Many students know that colleges look for community service hours when considering an applicant. But did you know that colleges increasingly look for students who've demonstrated a commitment to completing their community service hours at the same site over a long period of time?
But what if I don't want to do the same thing over and over again?
There are many service opportunities throughout the DC area that allow students to volunteer in many capacities at the same site. Students can gain experience in many different areas while still demonstrating to colleges that they are capable of making long-term commitments to a community organization. TMA's Community Service Guide will feature these organizations throughout the school year. (To find them, click on the
long-term volunteering tab on the upper left hand side of the page).
DC Central Kitchen is one site that gives volunteers several programs to choose from!
DC Central Kitchen turns leftover food into millions
of meals for thousands of at-risk individuals while offering nationally
recognized culinary job training to once homeless and hungry adults.
Their mission is to
use food as a tool to strengthen
bodies, empower minds, and build communities.
They provide
breakfast, outreach, and counseling services to chronically homeless people living on the streets
, recycle 3,000 pounds of food each day, converting it into
4,500 meals
distributed to 100 shelters, transitional homes, and rehabilitation
clinics throughout the DC area. These partner agencies then refer
clients to DC Central Kitchen's Culinary Job Training program, where they receive the
tools to start new careers.
They also employ their graduates in their full-service
catering company or
by placing them in full-time jobs at restaurants and hotels throughout
the region. Today, DC Central Kitchen are expanding their operations, partnering with
local farmers to procure fresh produce and begin new
revenue-generating social enterprises.
DC Central Kitchen provides several different ways for volunteers to get
meaningfully engaged in their work to combat hunger and create
opportunity.
To see DC Central Kitchen's many volunteer opportunities, click on this link:
http://www.dccentralkitchen.org/volunteer/
The article also contains a short list of scholarships that reward students for their community service, so if there are any seniors out there looking for more money to pay for college, check out this article and the more comprehensive list on the Fastweb database!
