Service Project Ideas

No matter what your age or the issue that interests you, there are service projects you can do. The Points of Light Foundation created this list of project ideas based on age:

Project Ideas for Young People - 5-10 years old

• Make holiday greetings cards and artwork for senior citizens who live in a nearby nursing home
• Participate in the up-keep of a road or park
• Collect stuffed animals to donate to children in a homeless shelter
• Make bird houses for a nursing home or shelter
• Visit a nursing home as a group, making presentations that could include singing, playing games, or story-telling by seniors or by students
• Hold a food drive for the homeless
• Students can adopt an elder: write letters, share projects, visit, or assist with utility bills through fund-raisers
• Adopt a "project": i.e., a portion of a river, stream, highway, beach, park trail or zoo animal
• Raise funds for a zoo and raise awareness of endangered animals
• Collect clothes, toys, and shoes for needy countries
• Start a community garden
• Read-a-thon projects: students can read to younger children. Students can also get sponsored to read books, and use the money raised to buy books for a library or to help under-privileged kids

Projects Ideas for Young People - 11-13 years old

• Hold a fair or carnival
• Gather oral histories
• Get training in peer tutoring and conflict resolution
• Plan and execute environmental protection awareness campaigns
• Volunteer at a soup kitchen or nursing home
• Help with literacy and voter registration campaigns
• Do a community needs assessment survey
• Plant and maintain a community garden
• Sponsor a school drive for canned food, small toiletries, and clothing
• Sort and pack food at a food bank
• Plan and sponsor a “dog walk” to raise money for local pet shelters
• Make or donate bird houses for parks and walking trails
• Tutor younger students after school

Project Ideas for Young People - 14-18 years old

• Clean a polluted lake or river
• Research general information on political platforms and distribute it to peers
• Make a panel for the AIDS Quilt and give awareness presentations
• Help design a playground in an underprivileged neighborhood
• Volunteer as a candy striper in a hospital
• Hold a forum about racism to form possible community solutions
• Work as an aide at group homes for adults with disabilities
• Set up a peer counseling program
• Serve on boards for non-profits that affect youth issues
• Develop water quality projects

Other Project Ideas - Various Age Groups

Rake Leaves
Get a group of friends together and offer to rake leaves. Most homeowners would be more than happy to hand off this fall burden, and might be extra generous if you tell them the money will be going to charity. You can post flyers or just wander around a leafy suburban neighborhood on weekends after the leaves have fallen.

Organize a Community Yard Sale
You'd be surprised by how many people willingly contribute items for a yard sale someone else is organizing! Everyone has things lying around the house they'd like to get rid of, but few have the energy for the organization, sorting, pricing, and advertising that yard sales require.

Cookies for a Cause
Organize a bake sale and set up shop outside a grocery store or shopping center.

Computers for Senior Citizens
You don't even have to think about how to surf the Internet or e-mail your friends, but many senior citizens are still confounded when they sit in front of a computer. Organize some friends and offer to teach a computer class at a local retirement community or senior citizens facility.

Clear Off your Bookshelves and Closets
Get your friends to sort through their bookshelves and donate "gently used" books to a local school in need. Maybe your school librarian would help too. The same idea works great for coat drives or used sports equipment.

Form a "Grandkids Club"
Get a group of friends and arrange monthly visits to a senior center or nursing home. You can bring snacks, craft projects, or games and brighten the day for a senior citizen.

Beanie Baby Drop
A middle-school girl in Arizona heard that soldiers in Iraq were requesting Beanie Babies to distribute to Iraqi children. How many people do you know who have boxes full of old Beanie Babies gathering dust in their basements? This girl managed a Beanie Babies drive at her school and found a local firm willing to pay to ship them all to Iraq.

Video Histories
If you have the right equipment, it's possible to produce video histories for residents of senior communities. One California student ran a project where he videotaped interviews with seniors about their lives, then edited in family photographs and historical footage to create treasured memories for the seniors and their families.

Music Performances
Many hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices have programs where musicians can come in and play for residents

Holiday Greeting Cards
Make Christmas or Valentine's Day cards with your friends to distribute to senior citizens centers or hospitals.

Feed the Birds
You can have your school grounds designated as a Schoolyard Habitat by providing wildlife with natural food sources, water, and plantings where animals can nest their young.

"Senior" Prom
Organize a dance at a local nursing home.