Volunteer Together

In today’s world, spreading love and cheer to others is needed more than ever. There are ways to include your children, no matter what their age.

When my children were in grade school, our church cooked the food my husband and I and my children went as a family to reStart Kansas City, a homeless shelter. We helped fill the plates of women, children and men. It was a moving experience, and my children realized how lucky they are to have food and clothing, all their toys and their own beds to sleep in. We even went back and donated little fans to some of the people because they were so hot during the summer. My daughter collected a bag of clothes she didn’t wear anymore, and we dropped them off. Go to ReStartInc.org, and you will find lots of ways to volunteer.

Harvesters.org is another site to visit and discuss together how you would like to serve members of our community.

Family volunteering teaches children about your values as a family, and it is important to talk to them about what values your family holds. One of the best ways to reinforce these is to demonstrate your values in action. Volunteering allows you to show your kids that you’re dedicated, as a family, to promoting, supporting or furthering a certain issue, and that you’re willing to spend the time walking the walk, not just talking the talk.

Volunteering as an extended family is a great way to spend quality time together and have fun.  And sometimes, this is challenging if kids are different ages. But volunteering is a way to bring everyone—parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and more—together around a common mission. Plus, when everyone starts diving in, you’ll likely find that time passes quickly and you’re having even more fun than you expected!

As I mentioned, my children learned empathy through giving. Learning emotional intelligence is a crucial part of children’s development, and encouraging them to be civically engaged can accelerate this process. When volunteering with communities, you will interact with those who share your passion, as well as with those who may be different from you. Understanding where people are coming from and hearing about their experiences helps children flex their empathy muscles now and later in life.

School is not the only place children learn! If children always associate learning with school, they may see their journey of learning come to an end when they graduate. Instead, show them that the world is full of learning opportunities. Through volunteering, they will interact with new people from various walks of life, learn new skills needed for the task at hand and learn how they can make an impact on an issue through their time, talent and efforts.

There are lots of do-it-yourself ways to volunteer and serve that help everyone learn some skills that out of their wheelhouse, such as carpentry, computer programming, translation and others. Social and communication skills are picked up as well.

Some great ideas are not difficult. You can start small. For example, make baby bags for a hospital or shelter. You can gather items new moms and babies need and put together cute packaging, such as diapers, baby wipes, onesies, blankets, pacifiers and more. The dollar store is a great place to find all these items. As a family, deliver these packages you create and watch the faces of the recipients.

Gardening is another great way to involve your family in a community project. Either in your own backyard or a local park, get together to plant a garden that will yield healthy, fresh produce to donate to a local shelter or food pantry. Decide what you want to grow and plan for spring by starting seeds indoors. Good options include tomatoes, squash, lettuce and more. Get your neighbors involved. You’ll have fun when you plant and as you watch the growth. Contact your local food pantry to let them know you will be donating and find out what days they are open.

Have you seen those cute mobile cabinet-style boxes on posts outside people’s houses? This is another DIY giving project your family can get involved with. They contain books anyone can take to borrow or keep. Some call them free libraries, and they are the most positive trend going! They are a great way to connect with your neighborhood. When you place one of these in your yard, you’ll notice you create a little bit of community with people sharing books. It is sort of a book club. You can either buy used books from a thrift store or declutter your own bookshelves. Have your children go through books they want to place inside and let them create the rules. Put a sign on the box that tells people to take one and leave one—but if they really need a book, they can go ahead and keep it.

Make decorating your book box for the holidays part of the fun. For Halloween, place a skeleton reading a book on top. During springtime, place a plush rabbit inside reading a book. Explain to your children that by connecting with their community, they are giving and making others happy.

During the winter months, find out from your church or community services league who is home bound. Shovel their driveway, bake hot cookies to deliver to them, send a card or volunteer to make a repair on their home. Together with your kids, come up with a list of ways to give. Place it on the fridge and do one at least once a month.

The local nursing home is a wonderful place to start. Reading to residents will help your children realize they are important enough to entertain someone else. And the residents love children! Call the director and find out whether there are certain times you can visit. Another option is to walk dogs at the animal shelter. They always need volunteers.

Anything you can do to step out of your comfort zone and instill a giving nature into your kiddos will last their entire lives. When they go on to college and find jobs in different cities, they will carry that sense of pride in giving.

Sources: PointsOfLight.org, AARP.org