Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the bozo that suggested homeless shelters? The rate of mental illness and substance abuse among people who are homeless is astronomically high and you think a) teens should be working with them and b) you’d want your kid there? It’s adults in pretty much the most rock bottom hopeless vulnerable place one can be and you think a 15 year old girl should be helping out…?

If you hate the homeless, don't send your boys to Gonzaga.

It's not hating the homeless to believe that shelters serving homeless men aren't the places for unsupervised teenage girls. The fact that Gonzaga provides structured supervised opportunities for teenage boys, a very different situation, has nothing to do with whether homeless shelters are a good place for OP's daughter.

Most churches (mosques, temples, synagogues) and charity organizations do it as youth groups. You don't have to be affiliated or do any religious activities, just volunteer work. Google ones near you to see if they've such programs.

Anonymous wrote:Pick up litter and log it via Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app. I use this almost daily - entered a workplace contest (I won, twice) years ago and just kept going.

Happy to answer any questions.

Cool! Every one of every age should do it whenever they can, individually or in a group.

PP, I forgot to add, but Alexandria has a volunteer site that you can filter by age also.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Library? Reshelving books

I wonder how many teens know the dewey decimal system or libraries.

You don’t have to know what the numerical codes represent to shelve books, just that the codes progress from smaller numbers to larger.

My mom was my school librarian and she had me shelving books for her in elementary school. I think I started shelving fiction books alphabetically in 1st grade (when she got the job) and non-fiction numerically, according to the Dewey Decimal System, either later that same year or in 2nd grade.

Any teen should be easily trained to shelve books in minutes.

+ 1

And my girls volunteer at the McKenna Center for their volunteer hours also. I think you may have to be 16 if not at the school though.

Anonymous wrote:Who is the bozo that suggested homeless shelters? The rate of mental illness and substance abuse among people who are homeless is astronomically high and you think a) teens should be working with them and b) you’d want your kid there? It’s adults in pretty much the most rock bottom hopeless vulnerable place one can be and you think a 15 year old girl should be helping out…?

If you hate the homeless, don't send your boys to Gonzaga.

Anonymous wrote:Library? Reshelving books

I wonder how many teens know the dewey decimal system or libraries.

A Wider Circle

If you’re close enough to Fairfax to make a trip and drop them off, your DC can organize a Power Pack drive. Solicit items or finds to buy them, assemble the packs, and drop them off. Both of my kids did this , alone and with a group.

Invasive species removal. Just google for groups in your area. They usually meet every weekend.

Anonymous wrote:Who is the bozo that suggested homeless shelters? The rate of mental illness and substance abuse among people who are homeless is astronomically high and you think a) teens should be working with them and b) you’d want your kid there? It’s adults in pretty much the most rock bottom hopeless vulnerable place one can be and you think a 15 year old girl should be helping out…?

+1. Clueless!

What about your local church? Plenty of elderly people who need yard work assistance.

Who is the bozo that suggested homeless shelters? The rate of mental illness and substance abuse among people who are homeless is astronomically high and you think a) teens should be working with them and b) you’d want your kid there? It’s adults in pretty much the most rock bottom hopeless vulnerable place one can be and you think a 15 year old girl should be helping out…?

DS volunteered at Comfort Cases when he was in HS. He didn’t require an adult to accompany him. I’m not sure if that’s changed. At the time you had to sign up in advance and when new slots were released they filled quickly so plan ahead.