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With homework, sports, hobbies, family, and friends, who has time for community service? These students do - because they make time. When you connect with a project you enjoy, and work with a team of volunteers, it's easy, they say. Get inspired ...

Jennifer Hou (pictured, far right), 16, visits family in China almost every summer - but she'd never visited a place like Qian Huo Ling, a village in the Beijing area.

The mountain setting was beautiful, but the houses weren't very nice, she admits. "Some of them looked like little shacks. It's the poorest place in Beijing, but compared to a lot of other places, it's better," says Jennifer, a junior at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest (Demarest, NJ).

Part of the reason it's better, she says, is Heifer, an international organization that helps impoverished communities by giving them animals (such as pigs, heifers, and sheep) that can provide food and income. Recipients "share the gift" by giving some of their animals' young to others in need.

"I was just really interested, and wondered, 'Why didn't I think of that?'" says Jennifer. Later on her vacation, she saw a woman making bead jewelry at a market. It gave her an idea for a way to help Heifer, and Giving Beads was born.

A nonprofit organization founded by Jennifer and run by her and her family, Giving Beads informs people about Heifer and its mission. When people donate to Heifer through Giving Beads, they receive a gift of bead jewelry that Jennifer makes in her free time. "We're giving people beads, but we're also giving the people in Heifer beads of hope," she says.

When Anthony Leanna (pictured, near right) visited his grandmother, who was in the hospital with breast cancer, he decided to help cancer patients who were losing their hair because of treatments. Anthony, then 10, placed collection buckets outside neighborhood stores so people could donate hats for the patients.

"I collected about 200 hats at that time," says Anthony, now 14. With the help of his family, he donated his collection to cancer patients in local hospitals.

The buckets stayed out just a few months, but the project Anthony started - Heavenly Hats - has been going strong ever since. "People just started donating them - bigger and bigger companies, and more and more individuals," says the Bay Port High School (Green Bay, WI) freshman who plays football, wrestles, and runs track.

Currently, Heavenly Hats has about 100,000 hats in storage. Anthony, his mother, and other volunteers mail the hats to hospitals monthly, and respond to individual requests as they arrive. "We distribute the hats to 150 different hospitals and clinics around the world," Anthony says.

Though he's received awards for his work - including one from President George W. Bush, and one on "Good Morning America" - that's not what keeps Anthony dedicated to helping cancer patients. "All the letters I get, the thank--yous, the reactions on their faces - that's what keeps me going," he says.

Christina Paet and Hoda Abou--Ziab both 18, wanted to work with kids and serve their community. Brainstorming led them to create ABC 123 at Aliso Niguel High School (Aliso Viejo, CA), pairing high school volunteers with younger students who need tutoring.

Tutors, who volunteer at a local YMCA or the public library, don't specialize in particular subject areas. "Everybody does everything," says Christina.

As club co--presidents, Hoda and Christina coordinated schedules with staff at the library and the Y, and kept track of club members' tutoring hours.

Last year, the pair appointed a president, but they're keeping tabs on the club even now that Hoda is a pre--med psychology major at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Christina is a biomedical major at the University of California, San Diego.

ABC 123 works because the younger kids look up to their high school tutors, the teens explain. "As tutors, we were able to emphasize reading and doing homework," says Hoda. "The kids hurried to do that so they could play with you."

"We wanted people to work one--on--one, and make a difference," adds Christina. "We never imagined it would get this big."

After his mother died, Matt Morton found support among his high school teachers and track and cross--country coach. When he was 15, one of his teachers helped him connect with a group of teens who wanted to open and run a teen center in their community. "At that point I was a really quiet kid," says Matt, now 21, "but I was really inspired."

Together, Matt and the other teens raised $195,000 to open the teen center, which serves about 1,500 people. Then, along with another group of volunteers, Matt solicited a $660,000 grant to build four other youth--run teen centers.

After enrolling at Stetson University (DeLand, FL), where he's currently a senior and captain of the cross--country team, Matt worked with the administration to open a youth--run teen center in a community where the average income is less than $13,000 a year.

The last two summers, Matt has taken his knowledge and experience to Guatemala, and helped teens in a rural village start their own youth empowerment program. But he doesn't want all the credit for these successful projects.

"I've never done one of them alone - never could have," says Matt, who is vice chair of the National Network for Youth's National Council on Youth Policy. "It's very important to me to build good teams and relationships with people who share a vision. All I'm interested in is that the program is there."

Lena Yuen first visited the Ken Crest Kensington Preschool Center as part of an assignment for a class at the University of the Sciences (Philadelphia, PA), where she graduated last May. Lena, 23, and other students, helped build a new playground structure and worked with the preschoolers to create a school garden.

When the semester ended, Lena and classmate Tina Bhatt embarked on an independent study project, designing a universal sports net, writing grants for funding to create garden stepping stones, and encouraging the preschoolers to help create the garden of their dreams. With the kids' involvement, Lena explains, "We had more ideas, more help, more hands."

Now an occupational therapist (OT) for a Philadelphia hospital, Lena notes that many schools' staffs include OTs, who help people find alternative ways to participate in favorite activities that have become difficult for them.

She admits feeling more emotionally involved with this project than with other school assignments. "Being attached to the preschool in that way - knowing you're going to be able to contribute to the community - I definitely think community service is important."

Service is even more important now that she's working full time, she says. Many therapists burn out as they strive to serve their clients. But community projects allow Lena to stay excited about her work.

"I can look outside of work for new projects," she says, "taking my OT skills and providing that service at the same time."

A member of the Carmel Clay Public Library Teen Volunteer Corps (Carmel, IN) who offered computer tutoring for adults, Daniel Kent (pictured, bottom) had a brainstorm when he was in the eighth grade.

One of his "students" mentioned that a neighbor in his retirement home couldn't come to the library for tutoring because he was in a wheelchair. "I really felt bad," says Daniel, 17. "His friend should not be denied the opportunity to learn just because he cannot get out."

So the current Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (Carmel, IN) junior searched for an organization he could volunteer with - one that would take computer tutoring into retirement homes. When he found no such group, he decided to start one himself.

Now, Senior Connects refurbishes donated used computers and gives them to retirement homes. The organization also offers computer instruction to seniors.

Thanks to Senior Connects, about 11,000 seniors in 70 retirement homes across Indiana now have computer access. And the organization is growing, establishing computer labs in low--income neighborhoods. About 150 teen volunteers work under the umbrella of Net Literacy, the organization that includes all of Daniel's efforts.

"I would love for it to grow globally so individuals all over the world could have the opportunity to learn and communicate via computers and the Internet," he says."It's just a great team effort. One person can make a difference, but together we can change the world."



Jackie A. Bondanza is a former writer for The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school that's right for you.

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