Volunteer work is essential to our local community’s structure, and it’s also a way to build a resume, earn NHS hours, and serve others.
Johnson County Public Library
The JCPL offers multiple volunteer opportunities, such as helping out around the library, tutoring adult English learners with low literacy, helping to give books to new parents that are teaching their children to read or presenting a course of your choosing. Examples of these self-taught courses include “origami, yoga, knitting, and much more!” says JCPL on their website.
CG Blood Drive
Center Grove offers a blood drive every year for students who are at least 16 years old. Students who are older than 16 can give blood at any time; students who are 16 years old will be allowed to participate if a parent/guardian signs a form. This year the winter blood drive will begin on December 6, and the spring blood drive will start on March 7. All collected blood will go to a local Indiana blood bank. “There is a huge blood shortage currently so we’re encouraging everyone to donate,” said Key Club sponsor Ms. Zenor. Key Club organizes the blood drives.
Johnson County Animal Shelter
The Johnson County Animal Shelter is a humane society located in Johnson County on the border of Franklin and Greenwood. Pet owners may already be aware of this location, but what they might not know is that they also offer volunteer opportunities. Currently, the Johnson County Animal Shelter has a large quantity of kittens that were born about 2-4 months ago, and due to this they are tight on space, especially in the front rooms where the cats are kept. The Johnson County Animal Shelter needs help managing whether by volunteer work, pet adoption or pet fostering.
Indiana Children’s Museum
The Indianapolis Children’s Museum also offers volunteer opportunities! Anyone looking to volunteer can call the Children’s Museum and establish a volunteer schedule with the organization. Some ways to contribute include working one of the many stations throughout the museum or working together with a group of friends or family while volunteering.
Local Food Banks/Pantries
There are quite a few food banks in the Indianapolis area. Most churches are connected to some kind of pantry or food bank, but there are also more independent organizations like Gleaners Food Bank, Second Helpings, or Hunger Inc. Most food banks or soup kitchens will take underage volunteers upon request, but check websites to know the proper channels to ensure that you are allowed to volunteer.
CPR and First Aid Certification
One way you can help your community is by being prepared. Most hospitals or EMS facilities offer some kind of certification course such as CPR, wound management, correct analysis of medical conditions and much more. One main first aid program is Stop the Bleed, offered periodically at certain medical facilities or the Red Cross. Additionally, most all certification or training programs can be completed online, which makes being prepared for emergencies an accessible and great way to help out.
Red Cross
The Red Cross is a medical program operating internationally. The program has multiple operations in Indiana, in which all locations offer volunteer opportunities such as managing incoming blood donors, transporting collected blood or responding to crises. All of these programs require emailed parental consent for minors but need volunteers, especially both blood ambassadors and transports.
Goodwill
Goodwill is a large charity dedicated to offering needed items for adults, children and babies like clothes, furniture and stimulating toys for childhood development. Goodwill is unique in the way that they offer paying jobs to interested teenagers, but they also allow students to volunteer their time at different facilities across Greenwood. This allows for students involved in extracurricular activities to volunteer without the pressure of permanent employment. If students want to volunteer regularly, Goodwill allows for very flexible times decided at your discretion.
