Five years ago, Harrisburg resident Kim Hutnik coordinated a butterfly release through the local nonprofit where she then worked.
Her 10-year-old daughter filed in with the adult volunteers, helping to set up and distribute live butterflies. She loved it and wanted to help with butterfly releases in the following years. As she grew, her parents found other local volunteer opportunities.
“It seemed like a fun, educational option where she would be helping others,” Hutnik said.
While 10 years old felt like the right age for Hutnik to begin instilling a sense of civic-mindedness into her daughter, the right age depends on your child, said Heidi Neuhaus, director of the Volunteer Center at United Way of the Capital Region. One local nonprofit accepts volunteers as young as age 5, with parental supervision.
“There are jobs easy enough for young kids to do,” Neuhaus said. “Find something you can do together as a family.”
Acknowledging that some tasks may be unglamorous, Neuhaus recommends preparing your child by describing the task and goal and who it benefits, whether directly or indirectly. Connect their act of sweeping the floor or picking up trash to the overall mission of the nonprofit. It’s also important to share with kids the needs of the community—that certain tasks are needed, even if they’re not exciting or a preferred choice
“Picking up trash is always a huge need,” Neuhaus said.
Very young kids can be asked to donate toys they don’t need anymore, which is a powerful way to get them involved.
Some jobs are always more popular than others, such as working with animals or volunteering with friends. Kids enjoy volunteering for many of the same reasons that adults do: to meet people, make friends and maintain a sense of community.
“It’s more about who they’re with than the job they’re doing,” Neuhaus said.
In addition to passing down her values to her daughter, Hutnik believes that volunteering is a great way to prepare young teens for future employment and to teach them to interact with others outside of their regular groups.
“It gets them out of their comfort zones and helps them become comfortable working with others,” she said. “Depending on the opportunity, kids develop a sense of empathy as they work with others who may come from different backgrounds, family situations, circumstances, etc.”
A Lot to Offer
Along with developing kids’ self-esteem, self-confidence and community-mindedness, Neuhaus believes that fostering empathy is the biggest benefit of volunteer work.
“We want the best for our kids,” she said. “We want to shelter them. It’s eye-opening when they understand not everyone is as well-positioned in life as they are. They can see some of the problems their classmates are dealing with.”
Enter those rare volunteer opportunities that serve as a mentorship outreach program to their volunteers, without necessarily labeling it as that.
Bountiful Blessings, a faith-based nonprofit, offers volunteering opportunities at a farm in Mechanicsburg, purposefully enriching volunteers with skills to help them succeed in life. President Terry Orendi focuses on working with autistic teens and adults, youth with court-ordered community service hours and young adults transitioning out of foster care post-high school.
Whether volunteers do farm chores, crush aluminum cans or disassemble electronics for sellable scrap, the model “has been successful,” Orendi said.
“Kids look forward to it, and some have stayed on past their assigned time,” she said. “They’re all at different states and different capabilities.”
Drawing from 27 years of anecdotal evidence, Neuhaus believes that, if you ever need help yourself, you would be more willing to reach out if you’ve volunteered in the past.
“Children learn they are part of a community that cares,” she said. “They learn helping others is a good thing that can enrich your life.”
Young people who volunteer at Bountiful Blessings often suffer from anxiety and depression, stemming from issues at home, Orendi explained.
“For our kids who have been tossed around a lot, we help to build trust and confidence,” she said. “Once trust has been lost, it’s hard to rebuild.”
With an emphasis on Christian values, mentors help kids to feel safe trusting again.
“We’re not counselors,” Orendi said. During the normal course of doing chores, “we talk, play music, and we let everyone grow where they’re at. We’re not doing anything special beyond being there for them. We’re a listening ear. All they want is a listener.”
Hutnik has held volunteer coordinator positions in five local area nonprofits over the years and knows how priceless volunteers of any age can be. She has also seen how her own daughter has come out of her shell through volunteering, growing from a shy child into an outgoing and confident high schooler.
“I think most organizations don’t consider teenage volunteers because they don’t want to ‘babysit’ them while they do their assigned job. But with a little supervision and support, teens can do a lot more than most realize, and the experience benefits everyone,” Hutnik said. “Teenagers have a lot to offer and a lot to gain from helping others.”
For more information about United Way of the Capital Region and its volunteer opportunities, visit www.uwcr.org/volunteer.
To find out more about Bountiful Blessings Inc., visit www.bountifulblessingsinc.org.
For additional local volunteer opportunities, visit www.greatnonprofits.org or www.volunteermatch.org.
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