies. Get resources from Save the Children.

·       The Map of Play is a community generated guide to playspaces across the country. You can find playspaces near your location or add a new play space and help other people find great places to play wherever they may be! Find or add a playspace today at http://mapofplay.kaboom.org. Get your community, youth group, or service organization involved with great group ideas in the activity kit. Then, take action to make playspaces in your community even better by planning a play day, organizing a clean-up, or building side projects. https://mapofplay.kaboom.org/take-action

·       Record and share the stories that are all around you. With the StoryCorps app and StoryCorps.me you can browse and listen to recordings from other users, add to the online library by sharing your own story, and activate your group, organization, or community around the power of storytelling. https://storycorps.me/

·       Nelson Mandela International Day is in recognition of Nelson Mandela’s birthday on July 18 and inspired by a call Nelson Mandela made for the next generation to take on the burden of leadership in addressing the world’s social injustices when he said that “it is in your hands now”.  It is more than a celebration of Madiba’s life and legacy. It is a global movement to honor his life’s work and act to change the world for the better. www.MandelaDay.com

·       National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. Furthermore, it provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.

·       Millions of neighbors take part in National Night Out across thousands of communities from all fifty states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide on the first Tuesday in August (Texas celebrates on the first Tuesday in October). Neighborhoods host block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts and various other community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, youth events, visits from emergency personnel, exhibits and much, much more. https://natw.org/

·       International Youth Day is celebrated every year on August 12. International Youth Day 2017 is dedicated to celebrating young people’s contributions to conflict prevention and transformation as well as inclusion, social justice, and sustainable peace. The current generation of youth are the largest in history and young people often comprise the majority in countries marked by armed conflict or unrest, therefore considering the needs and aspirations of youth in matters of peace and security is a demographic imperative. Organize an event for International #YouthDay! https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/international-youth-day-2017.html

·       Pledge to do a good deed for the 15th anniversary of 9/11. The goal of 9/11 Day is to keep alive the spirit of unity and compassion that arose in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, providing a positive, helpful way for people to annually remember and pay tribute to the 9/11 victims, and honor those that rose in service in response to the attacks. www.911day.org

While these opportunities aren’t locally based they give youth an opportunity to get involved on a large scale, the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley has numerous current local volunteer opportunities available with over 165 local non-profit agencies. To secure volunteer opportunities call the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley at 272-2087 or email information@vccv.org. Volunteer opportunities may also be accessed at www.vccv.org.

Thanks to Youth Service America