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Many busy families wish
they had more time to volunteer for causes they believe in or to give
something back to their communities. This desire can be instilled in
children, even from an early age. To make volunteering a part of your family
life, create a tradition by making it a regularly scheduled event, whether
once a week, month or once a year. The key is finding a cause that stirs
everyone’s passions. Here are some ideas:
Choose one cause to get
behind:
One Florida family chose a food pantry, The Cooperative Feeding Program, to
focus on. For many years, they have volunteered in tandem, stocking shelves
and serving food. They take part in an annual food drive called the Postal
Carrier’s Food Drive, taking place each Mother’s Day weekend. They help
collect and pack tons of food that people have put in their mail boxes. The
boxes were then delivered to the food pantry they work with. By focusing on
one charity, and staying involved over a number of years, this family has
built a tradition of which they can be truly proud. Enlist the kids in
helping to choose a cause. A good resource is A Kid’s Guide to Service
Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a
Difference by Barbara Lewis (Free Spirit Press).
Consider walkathons or
other yearly events:
If your family can choose but one big event each year to participate in,
consider a walkathon. In many communities, charitable organizations sponsor
walkathons to raise money for various causes, from raising money for disease
prevention or hunger to raising awareness of human and animal rights issues.
Another worthy annual event to consider is participating in the cleanup of a
public place, especially ecologically sensitive areas. Inquire with
environmental organizations in your area.
Creative fundraising:
In our family, we’ve always liked to raise and donate money for our favorite
causes, and this caught on with our younger son. He makes beautiful cards
from his photography, sells them at craft shows and other events, and
donates the profits to his favorite charities. Similarities, kids can sell
crafts and baked goods and school or other community functions, letting
their customers know that the profits are earmarked for donation.
Help your community by
creating community:
At our local high school, there is a popular club called
“Operation Donation.” It’s simple—members bring in supermarket coupon pages,
then chat and clip. The group’s leader has contracted with area supermarkets
to match the value of the coupons, and all the funds are used to buy food
for local food pantries. To date, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been
raised! These days, another popular form of community is knitting groups.
Many of these now use the time spent together to make hats, blankets, and
other items to donate to nursing homes and women’s shelters. A teenage
friend of our family teamed with other teens to fix up deteriorating homes
of low-income seniors. If you can’t find the motivation to do charitable
work alone, team with other friends and family and work together, doing good
while having fun.
Go beyond the obvious:
The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering by Jenny Friedman (Robin’s
Lane Press) is a fantastic resource with dozens of ideas that may not
immediately come to mind when you think of volunteering. These include
working for human rights and peace, helping your local library, enhancing
arts and culture, supporting the rights of animals, donating “stuff,” and
lot more. You’ll also find many ideas at her website,
www.doinggoodtogether.org.
Think small:
You do not need lots of time or money to be a volunteer. Just one small act
a day can take minutes but make a world of difference. For these kinds of
bite-sized ideas, check out The Difference a Day Makes by Karen Jones
(New World Library).
Participate in Make a
Difference Day and Family Volunteer Day:
To jump-start
volunteerism, The Points of Light Foundation sponsors two annual events. The
first is Make a Difference Day, falling on the fourth Saturday each October.
Visit
www.makeadifferenceday.com. Next, National Family Volunteer Day takes
place on on the Saturday before each Thanksgiving. This event is “designed
to showcase the benefits of families working together, to introduce
community service, and encourage those who haven’t yet made the commitment
to volunteer as a family.” Visit
www.pointsoflight.org
to find out more.
Show your kids that it’s
amazingly easy to make a difference. Cement volunteerism into your family’s
values by making it a tradition, whether one day a year, or a half day per
month, or an hour a week.
Nava Atlas is the author of several
well-known vegetarian cookbooks (most recently, The Vegetarian Family
Cookbook) and the just-published Everyday Traditions: Simple Family
Rituals for Connection and Comfort. To find out more, visit
www.everydaytraditions.com.
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