5 Ways to Earn SSL Hours At Home by Ema D.

Did you know that you can still earn Student Service Learning (SSL) hours even while being stuck at home? Being in a pandemic is no excuse to not perform some easy community service actions! Here are 5 things you can do this Winter to get some extra SSL hours!

1. Virtual Meeting Moderator

The 2021 Montgomery County History Conference needs virtual moderators for the meeting this year! It will take place on January 23rd from 9:30-3:30 and January 30th from 9:30-5:30. Don’t worry, you won’t be volunteering for 8 hours at a time! Most of the sessions are around 2 hours long. The moderators need to have some “technical skill and knowledge of Zoom”; however, training will be provided in order to know what you will be doing as a moderator or tech assistant. You can find more information at this link!

2. Substance Abuse Prevention Advocacy Project

This experience will help Arise and Flourish, a non-profit organization based in MoCo that educates students on substance abuse and addiction. The virtual program allows students to get a look into the “cycle of addiction” and teaches volunteers how to utilize prevention. All you need to do is complete the volunteer form, and then Arise and Flourish will send two video presentations to students. These videos will provide information and are a great opportunity to learn about the dangers of substance abuse. The way to gain SSL hours is to either “Write a 2-page paper on [your] understanding of drug and alcohol prevention on the information received from the two videos” or “Create an art project based upon [your] understanding of prevention on the information [you] received from the videos.” For the art project, it might be shared on social media, so be sure to check the privacy information before doing the project! More information is at this link!

3. Holiday Music, Stories, and Messages for Seniors and Hospital Patients

This is a great creative way to give back to the community! This is a general list of things you can do to “Continue reminding seniors we are grateful for them” and let hospital patients know we are there for them. These are just a few things you can do to get SSL hours, and you can do it at any time from home. If you want to participate and see the different options, check out this link! This one is a fun one!

4. Be a Virtual Artist/Performer!

Since the beginning of the pandemic, people have not been able to attend concerts or performances in person. Since we still cannot do so, the best we can get is through Zoom or a video sharing platform. A great way to participate is through AYAC (American Young Art Circles)! They are hosting an “ongoing virtual performing program” to brighten our community in the age of COVID-19. To find out how to submit, visit this link! This one is for the singers and instrumentalists in our community!

5. Domestic Violence Survivor Awareness Creative Activities

If you love arts and crafts for a good cause, this is the activity for you! Express your creativity by writing thank you notes, putting together a video or song, and making anything to display awareness for domestic abuse/violence survivors. For more information and guidelines as well as contact info, check out this final link!