Local In-Person Volunteer Opportunities for Teens

If you’re a high schooler, you’ve probably had a talk with your parents about volunteering. Volunteering is a great way to get involved in your community and explore potential career interests. Here are 10 places you can volunteer that are both local and in-person:

1. Big Sunday

Help with an array of hands-on services such as making care packages, organizing donated goods, writing letters, sewing quilts, and many other group activities.

• Location: 6111 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038
• Time:
  • Weekly: Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
  • Monthly: Date and sign-ups posted a month in advance.
    • This month: Annual Back to School Night on August 10th from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. At this meeting, you can help fill backpacks with supplies for students all over Los Angeles. You can also enjoy a community dinner with the other volunteers.
  • Age Requirement: None

2. Habitat For Humanity ReStore

Help out at Habitat for Humanity’s household store by providing great customer service, staging the floors, organizing donated items, and restocking shelves. No experience is necessary.

• Location: 1071 South La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019
• Time: Sunday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (two separate shifts).
• Age Requirement: 14+ (14 and 15-year-olds must have a chaperone present)

3. KYCC BRIDGE Volunteering

Tutor and mentor elementary and middle school students at the Koreatown Youth Community Center. If you have a preference, you can choose to either work with elementary or middle schoolers. Generally, you will work one-on-one with a student on a variety of school subjects. As a volunteer, you will receive regular training and workshops to improve your skills.

• Location: 680 South Wilton Place, Los Angeles, CA 90005
• Time: You must work a minimum or two shifts per week. Shifts are available Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Age Requirement: High school student

4. Project Chicken Soup

Help make chicken soup for people with illnesses such as HIV, cancer, and AIDS.

• Location: 3975 Landmark Street #300, Culver City, CA 90232
• Time: Every Sunday. Contact Project Chicken Soup by email or phone to book a shift by the Wednesday of the preceding week. Orientation is at 8 a.m. on your first day.
• Age Requirement:
  • Non-groups: No age requirement, children 12 to 14 require parent supervision with a ratio of 2:1 (Children:Parent).
  • Groups of Children: Children below 14 are not permitted, and children between 14 and 15 should be supervised by parents with a ratio of 2:1 (Children:Parent).

5. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Volunteer

Help with escorting patients to their appointments, playing with patients in outpatient waiting rooms, and administrative support. Volunteers can work in 100+ areas of the hospital and are focused on providing services to patients, families, and staff.

• Location: 4650 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027
• Time: Specific date is undetermined but will take place in the summer of 2023. Applications open on February 1, 2023 at 4 p.m. and will close once there are 100 applicants. Volunteers are expected to complete 12 to 16 hours per week for a total of 100 service hours. Shifts are available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Age Requirement: 15 to 17 by June 15

6. American Cancer Society Discovery Shop

Your duties include sorting inventory, cashiering, customer service, and other tasks at the store.

• Location: Several in the LA metro area.  Closest include 844 S. Robertson Ave. in Beverly Hills, and 2460 Overland Ave. in west LA.
• Time: Available shifts are typically from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Age Requirement: None

 7. LA Public Library Volunteer

Volunteers at our local branch libraries can choose among helping with general tasks at the library, or being a member of the Teen Council or the Teens Leading for Change project. The Teen Council involves making suggestions on purchases for the library, writing articles for the Teen Blog, planning library programs, and implementing a Teens Leading For Change project. Teens Leading For Change (TLC) is a program offered at the library that members of the teen council can choose to participate in. In this program, you’ll develop and participate in a civic action project and bring positive change to your community.

• Locations:  Wilshire, Memorial, John C. Fremont and Fairfax Branch Libraries
• Time: Volunteer opportunities start in September, which is also when the applications for teen council volunteers open. Members of the teen council will be required to complete a minimum of 20 hours of work. To do general volunteering, speak with the Young Adult Librarian at the Fairfax branch to find any available shifts.
• Age Requirement: 14 to 19 for the general volunteering, and 11 to 19 for the teen council. To participate in the Teens Leading Change program, you must be 14 to 19.

8. Key Club

The Key Club is an international organization, and any high school can choose to have a chapter. Key clubs require a minimum of 50 hours of community service by each member within a year. In each chapter, organizing volunteer opportunities are student-led, and include activities such as cleaning parks, organizing food drives, and collecting clothes. Key clubs are a great way to develop leadership skills since it requires students to work with each other to organize and decide on which activities their club will partake in. If your school doesn’t have a chapter, you can start one by following these steps.

9. Tree People

Help plant trees around Los Angeles to deal with food insecurity, climate change, and community beautification. For locations and dates check Tree People’s online calendar.

• Age Requirement: None

10. Heal the Bay Nothin’ But Sand Program

Clean different beaches around LA county.

• Location: Changes every month. Sign up for the organization’s newsletter to receive notifications when the location of an upcoming meeting has been assigned.
• Time: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the third Saturday of every month (except December). Check their online calendar to see specific dates and registration information.
  • Upcoming meeting: August 20, 2022
• Age Requirement: None

Sky Bello is a resident of Sycamore Square and a 10th grader at Girls Academic Leadership Academy. Her favorite school subjects are math and history, and she hopes to one day become a microbiologist.