The fall volunteering season has begun!
Learn how you can get involved with planting trees in your community, sprucing up your local schools, or celebrating National Pro Bono Week by volunteering to help someone in need.
"Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth" - Muhammad Ali
NYC Service News
Thanks to the One in a Million Volunteers!
This month we celebrated MillionTreesNYC with one of the biggest planting weekends of the year. On October 22nd and 23rd, thousands of volunteers helped to plant over 20,000 trees at sites in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. Want to help us reach our goal of planting 1 million new trees throughout NYC? Visit the MillionTrees website to find out how to become part of the team!
New York Cares Day
On Saturday, October 15th, over 7,000 New Yorkers volunteered throughout the city to help spruce up more than 100 New York City public schools. Volunteers painted school hallways, classrooms, and murals, organized libraries and storage areas, and revitalized playgrounds. Visit New York Cares for more information on how you can volunteer to help in the effort to better our public schools!
Get involved in Service! Here are some great ways to volunteer this fall:
Love Your Block
Love your block? Show it! Citizens Committee for New York City and NYC Service invite your volunteer-led neighborhood group to apply for a Love Your Block grant award. Grants of $500 to $1,000 are awarded for block improvements, and can be used toward various neighborhood renovations such as cleaning vacant lots, planting trees in empty tree beds, and removing graffiti. With your help, we can transform our city - block by block! Applications are due November 8th. Download your application now!
Help Scholars Achieve!
Achievement First is looking for energetic, committed people to serve as tutors for their Saturday Academic Tutoring Program. Their program is an intensive intervention program aimed at helping under-performing elementary, middle, and high school students master fundamental math and reading skills. Tutoring sessions take place on the first three Saturdays of the month. Become a mentor
CPR To Go!
Receive free bystander training in basic CPR at select FDNY locations across the five boroughs! Participants receive a free, week-long pass to New York Sports Club, a CPR training kit, including DVD. Pledge to give back by sharing your kit and knowledge with five more people. Space is limited - Sign up today
National Pro Bono Week
National Pro Bono Week was October 23rd through October 29th. There are still opportunities to volunteer with an NYC Service Legal Services partner. There are a variety of programs for attorneys, law students, and volunteers interested in advocacy work:
- CUNY Citizenship Now Volunteer Corps
Assist in staffing Citizenship Now events! Volunteers are needed to work one-on-one with applicants at events throughout the five boroughs, helping them complete their applications for naturalization. Join the Corps
- Become a RAP Volunteer
The Resolution Assistance Program (RAP) volunteers assist unrepresented tenants and owners/landlords who are appearing in the Resolution Part of Housing Court. The goal of RAP is to help litigants who do not have an attorney to have a productive court experience through an offering of non-legal support. RSVP here
- CLARO Volunteers Needed!
CLARO, the Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office, is a free, weekly walk-in clinic at Kings County Civil Court where consumers can obtain free advice and information about debt collection. Volunteer attorneys from a wide range of legal backgrounds are needed to help to advise self-represented litigants about the debt collection process and civil court proceedings. Volunteer here