There is nothing quite like the feeling of going out of your way to give back to your community.
Volunteering is something that everyone should experience, and hopefully want to experience in their lives. It fulfills you in a way that nothing else can, through giving back to those who may not have the same time or resources that you do.
Further, with the end of the semester approaching, many students in the National Honor Society are searching for volunteering opportunities to supply their community service hours needed.
With that being said, there are opportunities everywhere, including our school community.
A great place to start is the Interact club. “We provide service opportunities for students, and we do different drives to support our community and other communities,” said Cailin O’Leary, one of the co-leaders of the club.
Along with hosting drives to distribute goods or items that may be needed, Interact club, advised by Molly Cheney, partners with the Shoreline Rotary Club, a community service organization for adults in Shoreline. While the majority of the volunteering is done outside of school, sometimes simply attending the meetings can get you community service hours.
While you can participate in these volunteer opportunities regardless of whether you’re in Interact club or not, joining the club is a great way to support them. You can do this through messaging their Instagram (@swinteractclub), or attending one of the meetings, which are hosted every other Thursday in Ms. Cheney’s room, room 1111.
If you’re into crafts, another club that gives back to the community is Crafting Smiles.
There’s nothing like a handmade gift, and that’s exactly what this club does; they crochet projects and make cards to donate to local shelters, or sell, to raise money for causes. Similar to Interact club, you can get service hours through the club.
“We’ll sell flowers, keychains, and bags, and then we’ll donate that money that we raise,” said co-leader of Crafting Smiles, senior Vanessa Filipi.
Last year, the club donated to the World Wildlife Fund, an international organization for wildlife conservation.
“We pick a charity that kind of coincides with what’s going on–last year, [the government] passed an environmental bill,” said Filipi.
In response to the legislation passed earlier in 2025 reducing SNAP benefits, Filipi said, “This year, our fundraiser is going to the food bank in Shoreline…It’s just kind of what people may need at the time.”
From complete beginners to experienced crocheters, all are welcome at this club. Yarn, crochet hooks, and all supplies, as well as help with how to crochet, are provided.
If you have more of an academic passion to share, you can always become a tutor to help students who need it, both within Shorewood and outside of it.
For students in the National Honor Society looking to give their services, the option to sign up to tutor students in the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays is typically available, as well as signing up to visit Einstein Middle School after school and tutor sixth through eighth graders. To see more information on both of those, you can visit the National Honor Society’s ‘Tutoring’ section on the Shorewood website.
Canopy Scholars is another local organization where many Shorewood students volunteer. There are options to tutor elementary or middle school students, which requires an application, as well as volunteering for fundraising events or projects.
If this seems like something you would want to do, you can visit their website (https://canopyscholars.org/) to read more about it.
All of this goes to show you that volunteering is right at your fingertips. Whether it is donating needed items or providing a needed service, opportunities surround us.
