Volunteer Opportunities
Ten great reasons why you should volunteer!
- Do some good. As a volunteer, you have the opportunity to make a difference—change lives, support a cause, or improve your community.
- Test-drive career options. If you think you want to go into medicine, teaching, or even large animal husbandry, spend volunteer hours in a clinic, a school or on a farm.
- Polish job-readiness skills. Being dependable, on time, and responsible will not only make you a great volunteer but also prepare you for entering the world of work. In addition, you can develop communication, organization, and invaluable “people” skills.
- Expand your network. Volunteering is a great way to make new friends and build solid connections to businesses, schools, or other community-based organizations. These are the kinds of relationships that tend to grow and blossom, particularly if you find yourself working in a team or supporting a cause. A byproduct of the experience can be a strong personal recommendation for college or a future job.
- Challenge your comfort zone. If life as a high school student has become a little too boring and predictable, try volunteering in a totally unfamiliar part of your community or serving a population with which you don’t ordinarily come into contact.
- Hone leadership skills. As a volunteer, you may be presented with opportunities to build supervisory, management, or decision-making skills as a team leader or project organizer. These are talents that colleges and future employers value highly.
- Upgrade college portfolio. Yes, colleges want to see that you’ve done something more with your summer than Facebooking. To volunteer is to give strong evidence of character, commitment, and motivation—all of which are plusses in the college admissions process.
- Discover an essay topic. The best college essays flow out of personal experience. In fact, essay questions often ask about significant achievements, events, people, or encounters—all of which may be found in the act of volunteering.
- Learn something. You learn by doing. And if you’re lucky, you may even be offered specific skill training, which you can take with you long after the event or project is completed.
- Do some good. This cannot be overstated.
Places to volunteer locally
| Organization | What it does | Contact Info |
|---|---|---|
| Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry | The Batavia Interfaith Food pantry depends on committed volunteers from area churches and from within our community to meet the Pantry’s mission of ending hunger in our community. | (630)879-3784 http://bataviafoodpantry.org |
| Northern Illinois Food Bank | Northern Illinois Food Bank is able to feed more than 60,000 hungry neighbors across 13 counties because of the support of our volunteers. | 630.443.6910 http://solvehungertoday.org |
| Lazarus House | Serves men, women and children connected to the school districts of St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia and western rural Kane County who are homeless or are at risk, safe shelter, food and support services | (630) 587-2144 http://lazarushouseonline.com |
| Delnor Hospital | Gift Shop, Greeters, Clerical Support, Flower and mail delivery , Surgery waiting room . ER waiting room, Hi-Hat Resale, LivingWell, Delnor Glen | 630/208-4264 http://delnor.com |
| Feed My Starving Children | Children and adults hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children, and we ship the meals to nearly 70 countries around the world. | http://fmsc.org |
| Elderday Center | Elderday Center is committed to providing quality day services and promoting independence for older adults and providing support and education for their caregivers. | (630)-761-9750 http://elderdaycenter.org |
| Batavia Park District | Coach a children’s soccer team, help out with a family’s childcare needs, or help beautiful Batavia’s 36 parks. The park district has no shortage of opportunities, and volunteers should have no problem finding an area that interests them. | http://bataviaparks.org |
| Batavia Public Library | Copying, shelving, other helpful tasks. Currently a 1-2 year wait list. | Lisa Moore (630) 879-1393, ext. 330 http://bataviapubliclibrary.org |
| Kane County Forest Preserve | The District has volunteer opportunities in natural areas management, environmental education, cultural preservation and public safety. | (630) 208-8662 http://kaneforest.com |
| Suicide Prevention Services | Event volunteer opportunities are available on a variety of levels, from serving as a member with an event planning committee, to helping for an hour or two on the day of an event. | http://spsamerica.org |
| Salvation Army of St. Charles | From bell ringing to sorting clothing and items, you can really help here! | (630) 377-2769 http://salarmychicago.org |
| Living Well Cancer Resource Center (Geneva) | Reception, special events, housekeeping tasks, ambassador | Cheryl Rabchuk at (630) 262-1111 http://livingwellcrc.org |
| Markland Children’s Home | Volunteer opportunities include: community outing assistants; activity assistants; Resale shop assistants; special events; and support services. | 630.593.5468 http://marklund.org |
| Fox Valley Special Recreation Association | Events, coaching, summer camp, prep for fund raisers | (630) 907-1114 http://fvsra.org |
| Anderson Animal Shelter (Elgin) | The Junior Volunteer program, for teens age 13-16, and the Adult Volunteer program for ages 17+ offer individuals the opportunity to work on behalf of the shelter’s animals to make a positive impact in our community. | 847-697-2880, ext. 21 http://andersonanimalshelter.org |
| Batavia Environmental Commission and Batavia Community Garden | The mission of the Batavia Environmental Commission is to fulfill the role of environmental advisor, educator and motivator to City Government and the community at large. | Margaret.Humphrey@bps101.net |
| Two Rivers Head Start (Aurora) | Front Desk , Classrooms , Food PantryClerical Projects | (630) 264-1444 |
