Get involved
Lead, mentor, volunteer
Heart of Passion is 100% volunteer-driven and donor-funded. We love that community ownership and are grateful for every person that makes us tick.
Leadership Development Program
Be a teen leader
The Heart of Passion Leadership Development Program is an intense year-long program for exceptionally motivated, passionate high school students. Implementing lessons learned in business, communication, and servant leadership, the LDP cohort plans and fundraises for a summer Red Carpet Retreat for teens with cancer.
What HoP Certified Leaders do
- Lift up teen cancer patients when they need the most support, creating a place for Red Carpet Day guests to build lifelong memories, friendships, and confidence.
- Work independently to interact with all kinds of businesses and people to conceive, build, and execute an incredible four-day event.
Successful leaders are consistent, compassionate, and accountable. They commit to spending at least 10 hours a month on HoP throughout the school year, and they must meet periodic milestones in order to achieve HoP Leader Certification. Only HoP Certified Leaders can host RCD.
How leaders are chosen
This is a highly competitive, advanced program, and not everyone that applies will be selected. Leaders are chosen based on:
- Application responses
- Character references, personal recommendations, and parental consent
- Phone interviews scheduled after you submit your online application
- Commitment to fully engaged attendance at all training sessions, the fall leadership retreat, and Red Carpet Day in July
- Overall demonstration of reliability, maturity, enthusiasm, creativity, and compassion
Mentoring
Be an adult mentor
Heart of Passion paves the way for a future of socially minded, personally responsible community and business leaders. Mentors are an integral part of achieving that goal.
Mentor teams of 3 to 5 young professionals work closely with each other and HoP program directors to both challenge and support their cohort of 15 teen leaders while the leaders plan their summer Red Carpet Day retreat completely on their own.
There is no such thing as an “ideal mentor” because we assemble a balanced and diverse team. That said, successful mentors are go-getters that are organized, communicative, and resilient.
Our mentoring program focuses on the mentors’ individual goals and personal development as they simultaneously support the teen leaders. Applicants are contacted to schedule a video interview, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all teams are filled.
A typical month
- A one-hour planning meeting with HoP program directors to discuss current leader needs and tailor that month’s workshop lesson plan
- A three-hour workshop with the entire leader cohort on business and leadership skills such as elevator pitches, interpersonal communication and time management
- A one-hour committee meeting with 3 to 5 leaders focused on specific Red Carpet Day planning tasks such as financial planning, event logistics, or hospitality
- Regular and timely emailing, texting, and group messaging with leaders, mentors, and Heart of Passion
Total monthly commitment averages twelve hours. Mentors also attend the National Mentor Training Retreat and the National Leader Retreat during the school year.
Volunteer
Ways to help, at any age
If any of these roles sound made for you, let us know. Check back regularly, as our needs and roles may change.
Volunteer recruiter
Play matchmaker so we keep the leaders, mentors, and volunteers we need. National or local. Busiest from late spring through early fall.
School liaison
Build formal relationships with schools to share volunteer opportunities and leader recruitment drives. Local, mostly in the spring semester.
Community liaison
Represent HoP at local nonprofit events, from information tables to Christmas tree decorating.
Alumni liaison
Help graduated leaders and former guests and volunteers stay connected, and eventually coordinate reunions.
Fundraising and gala committee
Help establish annual or semi-annual fundraising events in each city. Local.
Thank you note writer
Send handwritten notes from HoP along with tax receipts. Busiest in late spring and early summer.
Hospital packer and deliverer
Solicit donations, assemble packs, and deliver them to brighten teens’ hospital visits in our affiliate hospital cities.
Pro bono professional
Tax accounting, legal advising, PR, grant writing. Doctors, nurses and PAs are needed as advisors and as chaperones at Red Carpet Day. Background check required.
Program professional
Help leaders practice cold calling or give feedback on their projects. Self-scheduled, national.
Elevator pitch judge
Review leaders’ written and video pitches against a rubric. A self-scheduled, several-hour commitment in late winter.
Historian and data analyst
Find and share stories past and present, and help measure our story in numbers. Works closely with the executive team.
Spread the word
In person or on your social media feeds, on your own time and in your own style, share the work and mission of HoP.