Where & Who to Volunteer With?

By: Volunteer Success

If you are a high school student, both formal and informal volunteering may count towards community service hours for high school graduation - check with your school or guidance counsellor

  • Formal volunteering takes place with a charity, non-profit or community organization (including at your own school!)
  • Informal volunteering can be done in your own neighbourhood: for example, assisting seniors with shovelling walkways and driveways, garden care, or carrying groceries; unpaid babysitting or dog-walking; collecting food for a food bank; organizing a park clean-up in your community. Remember that this work must be unpaid!
  • What doesn’t count towards community service hours:
    • working for free in a business
    • doing a school co-op
    • any paid job
  • While these are still great activities to discover your skills and interests, they don’t count as volunteer work and won’t count towards your high school diploma
  • Location, location, location! If the volunteer opportunity isn’t virtual, check the address of the opportunity in advance to make sure that it is accessible to you (walkable or by transit) before you apply!

Next, go to When to Volunteer?

Also check out:

How to Find the Right Volunteer Opportunity

How to Apply for Volunteer Roles

How-to Tips for Interviewing and Email Communications

How-to Tips for Applying for Unadvertised Volunteer Opportunities

How-to Tips for Working in the Volunteer Role

How to Troubleshoot Problems in Your Volunteer Role

How to Get a Reference and/or Paid Role!


Also read…

Flipping the Concept of Volunteerism: Using Our Collective Power to Make a Difference

By: Lori Gotlieb

Volunteers have been stepping up to help during the pandemic and have made significant differences but the continued uncertainty has organizations struggling to serve their community through volunteers with limited resources and not enough volunteer opportunities. We need to think outside the box and be creative in how we can help each other. The concept of flipping the responsibilities to the volunteers could have some merit and another way to rethink how communities can help each other.

5 Ways Volunteering Improves Your Mental Health

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People often see volunteering as a selfless act, and indeed it is. Volunteering is a powerful way to give back to your community and help others who are in need. However, a lesser-known fact about volunteering is that it may benefit volunteers themselves, particularly regarding their mental health. Check out this article to learn more.

Volunteer Success Announces the Launch of the Next Stage Volunteering website for Older Adults Looking to Volunteer in their Community

By: Volunteer Success

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Community Services Recovery Fund, the Seniors Community Grant Program through the Ontario Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility, and private donations, Volunteer Success is proud to announce an expansion of our Volunteer Success website.