With a decreased number of volunteer opportunities for teens in San Francisco due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lick-Wilmerding students are wondering how they can get involved and fulfill their Public Purpose Program requirements.
During the pandemic, some students don’t feel comfortable with in-person volunteering and would prefer to stay online; others are trying to find organizations that are accepting high school volunteers.
Alan Wesson Suárez, the Director of the Public Purpose Program (PPP) at LWHS, assures, “There’s no pressure at all, not in the slightest, to do something that you don’t feel safe doing. The pandemic is real. We’ve been trying to do our best to meet kids wherever they are.”
Wesson Suárez says that this year hundreds of more volunteer opportunities than usual have opened up, which allow people to really make an impact both online and in person. Wesson Suárez highly suggests volunteering for food banks, a simple but necessary job during the pandemic. Although some food banks are not accepting high school volunteers during the pandemic, the SF Marin Food Bank, Second Harvest and many others in the San Francisco Bay Area are.
Wesson Suárez says that he has been impressed by the number of online opportunities that have opened up. “With school districts trying to catch up and make sure that more families have internet access, there are more opportunities than ever to connect with kids and play a positive part in making sure they don’t fall too far behind,” he said. He suggests looking into tutoring, reading buddy programs and other online opportunities — this work is important and many similar possibilities have opened up during the pandemic.
Sophomores can also earn up to 10 volunteer hours at LWHS itself. For example, LWHS’ peer tutoring program is a great way to get hours.
A good way to find volunteer opportunities is to look closely in the eTiger; students and faculty members are constantly posting new ways to get involved. Sophomores can also find opportunities by looking at the Center Blog, which frequently posts about organizations looking for teen volunteers.
“PPP has always aimed to be something that’s responsive to the students’ wants and needs in conjunction with what the community wants and needs,” Wesson Suárez said. “I just want to encourage all students, not just sophomores, to really be creative and imagine what their PPP experience could look like. I think especially now, more than ever, this school year, students should try something new and different. Innovation is the word of the year for PPP.”
