Where would be a good place for me or anyone else my age to volunteer and have fun with it?

A socializer and dog walker for the animal shelter.

First. Give you mom big hugs for raising fantastic children. Lisa kicks ass.

Second. You might wand to give Meals on Wheels a try.

Animal shelters often train volunteers to help with socializing dogs and cats, puppies, kittens.
Playing with pets and making their lives a little happier and aiding in them finding new homes would be a great choice.

Public Library, elementary school. KatawaGrey worked with the reading teachers at the Elementary school and really liked it…

Food pantry, Historical Society, Senior citizen homes or rec centers, cleaning up (raking) public places like parks and cemeteries, this can be fun if done with friends or while making new friends.

Do you sing or dance or play an instrument? If so, you might be able to volunteer to participate in providing recreational activities for seniors at a nursing home or a hospital.

If you like organizing things and talking to people of all ages, you might enjoy sorting and packing food into individual containers at a food bank. They especially need volunteers right before Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Talk to your local Parks Department. There are often volunteer opportunities for people to help clean up parks and waterways, as well as to maintain or create trails within the parks.

Do you like to read? Most libraries, some schools and even hospital and nursing facilities have a need to have people come and read to their clients.

Some organizations such as the Red Cross or Salvation Army (not exactly sure) will set up gift wrapping stations at various locations, such as a book store, and the proceeds from the volunteers wrapping the gifts goes to charity.

Most charity based thrift stores, especially the smaller ones, regularly need volunteers to help them sort and price donations.

Contact someone from your local hospital and see what kinds of volunteer opportunities they have for young people. Could be socializing with patients, could be helping to set up and man a holiday party for the guests.

If you’re a horse lover there are rescue groups for horses as well. I don;t know your area but in my area we have a huge equine rescue group and they need lots of volunteer help with feeding, cleaning, grooming. Obviously I’m the animal person. lol

How about volunteering at a children’s hospital?

@Coloma, where do you live? I’m interested in that! I love horses!

What about walking and/or bathing dogs for the Humane Society? I think that would be really fun.

@EmptyNest

In the Sierra Foothills of Ca.
Our local rescue group just took in 52 starving and pregnant mares from a breeding operation gone bad in the Northern mountains of Susanville Ca.
Tragic. Some of the mares have been euthanized due to the gravity of their condition, others given theraputic abortions, others have died, and others yet are hanging in there with amazing help from the local vets and community. :-(

@Coloma, wow, that’s so sad!! I’m glad there are people like you to help! I live in CO, though. I wonder if there is anything like that here.

@EmptyNest It is, I can hardly talk about it, bless their beautiful hearts.
Check around your community, I love Colorado. I almost bought a lot outside of Durango a few years ago. :-)

I train dogs for search and rescue and we always need volunteers to hide for the dogs to find. If you like dogs, check to see if they need volunteer “victims” to hide for their dogs.

At a school, maybe help a teacher. I’m sure the kids would love to have your help. Or, maybe offer to help tutor young children after shool, help them with their homework if the elementary school near you has an afterschool program.

Read stories at the local library to children. This is a fantastic time of year for that. You can read the Christmas stories.

Volunteer at a place for the elderly. Maybe teach them how to use email and facebook so they can see their family online and communicate better with them.

You can ask the larger churches or synagogues near you if they have anything you can help with. It doesn’t have to be religious. My sister was a big sister with Catholic charities and she is Jewish and an atheist.

Volunteer at a hospital. Visit with patients your age. Do fun things with them. Paint nails, play cards, help them pass the day, especially if their parents can’t be there all day.

I talked to my dad about the hospital idea and he said our nearest hospital has a waiting list, but he would try to get me on it. I don’t know if I could help at a school during school hours since I have school too. I would volunteer with animals, but I’m always afraid either I would hurt them or they would hurt me. I might still volunteer with animals though. You all have great ideas and I’m considering all of them.