Problem finding job that will take kids

[ejsteg]

I have been trying since the promotion started to get a volunteer assignment that will allow me, my husband, and kids (10 & 12) to volunteer. The assignments list that they will take children (minimum age 6) however when I sign up for it they tell me that their organizations require that children be at least 15 and that Disney is the one who said they had to be at least 6.
I live in a big city area and was just wondering if anyone else has had difficultly with this. Last time I checked we had 15 pages of choices but none are willing to allow us to go with the kids.

 

[mje67]

We volunteered at a homeless shelter with the kids but I do know that they had to take their name off the list of possible volunteer sites almost immediately after the program started b/c they were inundated with help and could not keep up with it all. Maybe that is the problem

 

[Cheshire Figment]

According to the FAQ, a child at least six years old may register, but it is still the organization's requirements that control. So if the organization will not allow a person under 12, for example, to be a volunteer they probably have a reason for the age cutoff. It may be a safety or legal issue, depending on where the work needs to be done and what the work is.

 

[CTmommyx3]

I had a hard time too. But I finally found something for us all. The kids and us had to make posters making everyone aware of hunger, poverty and caring for the earth,. we all had a blast doing it. the only hard part we had was getting somewhere to let us put it up. Places are funny with it I guess. It took a few places but we got them all up

 

[mmmears]

I have been trying since the promotion started to get a volunteer assignment that will allow me, my husband, and kids (10 & 12) to volunteer. The assignments list that they will take children (minimum age 6) however when I sign up for it they tell me that their organizations require that children be at least 15 and that Disney is the one who said they had to be at least 6.
I live in a big city area and was just wondering if anyone else has had difficultly with this. Last time I checked we had 15 pages of choices but none are willing to allow us to go with the kids.

I'm having the same problem and I have a 12 year old. You would think that with kids 10 and older this wouldn't be such a problem. We may just give up trying to find something...

 

[Cibahwewah]

There is no volunteer opportunities for kids in our area either. Unless we wanted to drive 50 miles to clean up a park. We are just going to do our service opportunity without the kids. I do think they would enjoy volunteering, as my DS likes to give his chore money to the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots at Christmastime, etc....

 

[lenshanem]

I had a hard time, too. I finally found one that is delivering water bottles at a homeless shelter.

 

[la79al]

I had to go on and look a few different times and contacted 3 different organizations before I finally found one that responded back and would let our 8 year old come help. I emailed them and they are letting us bring our almost 2 year old along to 'help' too, even though they did make sure to mention that their area gets chilly (we will be outside) in February. Of course, we have to drive 35 miles but I'm really hoping it works out. I was disappointed at first too and ready to send DH and DSS out to volunteer without us.

 

[auroraarielella]

I had the same problem. An organization said in the paragraph description that families of all ages welcome. But at the "top" it said mininum age 15. So, I talked to the organization, they said the children were fine, but the computer will not accept my children under 15. I just moved on to a different activity. There's no arguing with a computer.

Here's a suggestion - Look for Alex's Lemonade Stand. The organization address is 50 miles from my house, so I really had to read a lot, but they mail a package, you do the lemonade stand, and mail them an envelope. No driving involved. And it says at the "top" minimum age 6. So the computer won't balk at the kids ages.

 

[HoustonDan]

I had the same problem finding opportunities that would allow kids - mine are 9 and 7. I finally found a listing for Project Linus in San Antonio, which is about 4 hours from us. The activity is making blankets to be given to sick children in the hospital. After I signed up, the lady who replied (Ann) was very helpful and allowed us to mail our blankets to her. The deadline is Feb. 20, so you might want to check it out quick. We were required to make 2 blankets for each person signed up, but they were very easy to do. Both my kids were able to fully help with the entire project.

We sent ours today, so now we just have to wait.........

 

[marcielm]

I too am in a large area (Houston as well) and I found Project Linus to be one the kids can do. I'm also mailing to SA (our traveling buddies live there, so I may ship to her, and let her deliver, or mail directly to Ann).

It was very frustrating to see my kids couldn't even do stuff at the animal shelters & such. I really wanted them to "work", but I am happy I found something they could do!

 

[Anal Annie]

We live near DC so I thought there would be more available for younger kids too but not so. Most were 15+. I finally got us into a food bank for next Wed. evening. As an added bonus they offer SSL hours so DS12 can get credit for school too. I spoke to the lady in charge on the phone & she said they have been swamped with requests for the GAD program. We were lucky to get a slot in February. Our trip is in March and I was worried we'd not get in as they only do the food bank once a month. There were a couple of other opportunities listed but they were outside & it's winter (gardening & barnyard cleaning).

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

When I originally checked first of January, there was only one opp in our area that allowed children. About a month later, we do have a few options that my DD8 can participate in - we are going to be donating food/supplies to the Ronald McDonald House in our area, and then spend the afternoon baking and lighthousekeeping/yard maintenance.

Maybe something will pop up - good luck!

 

[CarKey]

Check back often. As the idea takes off many charities are being added to the list. Originally we were going to do something without the kids but then one day I checked and a neighboring town's food pantry was added to the list. All we have to do is hold a mini food drive. We need to collect canned goods and household items so that each person participating has enough to fill two grocery sacks. There are ten of us going however so it's going to be a rather large mini food drive!

 

[DisneyNeophite]

I have to agree with posters who suggested Project Linus.

We did our blankets and all my kids are under 12. Right now Project Linus is sending thousands of blankets to Haiti, so I sent my blankets with a check to help with shipping.

Hope you find something available

 

[december]

We did a book drive for the USO, and mailed our books this week. I got an email from the organizer that she had verified us the next day. I just had to email her a copy of the documentation from the post office and the custom forms, along with pics of us working on the project. I didn't have to wait for the books to make it to Qatar!

There was nothing within an hour of me at all, and the ones an hour away were for 15 and up. My kids are 12 and 10 (plus a 9 month old) and my nephew is 7. I learned about Storytime from the Front Lines on another site. You can find it by searching Norman, IL. There are several others that pop up in that search that can be mailed in, and children can participate (Project Linus, Haiti Care Kits).

You collect 6-8 children's books per person, from an approved list. The books can be new or "gently" used. I teach, and asked my students and coworkers for donations, plus purchased new books. We ended up with 69 books. It cost $40 to mail them all to Qatar. The USO will bring in service men and women and record them reading a book, then send the book and dvd to their kids. I get chill bumps just thinking about it!

There are 5 of us going (plus the baby), so 5 days of fps, plus the thought of 69 kids getting to hear a bedtime story from mom and dad whenever they pop in a dvd!