What began as one high school student helping younger children with homework has quickly grown into a community-wide volunteer tutoring initiative supporting local families while raising money for cancer research.
Lucas Victoria, a rising senior at Paul D. Schreiber High School, founded Viking Volunteers this spring after realizing the informal tutoring work he had already been doing could expand into something much larger.
Now, with a growing team of student tutors and 12 students already receiving help, the organization offers free virtual tutoring to elementary, middle and some high school students while encouraging optional donations to the American Cancer Society.
“Freshman and sophomore year, I was volunteering mainly with middle school and elementary schoolers,” Victoria said. “I realized around the end of my sophomore year that I could really scale this up.”
Victoria said he began reaching out to classmates and friends at Schreiber to see who would be interested in volunteering.
“I got a lot of people who were willing to help out,” he said. “So we all came together, and I founded this organization, Viking Volunteers.”
The tutoring program officially launched in late April, early May and has already raised nearly $300 for the American Cancer Society, according to Victoria.
Unlike traditional tutoring services, Viking Volunteers is completely free. Families are encouraged, but never required, to donate.
“100% of all donations go to the American Cancer Society,” Victoria said. “The donation link on the website connects directly to the charity’s bank account.”
Tutoring sessions are conducted virtually via platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, FaceTime, and WhatsApp, depending on what works best for students and families.
Source: LI Press
