As with many Volunteer Programs, volunteerism at Filoli began in support of a fledgling organization in 1975. Initially a separate nonprofit, Friends of Filoli was created with the purpose of fundraising and other support, but was dissolved in 1989 as it was not self-sufficient. The leadership structure, however, remained and later merged with the…

Mentoring programs for incarcerated youth have shown promising outcomes with researchers suggesting that this population can benefit from mentoring relationships. A mentor provides guidance and support to youthful offenders. Having a caring adult involved in the life of a youth at risk may help them overcome adversity and develop the skills…

Sport participation has been limited in marginalized communities due to socioeconomic factors such as access to facilities, cost of participation, and the overall lack of opportunity to engage in physical activity (The Aspen Institute, 2019). Sport Based Youth Development (SBYD) programs have been one avenue of providing sport and physical…

Many talented students in under-resourced schools do not reach their full potential. Research shows that by sixth grade, children born into poverty have likely spent 6,000 fewer hours learning than their middle-class counterparts. Higher Achievement, an intensive summer and after-school program, aims to close that learning gap. It offers…

College 101 is powerful Pre-College Opportunity Program (PCoP) designed to expose at-risk high school students to the benefits of post-secondary education, to motivate them to stay in school, and to help them envision a future that includes post-secondary education. The unique features of College 101 include that it is grounded in the pedagogical…

This past winter, the third student-run homeless shelter in the United States came into being. Two recent Harvard graduates, Sam Greenberg and Sarah Rosenkrantz, who had volunteered at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter as college students, saw a need within the Boston and Cambridge communities for a homeless shelter serving young adults. Drawing…

Volunteers are central to the delivery of 4-H programs, and providing quality, relevant training is key to volunteer success. Online, asynchronous modules are an enhancement to a training delivery menu for adult volunteers, providing consistent, accessible options traditionally delivered primarily face to face. This article describes how Minnesota…

With an eye toward contemporary skill building to meet community centered economic needs, organizations such as Literacy Volunteers of America are increasingly pressured to examine new avenues in promoting employment readiness skills for the newly literate. These organizations and countless others have come to the realization that being prepared…

Public and school libraries often allow high school students to serve as volunteers out of their own interest, to fulfill community service requirements for graduation or for court-ordered obligations. Community college libraries often rely on college students on work-study but starting a high-school-age volunteer program would create a bridge to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the current state of student volunteering in English universities, and show how it contributes to some of the core activities of higher education, including teaching and learning, employability, and public engagement. The paper goes on to describe challenges currently faced by student volunteering,…

This is a story about how a national Canadian environmental education program (Green Street) evolved in unpredictable ways and about the particular twist in the road that led program stakeholders to focus on scaling up in different ways than originally imagined. The "twist" occurred when the program reached the initially perceived…

Reports on a project that tested the feasibility of recruiting and training volunteers as lay health educators who could coordinate and reinforce the educational efforts of health care providers. The program proved successful in identifying, recruiting, and training volunteers from racially and religiously diverse institutions. Favorable outcomes…

This booklet is a step-by-step explanation of how Gloucester County, Virginia, developed a solid and effective affiliate of Literacy Volunteers of America. It begins with a history of People Organized for Worthwhile Education of Residents (Project POWER). A discussion follows of the planning for this 1-year program for the development of a support…

The Mechanicsburg Area (Pennsylvania) Phone Pal Program is a telephone reassurance program in which an older volunteer calls a child who is home alone before or after school. Calls are made at the same time each day. These daily calls provide both younger and older persons with a safety verification, in addition to fellowship. Phone Pal is…

Volunteers can serve as a means to educate the public about environmental issues and increase stewardship ethic. This booklet is designed to provide much of the key information about designing and managing environmental volunteer programs to educate the general public. The booklet is based on the experiences of a volunteer program called Island…