Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads – Volunteer Opportunities

One of the most common questions I get is…. where can local youth VOLUNTEER in Hampton Roads? It’s a great question, and while I am often able to track down a few ideas, until now there hasn’t been an easy answer.

When I heard that Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads, a youth service program that has been operating on the Virginia Peninsula for years, was expanding into South Hampton Roads – I knew I finally had an answer to where youth can volunteer in our local community.

Scroll down to learn more about Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads, and find upcoming volunteer opportunities for youth in grades 6-12. Together with Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads, we are making a plan to post regular updates of upcoming opportunities for youth to volunteer throughout the Hampton Roads community.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities for Youth in Hampton Roads, Virginia – March/April/May 2024:

From Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads (YVCHR) Executive Director Katie Morgan:

At Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads (YVCHR), we believe that youth discover the best in themselves while serving others! Since 2009, YVCHR has been activating young people (ages 11-18) in meaningful service to the community. Middle and high school students can sign up for volunteer opportunities throughout the year, all of which are supervised and facilitated by YVCHR Team Leaders.

These service projects are designed to connect youth to a broader network of peers and professionals, provide hands-on experiences in a variety of settings, increase their understanding of community needs, and help build empathy and perspective around social issues. We embrace a group-based approach, where teamwork, effective communication, and problem-solving skills are emphasized. YVCHR tracks participants’ hours and maintains a record of service for each youth volunteer until they graduate from high school.

By collaborating with nonprofit organizations, community agencies, and schools from across Hampton Roads, YVCHR exposes youth to both the “heart work” and the “hard work” of volunteerism—crafting with residents in convalescent care, feeding meals to the hungry, playing bingo with veterans, and bowling with Special Olympians, as well as building beds for children in need, working in community gardens, and providing maintenance and beautification efforts at local parks and trails. It is our mission to help youth develop a lifetime commitment to service!

YVCHR hosts projects on evenings and weekends during the school year–all of which are free. Interested youth between the ages of 11 – 18 must first create a volunteer profile (which includes an electronic participation waiver) by clicking here: https://ydat.org/site/HamptonRoads. Once the account is set up in YDAT, youth can access our list of upcoming projects, register for volunteer activities and track their service hours. Our Project Calendar is also available on our website.

Summer of Service is our only fee-based program and runs from June through early August, with camp sessions offered on a weekly basis. Registration takes place each spring.