The new Ontario secondary school requirement for student Community Involvement means that the voluntary sector could see an influx of up to 700,000 students requesting placements over the next four years. This can create potential opportunities as well as challenges.
Students can provide the sector with much needed energy, new ideas, and much, much more.
It is also widely recognized that if a young person has a positive volunteering experience, he or she is likely to volunteer again later in life. Conversely a negative volunteering experience can turn a young person off of volunteering for the rest of their lives. This section is designed to help voluntary sector organizations develop programs that involve youth volunteers, providing them with a positive introduction to volunteering and to contributing to their communities. It includes links to useful web sites, books and articles, project ideas for involving students in programs, ideas on how to get involved with schools and school boards, liability and insurance issues, and discussion lists. This area provides links to resources which can help organizations run their programs more efficiently and effectively.