Volunteers are engaged in a variety of
activities that help children develop the skills and experience they need to
succeed as adults. Among these are:
- programs that focus on keeping at-risk youth engaged in the education
system through graduation;
- reading programs that help young people develop the basic skills they
will need to succeed in school; and
- economic literacy programs that help young people develop basic
financial knowledge and skills that they will need to run a household.
 The need for programs and volunteers to focus on our young people –
particularly young people from disadvantaged backgrounds – is profound.
President Bush is not alone in the belief that every child can succeed. But
today too few children are realizing their potential. For more information
on the President's mentoring initiative
click here.
Academically, too many young people are under performing: 60 percent of
4th graders from low-income households cannot read at grade level (NAEP,
2000) and ten percent of teens (ages 16-19) drop out of high school (2000 US
Census). And violence is prevalent among our young people: 17 percent of
high school students carry weapons and homicide was the second leading cause
of death for youth, ages 10-24 (National Center for Chronic Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion, 2001).
Volunteers can and do play an important role helping young people achieve
by offering the young people they work with knowledge and skills as well as
hope, that through their own hard work, they can achieve a productive
adulthood. Volunteers can help young people complete school by serving as
caring mentors. Volunteers can help young people learn to read and open the
gateway to a life of learning. And volunteers can help young people develop
basic financial and economic skills and knowledge relating to banking,
savings and investment.
We have put together toolkits for volunteers and organizations on
school
completion,
reading skills, and
financial literacy that include:
- Information on the need for volunteers to make a difference in each
area;
- Tips for volunteers who are interested in making a difference in the
life of a child by taking on a mentoring relationship, teaching reading,
or teaching economic literacy; and
- Tips for organizations such as schools, houses of worship, nonprofits,
and other community-serving institutions that want to create or expand
opportunities for volunteers in their community to make a difference in
these areas.
You can download each of these as a PDF here:
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