How to get teens involved with and committed to volunteer work and service projects?

Jay: How to get teens involved with and committed to volunteer work and service projects?
How do you get teens involved with and committed to service projects? It seems that the majority teens today can’t be bothered or are simply too busy to apply themselves to any cause that isn’t within their scope of interests—and most often service and volunteer work comes last on their list of priorities that include socialization, gaming, and/or studying.

Getting teens to spread the word and bring friends to help volunteer helps somewhat, but even then, this strategy doesn’t yield great results. Help?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Minerva
Make it into something fun, not something that seems like work. Try to involve the things that you mentioned that they do or like to do into a service project. Allow time for socializing, celebrating, games, etc. If it involves something that can be divided into teams, make it into a competition with some kind of prize or recognition to motivate them. It might seem bad that you have to do that to get people to help, but not everyone is simply and truly interested in contributing to the common good.

Answer by skyblue
I live 10 mins from New Orleans and I must say that I am really impressed with the number of college and high school students that have come here after Hurricane Katrina to help rebuild homes. Helping others that are less fortunate or are in need is a rewarding personal experience. I think if more teens volunteered, they will learn that life is not all about them. They learn respect and compassion for others as well. I know of some high schools that make it a requirement that their students volunteer or do community service before graduating. This could be an idea that you propose to your locals schools or school board. Talk to your local churches, I’m sure they have plenty of teens willing to volunteer. Also, talk to the businesses in your area to see if they can donate goods, money, gift certificates, etc to encourage young volunteers. You can have a drawing for those who helped.

Answer by Allonym
Think like a teen.
Go to the schools. Find the popular crowd. Pay one or two to make it a popular thing to do.