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!
