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Welcome to The Classroom
Edition’s Volunteer Center. Interested in volunteering but not sure where to
begin? The Volunteer Center offers lots of suggestions to help you get started.
First think about why you want to volunteer. There are many reasons…here
are just a few: - Help someone in need
- Make your community a
better place to live
- Feel good about yourself
- Meet new people
- Gain
valuable skills (such as leadership, communication)
- Strengthen college
and job applications
You should also think about what your interests
are. Do you enjoy working with kids? Do your live for sports? Do you love animals?
Is technology your passion? You can get going with the resources and “Make a
Date” volunteer suggestions we provide. Once you catch the volunteering
bug you can share your story with other teens…click
here to tell us what you are up to! 
Service in Action | Teens In Action | Major Leaguers In Action | Volunteer Resources | Make
a Date to Volunteer
The Major League Baseball Players Trust – Volunteers of America Action Team National Youth Volunteer Program
Indianapolis Action Team: Peddle Power!
Planning a Summer “Bike Roundup” Refurbishing Project. What do you do with old bikes that have a few problems here and there but, with repairs, can still have plenty of peddle power? The Indianapolis Action Team has an answer: develop a service project around refurbishing used bikes for children. Indianapolis Action Team Captain Katelyn Hendrickson reports that her team has been collecting bicycles to donate. To raise money to buy parts for repairing the bikes, team members baked cookies to sell at home softball games. The bikes and parts are being sent to a nearby correctional facility, where inmates will repair the bikes. Then they will be distributed to kids in need.
Read
More 
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Teen
Volunteer of the Month
"Volunteer! You Could Be the Reason Why a Child Is Smiling! "- Kelly Yevoli, New York, New York
You make a difference in your community when you get involved as a volunteer. And volunteering can benefit you! Find out how from New York Action Team Captain Kelly Yevoli. Like all captains of the Players Trust and Volunteers of America Action Teams, she recruits other teens to participate in service projects at school and in the community. Supporting the New York Action Team are Major League baseball players Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider of the New York Mets.
Congratulations to Kelly, one of 16 Action Team Captains who was awarded a 2008 Players Trust scholarship for exceptional community service!
Read
More about Kelly
2007-2008 Action Team Captains Get a Major League Salute!
It’s recognition time for the Captains of the Players Trust and Volunteers of America Action Team. Major League players who support the Action Team are proud to represent all Major Leaguers in saluting the high school Captains for outstanding volunteer service in their schools and communities. Each Action Team Captain receives a certificate of achievement signed by Major League players. The Major League Baseball Players Trust also awarded 16 scholarships this year to Action Team Captains for their dedication and commitment to community service. Here’s a look at events around the country.
Click for Photos
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Working and Playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League
Major Leaguers Who Spent College Summers on the Cape
What do nine past and present Action Team players and over 200 other current Major Leaguers have in common? You got it – summers in the Cape Cod Baseball League. In the May Classroom Edition, we profiled the experiences of three Action Team players – Matt Morris, Mark Kotsay, and Carlos Pena. Here you’ll find the full roster of Major League players (2007 season) who, as college students, sharpened their baseball skills and talent by playing in the Cape Cod League. Equally important, off the field, many players worked at part-time jobs to pay their expenses. They also donated time to youth baseball clinics. Cape Cod League alumni agree that the work and service experiences taught them important life lessons, just as playing baseball with the Cape’s premier amateur league helped prepare them to enter professional sports.
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More
Carlos Pena: “Volunteering Is One of Life’s Pleasant Responsibilities!”
Former Cape Cod League Player and 2007 Players Choice Award Winner Looks Ahead to the New Tampa Bay Action Team
When Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Carlos Pena learned that the Players Trust and Volunteers of America Action Team wanted to expand to Tampa, “I said, ‘I’ll do it!’ ” Pena explains. “I jumped at the chance to be part of this new Action Team. Volunteering is one of the pleasant responsibilities of life. Some responsibilities are hard. But giving back by helping others – that’s a pleasure!”
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More
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Resources: Go-to Sites for Getting Involved
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Do Something |
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The goal of Do Something is to make it possible for teens to change the world! Visit the site for the latest information on important teen issues, ways to get involved, and a directory of volunteer opportunities by entering your zip code. Check out the Brick Awards, scholarships and community grants for teens and young adults to age 25 who are outstanding “world-changers.”
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Charity Focus |
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CharityFocus is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that provides online support to other nonprofits and promotes everyday ways to make a positive difference for others, near and far. Visit the site to find out about the variety of volunteer programs.
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| Volunteers
of America | | |
If your community is one of the 400 around the country where Volunteers of
America operates programs for those in need, then you can find many ways to get
involved to help. Volunteers of America is a nonprofit, faith-based organization
that serves more than 2 million people nationwide. Volunteers of America also
partners with the Major League Baseball Players Trust on the Action Team national
youth volunteer program. Visit the Volunteers of America national site to investigate
volunteer opportunities in your area. |
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Cool People Care |
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The motto of Cool People Care is “Saving the World, Five Minutes at a Time.” Check the Partners link for a U.S. map showing cities with Cool People Care events, including volunteer opportunities. There are also ideas on the home page for making a difference in five minutes – and what else you can do if you have longer to give.
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On Your Feet Project |
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This national nonprofit works to encourage young people to engage in community service and activism. Currently, there are chapters in five major cities: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Check out the Boston home page (www.oyfp.org/BOS) for a listening preview of “Rock On Your Feet,” OYFP’s first-annual charity concert, on April 10.
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Youth Service America |
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This serving-learning site offers information on special events for volunteering. A newly launched initiative for this election year is ServiceVote 2008. Visit www.servicevote.org/ to learn about the ServiceVote Challenge. It asks young people to choose an issue you care about and then develop an action plan to address and solve it through community service, civic participation, and political engagement.
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| Volunteer
Match | | |
Did you make a resolution to volunteer more this year? VolunteerMatch promises
to be your “resolution solution.” This easy-to-use site connects volunteers
with volunteer opportunities. You can select an area of interest – such as volunteering
with children, animals, environmental causes and many more – and specify the
distance from your area. Then type in your zip code for a list of local groups
requesting volunteers. Or find online volunteering opportunities by choosing “Virtual”
for your search. | | Best
Buddies International | | |
Best Buddies works to help people with intellectual disabilities by promoting
friendships between disabled and non-disabled peers. This nonprofit organization
was founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver in 1989. (His mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver,
is the founder of the Special Olympics.) There are programs for high schools as
well as middle schools and colleges. Buddies can be matched locally for one-on-one
activities. There is also an e-Buddies program that connects students for online
sharing. Visit the home page and access the “High Schools” information to
find out more about the program, including how to start a Best Buddies chapter
in your school. | | Little
Brothers - Friends of the Elderly | | |
Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) welcomes volunteers who
want to help and befriend the elderly. Its motto is “flowers before bread”
– which emphasizes the group’s focus on being friends to the elderly as well
as helping with basic needs. Among the Little Brothers’ activities are special
parties for elderly members and volunteers, to bring seniors together for social
activities. There are currently Little Brothers chapters in the following locations:
Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Houghton County, Michigan; Miami; Omaha; Philadelphia;
San Francisco; Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul). Visit the national site to
find out more and to get contact information for the city chapters. |
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Make a Date . . . to Volunteer in Summer 2008
Use the Volunteer Tracker Sheet (PDF) to log in your volunteer hours this summer.
| June |
July |
August |
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June 1-30:
Great Outdoors Month |
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Proclaimed by President George W. Bush, in 2004: http://www.greatoutdoorsmonth.org |
| Service connections: Volunteer to help clean up a park, beach, or other area of the “great outdoors” in your community. Enjoy the great outdoors on a bike ride to raise money for a cause. Check www.bikems.org for information on summer bike outings to fight multiple sclerosis.
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July 1-31:
Anti-Boredom Month |
| Service connections: Get out in your community and volunteer. You’ll never be bored when you’re helping others! Volunteer with a community recreation program to keep younger kids from getting bored. Extend friendship to homebound disabled or elderly citizens. Volunteer at a local animal shelter. (It’s boring to be stuck in a cage all day!)
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August 3:
National Friendship Day |
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Proclaimed for the first Sunday of August by Congress, in 1935 |
| Service connections: Read books on friendship with children in a local literacy program. Volunteer to be a mentor/friend to a child in your community.
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June 1-30:
National Safety Month |
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Sponsored by the National Safety Council: www.nsc.org/nsm |
| Service connections: Volunteer to help with summer safety programs for kids and teens in your community. Help organize a bike safety clinic to coordinate with a Bike Roundup refurbishing project. (See Service in Action: Peddle Power! in the Volunteer Center for 10 organizing tips.)
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July 4:
Independence Day |
| Service connections: Volunteer to help with your community’s parade or other events. Assist in organizing a picnic honoring veterans at a local facility. Help pack and distribute picnic baskets for the homebound in your area. Or take steps to support another kind of freedom – from cancer. Visit www.relayforlife.org to find Relay for Life events in your area in July and get involved.
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August 3-10:
National Smile Week |
| Service connections: How many ways can you put a smile on someone’s face by volunteering? Find out this week! Here’s one possible place to start: Help at a Ronald McDonald House or a Camp Ronald McDonald in your area (www.rmhc.org/volunteers). Need more ideas? Check www.VolunteersofAmerica.org and www.volunteermatch.org for volunteer opportunities near you.
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June 1-30:
National Fruit and Vegetable Month |
| Service connections: Volunteer to help plant or tend a garden for an elderly or disabled neighbor, or get involved to help with a community garden. Find out if a local food pantry or food bank is looking for donations of fresh fruits and vegetables this summer and sign up to help harvest and distribute the produce.
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July 20:
National Ice Cream Day |
| Proclaimed for the third Sunday of July by President Ronald Reagan, in 1984 |
| Service connections: Plan an ice cream fundraiser to benefit a cause you care about. Help organize an ice cream party for residents of a local facility, or help a local soup kitchen serve ice cream as a treat today.
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August 21:
National Senior Citizens Day |
| Proclaimed for this date by President Ronald Reagan, in 1988, to “salute older citizens and make sure our communities are good places in which to mature and grow older.”
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| Service connections: Volunteer in a meal-delivery program that serves seniors. Offer to do errands for elderly neighbors.
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June 29:
Special Recreation Day for the Disabled |
| Service connections: Volunteer this summer to help with local recreation programs for disabled children and adults. Remember that all kinds of kids can benefit from getting their own bike. Start planning a Bike Roundup today!
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July 27:
National Parents Day |
| Proclaimed for the fourth Sunday of each July by President Bill Clinton, in 1994 |
| Service connections: Volunteer in a program that assists low-income parents. Help provide free child care to parents in special circumstances.
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August 28:
Dream Day |
| 45th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech
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| Service connections: Get involved to help make dreams a reality. Help build or repair a home of someone in need. Collect supplies and clothing to give needy kids a great school start.
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