Service Projects

Service Project Ideas Web Resources

Service Project Ideas

• Mentor for Big Brother/Big Sister
• Coordinate "Senior Home Repair" projects
• Gather donations to a food bank
• Make ramps for those confined to wheelchairs
• Serve at a soup kitchen for the poor
• Tutor at a kids club
• Read for the blind
• Read to the aged in an assisted living setting
• Record life history stories of the elderly
• Record stories of war veterans
• Garden for poor families
• Construct/Maintain a hiking trail
• Produce a public service announcement
• Build benches and tables for public parks
• Collect clothing for the homeless
• Raise funds for new books in a public library
• Cleanup a local public park or facility
• Collect Resources for a women's shelter
• Protect a pond or a feature of the local natural environment
• Mentor ESL students
• Collect recyclable items
• Tutor students in lower grades in reading
• Interview a senior citizen
• Organize a dance for special education students
• Organize CPR training for students
• Organize community reading labs
• Organize and participate in a neighborhood watch program
• Provide an information packet for new residents of a community
• Create an informational brochure for ESL students
• Assist a religious organization (other than your own) in community involvement
• Create and maintain a community bulletin board, newsletter, or website
• Assist a political candidate in an election
• Create financial planning brochures for high school students
• Volunteer time to those on Social Security Disability
• Design a float for a service organization for a parade
• Create a mural for a community reflecting its values
• Design a presentation on pesticides and the environment for younger students
• Create a children's book on a local event or person
• Create coloring books for abused children
• Develop and distribute a pamphlet on child labor laws
• Make quilts for the homeless
• Provide entertainment for nursing home residents
• Tutor immigrants in preparation for the Citizenship Test
• Provide free computer instruction in a library or school lab
• Coach physically disabled students in a team sport
• Participate in a local Habitat for Humanity home construction project
• Befriend a student struggling with mental illness
• Sing and play games with children suffering from
• HIV/AIDS Volunteer to babysit for economically disadvantaged parents
• Plan a community garden
• Volunteer to help with the special Olympics
• Organize a read-a-thon for your neighborhood
• Create and perform a puppet show for children in a crisis center
• Arrange for a bakery to donate day old bread to a homeless shelter
• Design greeting cards for the elderly
• Care for a local cemetery
• Produce public service announcements
• Paint and place trash receptacles for a park or recreation area
• Start a letter writing campaign about a community issue
• Participate in a walkathon for a worthy cause
• Join an Interact Club at Rotary Clubs International
• Work on projects with Americorps
• Participate in Peer Youth Courts
• Become involved in Youth Engaged in Homeland Security - Dept. of Public Safety
• Involvement in 4-H
• Involvement in Boy Scouts of America
• Clean up neighbor's yards around a school
• Clean up the school yard by classes
• Shovel snow for the elderly and needy in your neighborhood
• Work on the local city council
• Read with younger children
• Making hats for the poor
• Do a book-a-thon collecting used books to reuse
• Take Christmas blankets out to the needy in your neighborhood as a field trip
• Push in carts at a local store during thanksgiving and Christmas rush times
• Take dinner to the poor and needy at Christmas and thanksgiving
• Pen pal with the aged in retirement centers
• Take Christmas stockings to the police and firemen in your town
• Send thank-you notes to the PTA

Web Resources

National Youth Leadership Council
This organization has published a variety of materials to support different aspects of Service Learning.
Volunteer Match
This site does not have curriculum ties or project ideas, but it provides information for organizations who frequently work with volunteers and might be willing to partner with a school on a project you design.

Award-winning Projects in Maryland
Includes their state curriculum standards and project descriptions.
Twenty-five Days to Make a Difference
A child's ongoing blog where she recognizes others efforts and describes "little things" she does every day to make a difference in the lives of others. Created to honor her grandfather in December of 2007, it has grown considerably since.
Good Character
This web site has a variety of resources. The link is direct to a collection of examples. There were good ideas - some with clear curriculum connections, others stretching a bit.
Learn and Serve: America's National Service-learning Clearinghouse
This web site was not as easy to use as some of the others, but there are over 350 curriculum-tied examples for K-12 service-learning projects.