Best Virtual Volunteering Opportunities for High School Students

Concerning impressing colleges with your resume, academics are paramount, but your extracurricular activities can also be important in showing you are well-rounded and dedicated. This includes volunteering, which shows commitment to your community and personal and professional growth.

There are undoubtedly volunteer opportunities in your local community. Still, if you prefer to work online, there are many ways to volunteer online for high school students. With virtual volunteering opportunities, you can contribute to your community and the world at large from the comfort and safety of your home, giving you an even wider reach.

We've compiled some of the best virtual volunteering for students, no matter what causes you are passionate about.

 

 

Humane Society

Your local Humane Society might be your best option if you want to cuddle with adoptable animals. But the organization also offers virtual options like phone banking. Students must be over 16 years old to volunteer and will place calls to support the Humane Society’s legislative priorities and ballot initiatives in their local community.

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project runs crisis intervention hotlines and supports LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24. If you are over 18, you can volunteer from home to staff these hotlines and connect with these vulnerable young people when needed.

Best Buddies

Best Buddies runs an e-Buddies program where volunteers email someone with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Volunteers and their buddies are matched based on interests, games, and location (you can't be in the same state). Emails should be at least every two weeks but can be as frequent as you'd like beyond that. 

This is an excellent way for students to help those with different abilities feel included and make new friends.

 

 

Girls Inc.

Suppose you want to amplify the message of inspiring girls to be strong and bold in the face of barriers. In that case, you can apply to be a social media ambassador for Girls Inc. You'll be asked to create and share social media posts that address the difficulties of gender, economic, and social inequality worldwide.

These posts aim to add to girls' healthy, educated, and independent upbringing. Even very busy students can spend 5 to 10 minutes a day working on this effort, and you may be a great fit if you're an active social media user.

Be My Eyes

This organization pairs student volunteers with blind and low-vision individuals to provide visual assistance through a video app. Students can help those who have trouble seeing with daily tasks like checking expiration dates, distinguishing between different colors, and reading essential instructions.

Lifetime Connections Without Walls

This organization allows older adults to join classes and activities from the comfort and safety of their homes. This can include social programs, support groups, educational sessions, and simple, friendly conversations. 

As a student volunteer, you can assist by sending reminders or managing enrollment for these events. In some cases, volunteers even facilitate sessions! 

 

 

Mozilla

Mozilla offers an opportunity for students with computer skills to volunteer and help build a better internet. Students can volunteer to help with programming, design, or even testing. This allows you to grow, develop your engineering skills, and even build a portfolio of your abilities. 

Amnesty Decoders

Amnesty International runs various programs to address human rights violations, including Amnesty Decoders. This arm allows volunteers to help identify these violations using computers, smartphones, and tablets from home. When you find violations, like internet postings that are abusive to women, they can be turned into human rights projects that have a significant impact down the line.

Teenangels

Have you ever had to help a friend or relative figure out how to use their technology safely? If so, Teenangels' volunteer program might be a great fit. Students 13 to 18 interested in cyber security can volunteer to help run their programs focusing on safe and responsible internet use. 

The program is run mainly through local chapters attached to schools, churches, or recreation groups. 

Citizen Scholars

This is an opportunity for student history buffs to volunteer for the Smithsonian Institute, the world's largest museum and research complex. Students can virtually assist in transcribing papers of prominent Americans, historic documents, and records from the Smithsonian’s scientific collection to make them more accessible to researchers and the public.

 

 

Citizen Archivist

This opportunity with the National Archives allows students to help preserve and share public records detailing the story of the United States and its people. 

Volunteers transcribe, tag, and add comments to these public records to help make them more searchable and accessible. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about history and be involved with its preservation, especially if you are interested in government or civics as a future career path.

Operation Gratitude

This organization gives students who love to write the chance to send thank-you letters to first responders, troops, and veterans to support their efforts and thank them for their service.

In addition to writing letters, students can create paracord bracelets and run donation drives in their hometowns. Volunteering can be done individually or through larger groups, spearheaded by you!

Project Gutenberg

As this organization continues to grow the world’s most extensive digital library of over 60,000 free books, it needs volunteer proofreaders – a perfect opportunity for students who love to read and write!

Tarjimly

If you have second-language skills or are multilingual, you can volunteer with this app that provides on-demand translation services for immigrants, asylees, and refugees. Tarjimly will pair you with someone who needs your translation abilities, and you can work on a per-session basis to assist.

Translators Without Borders

Another option for students fluent in two or more languages is volunteering for Translators Without Borders. You will translate texts for various international organizations focusing on crisis relief, health, and education.

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Virtual volunteering provides high school students an enriching and fulfilling experience that benefits the community and adds value to their personal growth. From tutoring underprivileged kids to contributing to environmental causes, the digital world has opened up avenues for making a difference that was unimaginable a decade ago. Virtual volunteering offers a safe and convenient way to give back and equips students with essential skills like collaboration, problem-solving, and digital literacy.