Yellow Star
Yellow Stars

Volunteering with Let Grow: How to Help

Volunteering with Let Grow: How to Help

Let Grow’s biggest challenge is making it normal for kids to have some independence and freedom so they can build their self-confidence and resilience against anxiety and depression. Spreading the message that as parents and adults in our communities, it’s critical that we are regularly giving them opportunities for independence and celebrating seeing kids at the store or at the park by themselves or with a group of friends.

Your support for your own children, encouraging friends to learn about Let Grow and letting their kids join yours for some independent fun and play, and championing kids being outdoors is the most important thing you can do to help us!

We do have some volunteer projects that can be done remotely, especially helping read our annual Think for Yourself Essay entries, or translating materials into other languages (Quebecois/French and Spanish are always needed, but there are so many more languages that families of K-12 students need). Read on for more info!

Volunteering with Let Grow: How to Help

Want to Bring Let Grow to Your Area?

Promoting independence and free play for your own kids and community is what we need most!

We love passionate and motivated parents who want their kids to have freedom, play outside with other kids, and do things on their own. If that’s you, start on our Parents page to find kits, resources, how-to’s for staring your own Play Club, how to encourage your child’s school, and much more!

Got a group together or want to start one? Our Community Toolkit has an ever-growing collection of resources and tools for promoting childhood independence and play in your own neighborhood or town. No need to fill out the volunteer form, just dig in and get everything you need!

Show me the Parent Resources
Browse the Community Toolkit

Some of our current needs

Internet Research

Simple and a bit tedious but very important, these projects let you play investigator on the internet. You may be looking for email addresses for a list of people or browsing school websites for a program or keyword. We’ll give you the what to search for, where to record your findings, maybe a deadline, and set you free to sleuth. 

Translation

We need volunteers who can translate Let Grow materials from English to other languages. Our biggest needs at the moment are for Spanish and Quebecois, but other common ESL languages within particular school communities would be welcome.

Essay Readers

Our 2026 Think for Yourself Essay Contest will open in February and every submission needs to be reviewed for our first round of judging. It’s all about a good story that fits one of our prompts and we’ll provide the simple guidelines. No, you don’t need to have gotten an A in English class….we are looking for impactful content and personal experiences, not grammar skills.

State or Regional Evangelists

Let Grow is working hard to expand our reach and we know we need to plant the seeds of our mission far and wide. We have an ambitious plan to gather information, lists of organizations, people, and data for every state in the U.S. We’d love to have at least one Let Grow Liaison  in each state who wants to be our go-to person to create networks of supporters, help plan outreach or an event, work on a Reasonable Childhood Independence Bill, or host an affinity group. If  you’ll provide your passion for our mission, leadership skills, and expertise, we’ll help with tools, inspiration, and support.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What happens after you get my form? We will review it and send you an email with any questions, potential project matches, or an invitation to schedule a Zoom call. 
  • Do you have any age requirements?  We believe kids are more capable than they get credit for! Teens with skills and passion are welcome to apply.
  • Is there paperwork involved? Let Grow will require that you sign a non-disclosure agreement before staring a project.
  • Will I need a background check?  Not usually since we do not work directly with children. We do reserve the right to request one if we feel it is necessary.
  • Will Let Grow purchase any equipment or software for me? Sorry, you must use your own equipment and software. Let Grow will provide access to online platforms if needed.
  • Will Let Grow verify participation or hours for community service or educational requirements? We are happy to consider this on a case-by-case basis.