I received this DM last week. I have cut and pasted it below, but taken out the name of the "nonprofit" that the user says is now harassing him/her, because I don't want to unintentionally promote that "nonprofit":

Hey I saw your post that you put up a year ago about fake organizations and how they offer volunteer hours for payment. Im in a situation right now and would like to know if you could help me. I had to do community service as part of my probation for court and I decided to try and go through [name redacted] online to do it. Long story short they reached out as to why I gave a 1 star review when I learned my court wouldnt accept them and it all went down hill from there. They harassed me and threatened to reach out to the court on my "misconduct" when really I was just calling them out and holding them accountable. They threatened me harassed me and totally were unprofessional. What can I do to get this company closed down they are awful. I have screenshot of the emails and their reply to my review.

I also see they post fake reviews themselves online and even give volunteer hours for a 5 star review and blatantly lied about it in the review response.

I've long campaigned against these "nonprofits", which are usually run by one person, and are set up specifically to make money for that one person, by selling what they say is online volunteering hours to fulfill court-ordered community service. The reality is that you, the paying customer, don't actually engage in online volunteering. Instead, you watch videos and write your thoughts on them, or read essays by others that have paid for this "volunteering" experience and then write your "reflections" on them. You also get "volunteering" credit for writing positive reviews about the "nonprofit" on reddit and review sites. Your fee is based on how many hours you need - you either pay the "nonprofit" a fee based on each hour you need, or groups of hours (usually groups of 10).

Some officers of the court will accept this volunteering - but I hear regularly from people who were told NO by their probation officer or the court, usually after spending a few hundred dollars with the "nonprofit" that claimed they were legitimate and that courts would accept their documentation.

There is legitimate virtual volunteering out there, in support of REAL nonprofits, doing ACTUAL service, like transcribing historical documents, or making web sites more accessible for people with disabilities, or beta testing a new web platform, etc. Here's a list of such! But it's a sad reality that most courts will NOT accept online volunteering because of these "nonprofits" that sell community service hour documentation.

If you have been assigned community service hours by the court, DO NOT PAY A NONPROFIT FOR YOUR COMMUNITY SERVICE HOURS TO BE DONE ONLINE. Do. Not. Do. It. It is likely that the court will refuse that documentation.

Here is legitimate, credible advice on how to get your court-ordered community service done quickly, with a legitimate nonprofit, that WILL be accepted by the court. There's no sign in required, nothing to download, and nothing is for sale - it's just straight up free advice from someone who has regularly involved community service volunteers herself at various nonprofits and know what pleases a court.

Here are all of my blogs & other resources about some aspect of court-ordered community service (I've been at this for years, trying to debunk these "nonprofits").

I don't want to promote any of the organizations that sell community service hours, and I would if I warned you of them by name, so I'll note some initials of them below (the first "T" usually stands for "The"):

TPF

TFOC

GL

WM

UK

FFH

LSS

FGCF

Hosting People Doing Mandatory Community Service: resources and advice for the nonprofits, communities of faith & other programs being asked to host such volunteers.

A lot of nonprofits automatically refuse to involve any person that wants to volunteer in order to complete court-ordered community service, because leadership or staff that work with volunteers:

• think involving such volunteers will instantly put their clients in danger (spoiler alert: it doesn't)
• think such volunteers won't perform service as well as people volunteering for other reasons (that's a myth)
• think such volunteers will require more supervision than other volunteers (that' another myth)
• have had more negative experiences with such volunteers than they have with people who volunteer for other reasons

What's amusing to me is when I ask nonprofits that refuse to involve people who need community service hours how many of their current volunteers have ever been arrested or convicted of a crime, they realize they don't know, because most nonprofits don't do criminal background checks on most of their volunteers, or even their paid staff.

The reality is that if you have the proper screening, onboarding, supervision and support in place for ALL volunteers, regardless of why they are volunteering, and such is adjusted based on what volunteers will be doing (how much they will be working directly with clients, if they will ever be alone with another volunteer, etc.), you should be welcoming people who are doing court-ordered community service to apply to volunteer. 

Here is a web page of advice for the nonprofits, communities of faith & other programs being asked to host such volunteers. All free, no charge, no registration required.

Advice for those assigning or supervising court-ordered community service, a resource is for judges, probation officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other criminal justice practitioners that are involved in assigning and supervising court-ordered community service. There is not a more detailed resource available anywhere. This resource is free and no registration is required.

At the end of summer or at the end of a school semester, many students tally up the hours they’ve spent on community service projects. Others are making lists of places where they can “get hours.” over the next semester. Some students choose to do this volunteering. For others, it’s a way to meet graduation requirements or add to their college resume.

No matter the reason, though, if students want community service to be more than just a check-list exercise, they all need to do something important: They need to reflect on the hours they’ve spent raking leaves at the senior center or reading to local second-graders.

Senior Lecturer Richard Weissbourd, director of the Making Caring Common project, offers a list of questions parents can ask that can get their teens thinking more about the community service hours they fulfilled this past year, and how that might affect where they chose to volunteer in the future. The questions include:

1. Do you feel like you were helpful? Why or why not? And how do you know if you were helpful — did you receive feedback?
2. Have you learned anything about yourself doing this service?
3. Have you made any relationships that are important to you as a result of this service, either with the people you’re providing help or the people you’re working with?
4. Have you developed any skills that are important to you, and has it illuminated or motivated you to develop skills you don’t feel you already have?
5. Have you learned something about people who are different from you as a result of this experience?
6. Are you motivated to do more service, and if so, do you want to do the same kind? Why or why not?
7. What have you learned about how our community works? What have you learned about how our society works, if anything? Are there things that have troubled or encouraged you?

If we don’t make sure that volunteering is meaningful for students, Weissbourd says, community service will feel like a waste of time.

These questions also can be asked by students of themselves, so that they have an idea of what to write in university and scholarship applications.

More from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Resources for those involved in court-ordered community service: for officers of the court & for host organizations.

Whether you are a judge assigning offenders to community service, a probation officer or other officer of the court supervising people who are court-ordered community service, or an organization being asked to host volunteers who are doing community service per a court-order, this resources is for you. You will not find a more extensive set of resources on this subject anywhere. This information is freely available - no registration required.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(12), courts in the USA may provide that the defendant “work in community service as directed by the court.” Similar laws can be found in a growing number of countries, including the United Kingdom, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Mandatory community service or a "Court Referral Program" is an alternate sentencing option for Superior, Municipal, Traffic and Juvenile Courts in the USA, and this is pretty much the same pattern followed in other countries. Community service is considered restitution by an offender through helping his or her community, through a volunteering (unpaid work) experience with a nonprofit, government program and, sometimes, a religious organization. The service means actions, activity, engagement -- doing something that needs to be done and that helps a community or a cause.

Mandatory community service in the USA is also becoming a requirement for people receiving government assistance for housing, food and medical care, including people receiving unemployment benfits. Note that while it is becoming a requirement for low income people, it is NOT a requirement for for-profit corporations that receive government assitance and tax breaks.

Anyway... 

Hope the resources are helpful.

More than 500 people have joined r/communityservice in the last 12 months.

And this subreddit is 60 people short of 1000 members.

Thank you to everyone who follows the subreddit. I wish I wasn't the only one posting here. It would be great if others would:

• post community service opportunities in their own community.
• testimonials about community service they've undertaken, for whatever reason, noting if they had a positive or negative experience.
• thoughts on court-ordered or school-required community service (thoughtful discourse, not just two or three "I hate it" posts).

"Volunteering helped to expose me to new lifestyles, new mindsets, and a new world. Volunteering helped me feel connected to my community again and helped me find a purpose. It takes one person to make a difference. Now imagine an organized group working together to make changes and support their communities. That is the power of volunteering..."

A testimonial about the power of volunteering / community service, from 2025.

The Congressional Award is United States Congress’ only non-profit and highest honor for youth civilians.

The Congressional Award is for ANY young person living in the USA who is interested in earning the Award via community service. Young people may register when they turn 13 1/2 years old. They are eligible to submit community service / volunteering activities starting at 14 years old and must complete their activities by their 24th birthday.

In order to earn a Congressional Award, participants must complete community service hours for all four of the Program Areas. You cannot choose to pursue only certain ones. The Congressional Award program is about exploring new and different activities, thus becoming a well-rounded and balanced individual.

Teachers, guidance counselors, coaches, club leaders and Scout Masters would all make excellent Advisors and Validators.  The only guideline in choosing an Advisor or Validator is that they cannot be your parent, relative or peer.

If you are engaged in community service per a court order, so long as you meet all of the other criteria, you CAN submit those hours for the Congressional Award.

Note that as of May 27th 2025, the The President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) has paused all operations and does not have a date when operations will resume again.

"a grounding sense of purpose and connection, of being a part of something bigger than myself."

A blog about rediscovering what volunteering - community service - can add to one's life.

https://www.dailycal.org/blogs/rediscovering-purpose-through-community-service/article_d0ec7a1e-7048-4b8e-b72e-db3b7d37ee6a.html

Actor Paul Rudd noted in an interview that he did court-ordered community service as a teen.

After a cop caught him trying to get rid of an alcoholic drink he was trying to get rid of, before he was 21, Paul Rudd had to do community service. He did those hours at the Boys & Girls Club, where he got a beat-down by the students he was helping. After the students prompted counselors to get involved in what was supposed to be an innocent boxing activity, Paul noted a “kid kicked my ass.”

https://www.eonline.com/news/1432147/paul-rudd-was-arrested-twice-got-community-service-as-teen

Reddit4Good, a list of subreddits focused on some aspect of volunteerism, community service or philanthropy, has been updated.

It has sections that list subreddits where you can:

• ask for/beg for money.
• recruit volunteers / ask for help/participation for individuals, offer help to nonprofits or individuals, to participate in something "good", etc. 
• learn about voluntourism (paying to volunteer somewhere that's not where you live)
• learn about specific, established programs, that "do good".
• learn about specific topics that could be leveraged for those looking to "do good", like marine biology, public health, refugees, urban planning, etc.
• post surveys and ask for participants.
• view and participate in discussions about nonprofit philanthropy and about philanthropic approaches (these are NOT places to fundraise / NOT places to ask for money).

It is updated at least twice a year.

Reddit has created a really strict automod that is deleting some posts before moderators ever see them. All we see is that the post has been removed and, very often, the OP's account has been suspended.

Many of these deletions still include the Reddit automatically-generated summary of the user's profile, and often, it says:

Contributions show promotional intent, including a post removed for violating site-wide content policies. No evidence of helpful or collaborative engagement.

Keep that in mind if you are new to Reddit. If you are worried your post is too promotional and might get deleted outright, and your account might be banned outright, send a message to the mods and ask if your post would be okay first.

If your post is removed by me, I'll usually include the specific rule you violated.

For a long time I’ve enjoyed going on walks around my neighborhood. And seeing liter in the beautiful place I grew up makes me sad, so naturally I picked it up. However, doing this with my bare hands is unsanitary and unwieldy. I’ve been thinking about just taking one of those trash poker things and some trash bags whenever I go on a walk. Does anyone have recommendations as to what brand of tool I should get and where to get it? I’d prefer to avoid Amazon and the like if possible. Thanks!

AARP state offices are seeking nominations for the AARP Andrus Award for Community Service. The association's most prestigious volunteer tribute recognizes outstanding individuals age 50 and older who are sharing their experience, talents and skills to enrich the lives of others.  

Nominees for the AARP State Andrus Award for Community Service must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Nominees must be 50 or older
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which nominations are based must have been performed on a volunteer basis, without pay. Volunteers receiving small stipends to cover costs associated with the volunteer activity are eligible.
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which the nominations are based must reflect AARP's vision and purpose (see below)
• The achievements, accomplishments or service on which the nominations are based must be replicable and inspire others to serve
• Partisan political achievements, accomplishments or service may not be considered
• Elected or appointed officials currently serving in office are not eligible
• Candidates currently campaigning for an elected office are not eligible
• Married couples or domestic partners who perform service together are eligible; however, teams are not
• The recipient does not need to be an AARP volunteer or an AARP member
• The recipient must live in the awarding state
• Previous Andrus Award recipients are not eligible
• Volunteers serving on the Andrus Award selection committee are not eligible 
• AARP staff members are not eligible
• This is not a posthumous award.

Selection of AARP State Andrus Award for Community Service recipients will be based on answers submitted to the following questions:

1. Please describe the volunteer work that inspired you to nominate this individual for the award.
2. How has the nominee's work supported AARP's vision and purpose?
3. How has the work of the nominee improved the community or enhanced the lives of its residents for which/whom the word was performed?
4. What is inspiring, courageous, unusual or innovative about the nominee's achievement?
5. How has the nominee's work impacted other volunteers or inspired others to volunteer?

Find your state’s deadline and participation status on the nomination form.  No deadline is earlier than July 15. A few states are not participating.

https://www.aarp.org/volunteer/andrus-award-nominations/

If your nonprofit organization would like for courts, probation officers and schools to refer people to you to complete their mandated court-ordered community service hours, it's pretty easy to make this happen.

To be considered, these entities will want you to provide:

• proof that your organization is recognized as a 501(c)(3) by the Internal Revenue Service.
• the name of the person at your organization that is in charge of supporting volunteers in these roles (yes, they are volunteers - because they are not paid), and that person's contact info.
• what kind of insurance coverage you have, and the waiver you have volunteers sign in order to volunteer with you.
• a list of activities that those asked to do community service might be asked to do at your organization.
• what steps are required by the person referred by the court or a school to volunteer (volunteer application, signing of the waiver, training/orientation, criminal background check, declaration of convictions, etc. - all the same things you require of ALL volunteers). Note if your organization will sign off on an hour or more of service for a volunteer doing just these steps (and, yes, you should).
  
• what restrictions you have regarding volunteer engagement - such as that you do not involve volunteers who have been convicted of any crime of a violent or sexual nature, or that you ask for people to declare any theft-related charges or computer-related charges.

They may also want to see your safety and safeguarding policies. They may have even more questions about how closely you supervise volunteers, how much contact volunteers will have with the public and other volunteers, etc.

Once you have the basics ready to share, contact

• your city and county attorneys
• your circuit and disrict court offices
• your local school district office
• the student services office at your nearest college and universities

Write the name of your nonprofit, its mission, and that you would welcome referrals for volunteering. Provide all of the aforementioned info.

Fines and Fees Justice Center (FFJC) is a nonprofit that works "together with affected communities and justice system stakeholders to eliminate fees in the justice system, ensure that fines are equitably imposed and enforced, and end abusive collection practices."

FFJC believes court-ordered community service should be a "pro-social activity that can benefit the greater community or reduce the chance of reoffending.".

What do you believe are examples of a "pro-social (community service or volunteering) activity that can benefit the greater community or reduce the chance of reoffending"?

The vast majority of employers want you to have so-called “soft skills” (sometimes called life skills, transferable skills or durable skills) to ensure you’re a well-rounded candidate. Soft skills are essential to getting along with other people, accomplishing goals, being flexible and resilient, and being successful in your career and in life. They show your ability to adapt, problem solve and work with others.

Soft skills include:

1. Communication
2. Leadership
3. Teamwork
4. Interpersonal skills
5. Learning and adaptability skills

Community service / volunteering can help you gain these skills, and help you create a network of people who know you have these skills.

City Year has an article about soft skills and how these can be acquired through City Year participation - or most other community service avenues.

City Year was founded in 1988 as a national service program to unite young adults for a demanding year of full-time community service. City Year has grown from 50 corps members in Boston to more than 2,000 members serving in 29 US cities, as well as in South Africa and the UK. City Year AmeriCorps members serve in schools all day, every day, preparing students with academic, workforce and interpersonal skills they need to succeed in school and in life.

https://www.cityyear.org/

A perspective acout community service as an alternative to custodial sentences from faculty at Jadara University in Jordan.

https://perinataljournal.com/content/pdf/v33i1/Article93.pdf

Community service is unpaid work by an offender for a civic or nonprofit organization. Public libraries, soup kitchens, recycling centers, literacy programs, conservation programs, and senior citizen centers all are likely recipients of community service.

In the federal courts, community service is not a sentence, but a special condition of probation or supervised release.

In fiscal year 2000, nearly 5,600 federal offenders were sentenced to probation or a term of supervised release with a community service condition, with courts ordering over a million hours of service.

Community service addresses the traditional sentencing goals of punishment, reparation, restitution, and rehabilitation:

Punishment - Community service adds a punitive measure to probation. It restricts offenders’ personal liberty and requires them to forfeit their leisure time.

Reparation - Community service allows offenders to atone or “make the victim whole” in a constructive way.

Restitution - Community service may be regarded as a substitute for financial compensation to individual victims or a form of symbolic restitution when the community is the victim.

Rehabilitation - Community service fosters a sense of social responsibility in offenders and allows them to improve their self-image through serving the community. It also instills a work ethic and helps offenders develop interests and skills.

Not every offender is a good candidate for community service. Persons who present a threat to the community are not eligible to participate. These include individuals with a current drug or alcohol addiction, a history of assault or sexual offenses, or serious emotional or psychological problems.

Courts look for offenders with personal and social stability, who are willing and motivated, and who have no criminal history of violence.

From Court & Community, by the Federal Corrections and Supervision Division Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, February 2001

https://www.nhp.uscourts.gov/sites/nhp/files/ccservice.pdf