Volunteer Ideas by Age
Elementary School
Lemonade Stand—team up with a local bank/business/your parents and have a lemonade stand
in their parking lot/driveway. Ask the bank/business to match the money you raise. Sell
lemonade, water, dog treats, etc.
Build/paint/decorate bird houses, window boxes, flower pots for a Habitat family
Nickels for Nails—collect change in your school or church in order to raise money for building
supplies
Grow flowers in your classroom and then plant them for a Habitat family
Make thank you cards for donors and volunteers
Draw messages or blessings on two-by-fours before the house framing
Make wooden keyholders, picture frames or door stops
Put together a welcome basket for a new Habitat family
Books Build Homes—pledge to read a certain number of books/pages in a set time frame and
have friends and family sponsor you
Create Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia posters for fairs, festivals and other events
Challenge your peers at school to donate money according to their shoe size (size 8 = $8)
Design a bulletin board in your classroom/school/church with facts about poverty, housing,
homelessness and Habitat for Humanity
Speak to your classmates or youth group about the mission of Habitat for Humanity of Northern
Virginia and bring along a representative from Habitat to talk about their work
Gather housewarming items (cleaning supplies, plants, etc) for a new Habitat family
Have a coloring sheet contest…we will post them on our website!
Construct house banks for distribution at churches and schools as a fundraising tool
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Middle School
Hold a can recycling drive and donate the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
Put together a welcome basket for a Habitat family
Paint a wall mural at the ReStore
Advocate: research the affordable housing crisis and write letters to local officials and the white
house. Create posters to educate others about your research. Display your posters, with
permission, in your school and church and we will post them on our website.
Create Habitat NOVA posters for fairs, festivals and other events
Challenge your peers at school to donate money according to their shoe sixe (size 8 = $8)
Design a bulletin board in your school or church with facts about poverty, housing and Habitat
for Humanity of Northern Virginia
Work with your school newspaper to include articles about housing and poverty and Habitat for
Humanity of Northern Virginia
Speak to your classmates or youth group about the mission of Habitat for Humanity and bring
along a representative from habitat to talk about their work
Gather housewarming items for a new Habitat family
Decorate/paint stones for a Habitat family’s garden
Organize a bake sale/craft fair
Nickels for Nails—collect nickels and other change in order to raise money for building supplies
Organize a car wash
Adopt a Day in the ReStore: commit to fill the same shift every month for an extended period of
time
Candy Grams: wrap candy in festive wrapping and set up a table at school where classmates can
make a donation to have a candy gram sent to their friends for the holidays
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High School/College
Hold a can recycling drive and donate the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
Put together a welcome basket for a Habitat family
Paint a wall mural for the ReStore or the Habitat NOVA office
Gingerbread House Competition: can be used as an awareness event or fundraising event. If a
fundraising event—students register to participate, usually 4 students per team. Registration
packets include fundraising information…obtain pledges from family, friends, etc to support
their project as well as judging criteria and suggestions for house decorations. Encourage
creativity. Each house should include a sign with a fact about poverty or housing issues.
Host a Movie Night: show a moving that relates to poverty/housing (The Pursuit of Happyness).
Sell drinks, snacks, popcorn, candy and charge admission.
Organize a flash mob: “Hammer Time”, wear Habitat NOVA t-shirts
Habitat Hero: students donate a dollar to “vote” for a teacher as Habitat Hero. Ask around and
find teachers who want to participate. Set up a voting station in the cafeteria with a jar for each
teacher. Whichever teacher’s jar has the most money at the end of the voting periods, wins. The
teacher then dresses up as “Habitat Hero” for a day…hard hat, tool belt, Habitat shirt, protective
glasses, cape, etc.
Hoops for Habitat: organize a basketball tournament. Students sign up as a team and get
friends and family to sponsor them (can pledge a certain amount of money per point scored).
Teams can make uniforms. Encourage creativity. *you can also do a bowl-a-thon, walk-a-thon,
dance-a-thon, bike-a-thon, Hike for Habitat
Challenge peers at your school to donate money according to their shoe size (size 8 = $8)
Jeopardy Tournament: use Habitat facts, poverty facts, homelessness/housing facts. Sponsors
pledge money for each category.
Design a bulletin board in your school with facts about poverty, housing, homelessness and
Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia
Work with your school newspaper to include articles about Habitat for Humanity of Northern
Virginia and events you are organizing
Speak to your classmates about the mission of Habitat for Humanity and bring along a
representative from Habitat to talk about their work
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Gather housewarming items for a new family
Organize a craft fair—build/paint birdhouses, mailboxes, planters, paving stones, flower pots
Organize a bake sale
Nickels for Nails: collect nickels and other change in order to raise money for building supplies
Organize a car wash
Adopt a Day in the ReStore: commit to fill the same shift every month for an extended period
Host a charity night at a restaurant: many restaurants participate in programs that donate a
certain percentage of the night’s profits to a non-profit
Candy Grams: wrap candy in festive wrapping paper and set up a table at school where
classmates can make a donation to have a candy gram sent to their friends for the holiday
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