Parents
The Benefits Are Endless
Curious about why your child should volunteer? Wondering how to help your teen start volunteering? Here are just a few great reasons:
Skills Development: Volunteering helps them develop essential life skills like leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.
Personal Growth: They’ll gain confidence, resilience, and empathy, along with a better understanding of themselves and others and what they are capable of.
Social Connections: They’ll make friends and build a support network that helps them navigate challenges and setbacks with resilience.
Mental and Physical Health: Research links volunteering to lower stress, anxiety, and depression, along with higher life satisfaction and well-being. Our projects help reduce screen time and increase physical activity.
Stand Out on Applications: Volunteering experience and references makes youth shine on scholarship and post-secondary applications.
How It Works
Create a Volunteer Profile: Your child creates a profile in our database. You will need to sign a Consent Form.
Get Approved: Once you’ve submitted everything, it’ll take up to two business days to review and approve the application. Your child will be notified by email when they are approved.
Sign up: Once their profile is approved, they can sign up for volunteer projects that fit their personal interests and schedules.
Review Details: Two business days after signing up, those projects will show up on your child’s Assignments tab. They should review all the information. They are responsible for figuring out how to arrive at the project location on time.
Confirmation: A Youth Central staffer called a Team Leader will email your child five days prior to the start of the project date with all the details.
Volunteering: They volunteer and have fun! A Youth Central staff member is onsite throughout the project to help supervise. At the beginning and end of the project, they’ll facilitate activities that get event the shyest volunteers engaged and learning.
Cancellations: If unable to attend a project, volunteers must contact us at least 72 hours before the project start time to avoid a no-show on their profile. To cancel, youth should reach out to their Team Leader, or call 403-266-5448 or email info@youthcentral.com. Learn more in our Volunteer Code of Conduct.
Frequently Asked Questions
How will you keep them safe while they volunteer?
Organizations and parents can sometimes hesitate to involve youth volunteers because of the perceived risks. We address this by vetting projects for suitability and safety and by having a trained and first-aid certified Youth Central staff member manage risks and supervise the youth onsite while they volunteer.
My child has a disability can you accommodate them?
We want all youth in Calgary to benefit from volunteering. We’d love to work with you to figure out which opportunities are the right fit, and to put a plan together to include your child in our programs in a positive and safe way. Just email info@youthcentral.com.
Can a parent sign up on behalf of their child?
Yes, you can register your child as a volunteer with us. It is up to you whether you use your email or your child’s email address as the primary contact. We encourage youth to use their own email address to build accountability and make it easier for staff to reach them directly in the event of a project update.
My child is shy and quiet. I am / they are worried they may not fit in.
We want everyone to feel welcome. All our programs include youth with all different types of personalities. Our model ensures that there is always a trained staff member present to facilitate discussions and encourage engagement so everyone participates and feels comfortable. In program evaluations, youth often comment that the safe space created by staff helped them build confidence and overcome shyness.
Is my child signed up for a volunteer project?
Have your child login to their volunteer profile and select the “Schedule” tab. There, you can see all the volunteer projects they’re signed up for along with details on location, timing and any other special instructions.
My child needs a volunteer t-shirt. How do they get one?
The easiest way is for your child to ask their Team Leader when the Team Leader reaches out five days before the project. You can also pick up a shirt at the Youth Central office during office hours.
How does my child cancel on a project?
To cancel, youth should reach out to their Team Leader, or call 403-266-5448 or email info@youthcentral.com. If they do not provide 72 hours’ notice, a no-show will be recorded on their file.
What is a no-show?
A no-show occurs when a youth signs up for a project and doesn’t provide 72 hours’ notice of cancellation with a valid excuse.
No-shows impact other project members, our partners, and youth who could have participated in their place. We monitor no-shows to help youth learn responsibility and time management, ensuring they understand the importance of commitment.
Too many no-shows can result in being denied reference letters or having your account suspended. See our Volunteer Code of Conduct for more detail.
What Folks Are Saying