Volunteer Opportunities in NYC

Fall is Back to School Time! Now that New York City's 1.2 million students are back in school, consider being part of their success story! The following nonprofits offer great tutoring and mentoring programs. There are flexible training days and commitment requirements, so find one that makes sense for you and help make a difference in the life of a child.

Association to Benefit Children (ABC)ABC's mentoring program (Los Compalles) pairs individual children with energetic and committed adults from diverse backgrounds. These adult mentors serve as personal cheerleaders, role models, and 'big buddies' - offering support, counsel, friendship and positive reinforcement to young people age 7-14 from East Harlem, Upper Manhattan and the South Bronx. Program operates during after school hours (3-6pm) and on weekends. Interested individuals must be 18 years or older and complete careful screening and application process. For more information click here or call 212-831-1322.

Big Brothers Big Sisters NYCBig Brothers Big Sisters knows that you will be surprised at what a little time can do for a kid. Not to mention what it can do for you. Mentoring can re-direct the path of a young person's life. It's been proven! To find out more about the many mentoring opportunities offered by BBBS, fill out this simple form or contact Lissette Hernandez at 646-274-6038.

Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)Tutor a child once a week and introduce them to all the resources available through the BPL. After-School Homework Helpers tutor children once a week at local neighborhood libraries. Use all the resources libraries have to offer and help a child get ahead. For information on volunteering, click here or contact BPL at 718-230-2406 or by email at volunteer@brooklynpubliclibrary.org.

Community Service Society Retired & Senior Volunteer ProgramYoungsters need not apply. RSVP has great programs connecting youth with seniors. Adults 55 years of age and are older are invited to join the Experience Corps Project, which matches older adults with elementary school children reading below grade level. Opportunities are currently available in the South Bronx, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and Harlem. No experience is necessary. After completing a training, volunteers commit to providing literacy tutoring for 16 hours per week during the academic school year. For information on volunteering, please contact Kemba Tamar at (212) 614-5499 or via email to: ktamar@cssny.org
Adults 55 years of age and older are invited to join the Prejudice Reduction Program, where older adults educate children in grades K-5 on respecting other's differences. Opportunities are available in all five boroughs. No experience is necessary. After completing a training, volunteers operate in teams to get across the program message, "It's What's on the Inside (of a Person) That Counts" during weekly one-hour workshops. For information on volunteering, click here or call (212) 614-5563.

Learning LeadersHelp out in the classroom of an elementary school, tutor a middle school student on your lunch break, or provide college counseling to a high schooler. These are just some of the ways you can volunteer with the thousands of students in the City in need of help with their class work or special projects. Learning Leaders is in all boroughs and if there is not a program in a school near you, you can start one! Tutor a student twice a week during your lunch hour or after school and see what a difference you can make. For more information on becoming a volunteer, click here or contact them by email Heatherw@learningleaders.org.

Manhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High SchoolManhattan Comprehensive Night and Day High School is a rare, one-of-a-kind public high school, located in the East Village, teaching eight hundred older, nontraditional students, ages seventeen to twenty-one. Tutors are needed an hour a week during school or in the evenings at the school's drop-in center - where you can help out once a week or once month! For more information, visit their volunteer site or contact Etenesh Adnew at 212-213-2010 ext. 123 or via email volunteer@cdi-ny.org.

Mentoring Partnership of New York CityMentoring a child makes a tremendous difference in the life of a child as well as your own! The Mentoring Partnership of New York's mission is to be an advocate for the expansion of quality mentoring opportunities for New York City youth and a resource for mentors and mentoring initiatives citywide. For further information about how you can become a mentor or to attend an orientation session, click here or call 1-800-83-YOUTH or email Mary Beth Zurat mzurat@mentoring.org.

Mentoring USAMentoring USA, New York City's largest site-based mentoring program is looking for open minded, consistent adults to be positive role models to children in need. They are currently recruiting mentors for the following: (1)General Program- largest program; basic 1:1 mentoring; (2) Foster Care Initiative-mentoring youth in Foster Care agencies in NYC; (3) ESL Program- mentoring newly-immigrated or first-born generation students to help them master American English. The mission of the mentoring program is to foster a consistent adult relationship that increases the child's self confidence, self-esteem, and helps to develop trust with adults. For more information on Mentoring USA's programs, click here or call (212) 400-8294.

New York CaresVolunteering with New York Cares enables you and thousands of caring, concerned New Yorkers to provide hands-on volunteer service to New York City's most vulnerable residents. New York Cares volunteer projects are team-based and flexibly scheduled, reflecting virtually every volunteer interest: homelessness, hunger, kids, education, seniors and the elderly, HIV/AIDS, the environment, urban renewal, and more.
To highlight their many education programs, New York Cares is holding an Education Volunteer Expo on Thursday September 15, 2005 at the Times Square Hotel so that you can learn about the many ways you can make a real difference in the lives of children and adults. Project leaders will be on hand to help choose the perfect project, such as morning reading with 3rd - 5th graders, SAT preparation tutoring, financial literacy for low-income families and many others. For more information on attending the fair or participating in hundreds of others of New York Cares weekly projects, click here.

New York SCORESNew York SCORES offers one of the most unusual and successful approaches to youth development and literacy training for at-risk students: poetry writing-soccer teams. By learning creative writing and soccer in tandem, teams of students encourage and inspire one another to achieve on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Volunteers are needed in all aspects of their operations, from assistant coaches to tutors to office assistants. For more information on how to get involved, please contact Naomi Santos, Volunteer Director, at (212) 563-3250 or click here.

New York Youth at RiskYouth at Risk is a not-for-profit that transforms the chaotic lives of young people through persistent and compassionate mentoring, taking young people from resignation to possibility. We provide vigorous intervention to young people from disadvantaged communities in the NY Metropolitan area. NY Youth at Risk collaborates with organizations that have a commitment to the at-risk youth population but lack the services. In conjunction with the programs, they partner young people with role models and mentors, helping young people find the keys to unlock their futures. For more information on their mentoring programs, click here or call 212-791-4927 ext. 22.

Staten Island School Reading Volunteer ProgramThe Staten Island School Reading Volunteer Program is sponsored by the Staten Island Mental Health Society, and operated in cooperation with Region 7 of the NYC Dept of Education. This program assists more than 500 public school children in improving their reading skills. Volunteers are always welcome and training sessions are conducted each year in the fall and winter. For more information contact Fran Hogan at 718-442-2225 or via email at: FHogan@SIMHS.org.
NOT ENOUGH? Check out these other great educational volunteer opportunities on VolunteerNYC.org.