As the school enters the fourth quarter, many students have begun to realize the importance of volunteer hours. While volunteer hours are not required to graduate, they are an excellent way to strengthen and personalize college applications. In addition to this, volunteers are often desperately needed by various charities and nonprofits that give back to the community. When choosing volunteer locations, reflecting on personal interests is important because volunteering  allows colleges to know your interests, hobbies or areas of expertise. The Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (MoCA Arlington), Phoenix Bikes and Lucky Dog Animal Rescue are three interesting organizations that take student volunteers. 

MoCA Arlington is Arlington’s only art museum. It works with contemporary artists to spread a love for art throughout the community. MoCA Arlington has a variety of programs, including the Artist in Residence Program, the Education Program and the Public Program. 

Lia Ferro was born and raised in Arlington and became the position of Education Program Manager at MoCA Arlington after running art enrichment programs at various local schools. She began teaching with the museum about six years ago and was soon promoted  to an administrative position. She is seeking volunteers to help teach children’s classes at MoCA Arlington. Apart from the minimum 14-year age requirement, Ferro talked about other qualities she would look for in a volunteer.

“For my program specifically… It helps if you have experience working with younger kids,” said Ferro. “We are an arts organization, so it helps if folks are interested in art. It’s a great starting point for folks who perhaps want to be an art teacher in the future or go into studio arts.”

Ferro also emphasized the need for volunteers for upcoming events and educational classes. Several volunteering opportunities occur throughout April and May after school or on Sundays. Some classes are scheduled to take place during senior experience and are a good way to get involved with the community. Ferro spoke about what volunteering would look like for MoCA Arlington.

“So again, it depends on the program,” said Ferro. “If you’re volunteering to help in the classroom spaces, you’d be working directly with the kids and our art instructors. For the other programs that I mentioned, it sort of varies, but you know, helping with wayfinding… maybe assisting with our activities, helping set up or break down programs, that sort of thing.”

To summarize, MoCA Arlington is looking for volunteers to help run children’s classes and general events to spread art throughout the community. MoCA Arlington has a wide range of volunteering opportunities that would help build skills in education, management and expose students to art

Another unique volunteering location is Phoenix Bikes. Phoenix Bikes is a sustainable organization that fixes old donated bikes and recycles them back throughout the community. Phoenix Bikes offers several volunteer opportunities for students 18 and under and teaches its volunteers basic mechanics and values learning, leadership and a passion for bikes. The Education Program Manager at Phoenix Bikes is Kyle Knutson.

Knutson is a former science teacher who transitioned into working at Phoenix Bikes when he moved to the Arlington area from Salt Lake City, Utah. He is passionate about biking and interested in sustainable transportation and environmentalism. Knutson portrayed Phoenix Bikes as very appealing to students for many reasons, particularly because of the creative and unbounded environment that it provides.

“The appeal to me, I would say, is that it is a break or relief from school,” said Knutson. “A lot of times I feel like [students] are in engineering or STEM class and [they] just have to do so much, whereas, here, you really just get to work on your problem-solving skills. It’s the kind of environment in which if you do something correctly, it’s going to work out, and if something is incorrect, you’re going to have to figure out what you need to do to fix it. It’s almost like a puzzle and it’s really fun that way.”

Knutson highlighted two other volunteering features at Phoenix Bikes. Firstly, volunteers can participate in the Earn-A-Bike program. This program allows volunteers to work towards earning both a refurbished bike for themselves and one to go to someone in need. Secondly, volunteers will be taught basic bike mechanics as a part of their volunteering program which allows volunteers to participate in Earn-A-Bike.

“To start out, volunteers are going to be asked to attend our orientations which are on Wednesday nights from five to six,” said Knutson. “We just give them the lowdown on what to expect in Phoenix and a little bit of information on our Earn-A-Bike program which is a part of our volunteering opportunities. From there we teach you what we call the ABCs [air systems, brake systems and chain systems]… Once you have learned the skills and you have been checked off by a supervisor or adult then you can grab a Give-A-Bike and that is when you use all the skills that you have learned to fix up that bike to go to a community member. From there, you get to pick out your own bike and repeat the process again and keep that one.”

Overall, Phoenix Bikes offers a local volunteering opportunity for mechanical knowledge in addition to giving back to the community in a very positive way. It allows students who are interested in STEM or engineering to set pressure-free goals while also expressing their interest in these areas on college applications.

Another organization is Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. Lucky Dog is an animal shelter that saves dogs and cats from high-kill shelters across the rural South. It is a fully foster-based animal shelter that is looking for volunteers over 16 to participate in adoption events or help in other ways to get the foster animals adopted. The Program Manager for Volunteers at Lucky Dog is Ali Porter.

Porter transitioned to working at Lucky Dog two years ago after working in Fairfax County as a special education teacher for 20 years. She had been working as a volunteer for Lucky Dog for about eight years and loved it so much that she decided to take on a leadership role. Porter is very passionate about her job for many reasons.

“My favorite part of the job is transports–when we actually bring the dogs off the van from the [high kill] shelter… and we get to see them and all the hard work that we have done to get them here,” said Porter. “You finally get to actually see them and pet them and love them and you know that they’re safe because of how hard you worked.”

The main events at Lucky Dog that volunteers are needed for are adoption conventions. They are typically held outside and are made up of many foster owners with their pets to encourage adoption. The conditions of these events may not always be perfect, but the cause will always make you feel good.

“Animal Rescue is not always clean,” said Porter. “Your dog may be jumpy, your dog might be pulling the handler around on the leash, it can be hot out, we are rain or shine, no matter what we are out there working to get them adopted… So, it’s not always glamorous or Insta-worthy but it is really rewarding and I think the average kid would come to volunteer with us and have a really good time.”

In a nutshell, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue is a foster-based animal shelter that saves dogs and cats from high-kill shelters. They need volunteers to help run adoption events and other aspects of the shelter. Volunteering here would show colleges an interest in animals and keeping them safe.

There are many unique volunteer opportunities in Arlington, something for everyone. Phoenix Bikes, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue and the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington are just a few of the endless possibilities. Ultimately, volunteering is about giving back to the community in a way that you enjoy.​​ Volunteering also shows colleges a new set of interests they might have yet to learn from the rest of your application. Next time that you are looking for a volunteering location, challenge yourself to think outside the box and find a location that is unique to you. 

“[What you need to volunteer is] the willingness to and capability to sort of jump on in,” Ferro said.