Teens and Volunteerism

"Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a world of iPods, cell phones and over-the-top birthday parties, many Long Island teens are putting the needs of others ahead of their own — and working to make a real difference through volunteering.

“There are many reasons teens come into volunteering — like the increased focus by colleges on student service in high school,” says David Eisner, chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), a federal agency that fosters civic engagement through community service. “But the reasons they stay are the deeper, more meaningful ones — that sense of fulfillment they get when they realize they have the ability to make a difference in somebody else’s life.”

Meghan Lynch knows about the sense of satisfaction that comes from helping other people. Despite her own hardships — she lost her dad in the World Trade Center on 9/11 when she was just 11 years old — Lynch finds that volunteering helps put life in perspective.

“I try not to take the people around me and the things I have for granted,” says Lynch, now 17. And she works hard to help others improve their own lives through her volunteer efforts. When Lynch was 15, she traveled from her comfortable home in Centerport to an impoverished village in Nicaragua where she and other Long Island teens made cement, dug ditches and helped build a real house for villagers who were living in makeshift huts.

“I saw how little these people have and how hard their lives are, and yet how happy they are,” says Lynch, a senior at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington. She traveled again to Nicaragua in February.

On the Rise

Lynch’s commitment to volunteering is part of a growing national trend. According to a 2006 CNCS report, the volunteer rate in this country is up significantly, fed in large part by the increase in teenage volunteering — which grew from 13.4 percent in 1989 to 26.9 percent in 2002 for young people between 16 to 19 years old.

And it’s not just to pump up college applications with examples of community service. Paula Dodge, a retired special education teacher, is awestruck by the sincerity of the teens she accompanies to Nicaragua each year as part of Project Nicaragua, a group sponsored by Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport. The teens spend months fundraising and collecting donations in their schools and communities, and then travel to Amatitan, Nicaragua, where they spend a week working tirelessly in the hot sun to build homes for the villagers.

“I look at them and think they’re just the most amazing group of young people,” says Dodge of Huntington. “They witness such extreme poverty — no water, no electricity, children with no clothing and distended stomachs — and they bring such an energy and an ability to relate to these people. The experience changes them forever.”

But teens certainly don’t have to travel to Third World countries in order to make a difference. “When we come back from Nicaragua, we tell them that now that they’ve witnessed poverty, they have a responsibility to help,” says Dodge. “There’s plenty of need right here in our own communities.”

Start Small

The idea of a volunteer commitment can be overwhelming, especially in our over-scheduled world. The point is to get out there and do something — because often the smallest gesture of kindness will lead to more. Laura Dabrowski, 17, a senior at Huntington High School, decided to forego a Sweet 16 party. Instead she asked her parents to sponsor a Nicaraguan child’s education. “I receive letters from the student on a regular basis,” she says.

A year later, Dabrowski traveled to the girl’s village with Project Nicaragua and contributed her time and energy to helping the villagers build houses. The experience introduced her to the joy that comes from helping others — and she has resolved to make volunteering a part of her life forever. “The people of Amatitan were so appreciative of everything we helped them with, but I feel like we got more out of it than we gave,” she says.

Find a Good Fit

The opportunities to volunteer are virtually limitless — and can be arranged to fit into just about any schedule. Teens who are overloaded during the school year with studies, work and school activities might find it easier to commit a chunk of time during the summer or school vacation weeks, while others prefer to spread volunteer hours over the entire year by signing up for a Sunday morning shift at a soup kitchen or one afternoon each week at a hospital.

The best way to find meaningful volunteer work is to experiment. “Make a lot of short-term commitments until you find the thing that you want to be passionate about,” says CNCS’s Eisner. “Go to a Habitat build, maybe help deliver Meals-on-Wheels or try a mentoring afternoon at school. You’ll get a sense of what you like, whether it be building homes or working with young people.”

According to Eisner, many volunteer opportunities are driven by faith communities and by school and youth organizations. Teens can start by asking their school, church, synagogue, mosque or community organization about what’s available. In addition to local efforts, many of these groups sponsor trips — from camps for mentally-challenged children in upstate New York to trips to assist the poor in Appalachia and Third World countries.

The Youth Bureaus of both Nassau and Suffolk Counties are wonderful resources for volunteers. “There’s such a need right here on Long Island,” says Eileen Tucci, acting executive director of the Nassau County Youth Board. “The various agencies offer opportunities for teens to participate in community service activities, while providing a safe place for them to learn and grow.”

Tucci advises teens to look at the contact agencies listed on the Web site and call a few that are close to home and whose mission might be of interest to them. “They all need volunteers,” she says. [See below for information about contacting the individual agencies.]

Another resource is New York City-based Children-for-Children — an organization that was founded by Governor Eliot Spitzer’s wife, Silda Wall, with a group of like-minded parents who were concerned about children growing up in insular environments without a sense of responsibility for the greater community.

“Teens can come into New York City to participate in hands-on events, or download our curriculum online and run them in their own neighborhoods,” says Maggie Jones, executive director of Children-for-Children.

Keep It Going

Helping others often seems to nurture a desire to do more. “People experience a ‘helper’s high’ that comes from the joy of giving,” says CNCS’s Eisner. Meghan Lynch is planning a third trip to Nicaragua next February. And this summer she joined 18 other teens from “Tuesday’s Children” (a group of children from all over the country who are united in their loss of a loved one on 9/11) and traveled to Costa Rica — to again dig and build and improve lives.

And as Lynchworks to help others improve their lives, her own life has been changed forever. “I see what’s important in life and don’t get caught up in little things.”

Julie Vecchione DeSimone is a freelance writer from Centerport. Her 17-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, has volunteered in West Virginia and Nicaragua.