A local teen-run non-profit, St. Louis Volunteen, is launching a new website to serve as a database to help teens across the nation find volunteer opportunities in their area. The website, Volunteen Nation, emerged from St. Louis Volunteen. The St. Louis-based non-profit was founded by a frustrated teenager, Simone Bernstein, after she was rejected from volunteering at local agencies because of her age. Volunteen was later taken over by her brother Jake Bernstein, now a senior at Clayton High. The organization was created to serve as a resource for teens to find volunteer opportunities in the St. Louis area.

“It was really frustrating wasting all my time looking for volunteering opportunities and being turned down, when I could have spent that time actually volunteering,” Simone said.

St. Louis Volunteen has been growing steadily since their founding three years ago, and currently has a website and Twitter account featuring youth-friendly resources and volunteer opportunities for teens.

In addition to advocating other organizations, Volunteen organizes many of its own events. Last summer, Aces for All was held in Clayton for children on the autism spectrum to help better their motor and social skills. More recently, they put together a  9/11 memorial service project that aimed at cleaning up Memorial Park in Brentwood. Their largest event is a volunteer fair held at the Magic House. Every year, 35 different charities set up booths and offer opportunities for teens in St. Louis. Last year there were more than 700 attendees, and next year they expect to have  more than 1,000.

“Volunteen first experienced success from the fair,” Jake said. “Organizations reported incredibly high responses and drew a lot of interested teens in, fueling the confidence for the Volunteen Nation expansion.”

As a part of St. Louis Volunteen’s success, a new organization, Volunteen Nation was created. The new organization will now focus on promoting volunteering opportunities in other areas of Missouri, rather than just St. Louis. They are beginning the slow growing process, starting with Columbia and Kansas City. A new website is underway to be used as a tool for youth looking to volunteer.

“It’s amazing how quickly we have grown from Twitter updates, to website, to events,” Jake said. “It’s exciting to have growth at this rate and keeps followers excited to see what happens next.”