About Yucai's Volunteer Program

Yucai has been providing older (e.g., high school) students volunteering opportunities since the school was established in 2007. Most of the volunteers served in the classrooms and hallways. They helped at the Chinese New Year celebration party and End-of-school year summer potluck party. These volunteers have been tremendously helpful to the teachers, which allow them to focus on teaching. In return, the volunteers learned to communicate with adults independently, be responsible for the tasks assigned to them, solve the problems caused by younger kids, prioritize their schedules, overcome frustration, and become accountable.  

Many parents also volunteered for Yucai, especially at the traditional Chinese New Year and Summer Potluck events. The examples they set had a profound impact on their children's attitude toward community service and good work habits. 

In 2020, Yucai was approved to be a certifying organization that can review and verify a volunteer's hours. This allows us to distribute the President's Volunteer Service Award to our outstanding volunteers. This award was founded by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation to recognize the important role of volunteers in America’s strength and national identity. The award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to take action. The winners will receive a customized certificate, choice of pin, coin, or medallion, and congratulatory letter from the president. Any five-years or older volunteers (US citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident) can apply for this award if they meet the required hours listed in the table below to receive Presidential recognition for volunteer hours served over a 12-month period (January 1st to December 31st). To apply for this award through Yucai, you must serve us a minimum of 10 hours per semester. Other organizations you served must be legally established in the United States. The application deadline is February 1st of each year. You can download the hour track form and submit your application in google forms.

Anyone volunteed 4000+ hours over y ears can apply for the Lifetime Achievement Award

Fundraising

Due to the pandemic, Yucai has strived to keep classes running even with small class sizes. We continued to keep the tuition costs low in order to reach out to every student who wants to learn. With the high inflation, we are facing the challenge of paying teachers fairly to stay with us. Additionally, we need to buy or upgrade our technology to assist with online learning. Therefore, raising funds is crucial. We need adult volunteers who can mentor younger volunteers in calling for donations and applying for grants. In this process, we will train youth volunteers problem solving and leadership skills. The group will have its first meeting in September to brainstorm possible fundraising strategies which will be executed in the rest of the school year. The volunteering hours will be counted based on the time spent on the project chosen by the volunteer.

Path to Future

Not all high-school students know the fields they want to pursue in college. To achieve our mission of helping every student, Yucai initiates a program to help our high school students and volunteers explore their strengths, weaknesses, personalities, and vocational interests with the supervision of adult volunteers. After a couple of meetings, they are expected to select a field that matches their strengths and interests closely, reach out to an expert in the field, and eventually assist the expert to give Yucai's or all students in the community a presentation on any questions the volunteers and students want to know. This project will help our students explore their future and improve leadership, communication, and collaboration skills. Ultimately, it will benefit all our students and accomplish Yucai's mission of growing every student to be their best selves.

All 10th to 12th graders are welcome to sign up for this volunteering project. We encourage parents with high school students to mentor and volunteer. Yucai will provide meeting and presentation rooms to support this program.