Youth Volunteering

Boston Cares Youth Volunteering lets teens take part in hands-on community service projects run by Boston Cares and its nonprofit partners. Volunteers under 18 can join National Days of Service, such as the MLK Day of Service, along with youth-friendly projects listed on the Boston Cares Calendar. Boston Cares says volunteers who finish orientation can choose from roughly 200 projects each month, lasting one to six hours. Hours are recorded in each volunteer's account, which makes it easy to track and print service hours for school. Youth volunteers can also work toward the President's Volunteer Service Award and the Boston Cares Service Champions Award.

Students ages 13 to 17 can set up their own Boston Cares account and sign up for projects on the organization's website; younger children must be registered by a parent/guardian member. Each partner agency sets its own age limits, and every project page shows one minimum age for volunteers who come alone and another for those who bring an adult chaperone. Teens can attend alone when a project allows it, or come with a non-parent chaperone who is a Boston Cares member. New volunteers start by creating an account and attending an online New Volunteer Orientation before signing up. Every volunteer under 18 must bring a signed youth waiver to each project.