Helping Your
Community:
What Children, Teens and Adults Can
Do
Volunteering
not only improves the lives of others, it also can improve your life and your
child's life. It can teach and give: work experience, job skills,
responsibility, self-respect, self-esteem, perspective, passion, hope,
leadership skills, generosity, tolerance, understanding, awareness, fun,
credibility, confidence, community connections, appreciation for others, sense
of belonging, cooperation, public speaking, planning, organizational skills,
working for something beyond their own lives. Everyone -- from small children to
senior citizens -- has something to offer the world.
Seniors are a particularly
valuable resource in the volunteer community. Their time, caring, expertise and
life experiences are appreciated in daycares, schools, hospitals, veterans
homes, universities, small businesses, community organizations and community
improvement projects -- to just name a few. Children especially can benefit from
having a surrogate "grandma" or "grandpa," so volunteering in daycares, schools
and children's hospitals can be very rewarding for seniors.
Suggestions for How
to Help:
 | Get involved with
RecycleMania, a nationwide
competition in recycling among colleges and universities |
| Help Others Anonymously! - Visit the
SSSSH home page (Secret Society
of Serendipitous Service to Hal) for ideas on how to give without getting.
Watch out, though -- it's addictive! |
|
National Service-Learning
Partnership - "combines community service with classroom curriculum" |
|
Join the Birthday Club - help children less
fortunate than you through the
Peter Pan Children's Fund, which benefits children's hospitals and allows
you to donate through its Birthday Club |
| Volunteer with your church. |
| Volunteer with your school. |
| Donate or help collect for
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF (the United Nations
Children's Fund) annual Trick-or-Treat fund-raiser. (1-800-252-KIDS) |
|
Sight Night - collect used
glasses on Halloween night for donation to needy children. 1-877-605-4242.
(sponsored by Lions Club and LensCrafters) |
| Set up a
Dump and Run outlet at your local college or university |
| Be a big brother or big sister (Big Brothers and Big Sisters (USA) and Big Brothers and Big Sisters (Canada)) |
| Volunteer with Habitat for
Humanity. |
| Volunteer
with the Salvation Army. |
| Volunteer with the
Great American
Bake Sale to help feed America's hungry. |
| Volunteer with Junior
Civitan |
| Volunteer with the YMCA - 1-888-333-9622 |
| Volunteer with a local adult
or child literacy group (look in phone
book under "literacy" or ask at your local library). |
| Volunteer to mentor younger children (call
police, the city, or juvenile
court for names of organizations) or see our
Mentoring page for suggestions |
| Volunteer with groups that
work to educate and/or care for homeless children |
| Volunteer for your local
National CASA Association
(court-appointed special advocates). CASA volunteers speak up for the best
interests of the child when a family must go through the court system. |
| Join Jaycees - a
community service organization. |
| Join AmeriCorps |
|
Volunteer with USA Freedom Corps |
| Volunteer with Camp Fire
Boys and Girls - 1-800-669-6884 |
| Volunteer with the local
veteran's hospital or nursing home. |
| Volunteer at a senior's
nursing home, senior's center, children's hospital,
or soup kitchen. |
| Volunteer for (or begin) an
organization like Do Something
(a network of youth working to improve their communities) or
Generations United (promotes intergenerational
efforts). |
| Volunteer for the local
ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals), the local animal shelter, or a local see-eye dog school. |
| Volunteer to baby-sit
children at the local women's shelter |
| Volunteer with a local hospital. |
| Volunteer with local library or community recreation center. |
| Volunteer with America's
Promise -- The Alliance for Youth - 1-888-559-6884 |
| Volunteer with National
Mentoring Partnership - 1-888-432-6368. See the
Safer Child Mentoring page for other groups that
provide mentoring opportunities. |
| Collect clothing, books
and/or toys for abused children and children in hospitals. |
| Clean up (and/or plant
trees and flowers in) a run-down part of the neighborhood -- the riverfront, a
local playground or park, a schoolyard, or a vacant lot. |
| Start a recycling program
in your community. |
| Help elderly, ill, or
disabled neighbors with grocery shopping or other chores. Help them paint their
house, build an access ramp, clean windows, or shovel snow. |
| Participate in a charity
walk or event, or offer to solicit donations for your favorite charity. |
| Participate in special
holiday charity campaigns, such as those listed on our
Christmas and Halloween pages. |
| Every day, do a secret good
deed for someone. |
| Volunteer for a local
politician or political cause you support. |
| Organize a neighborhood
association, or plan a block party for your neighbors. |
| Call your local police
department about instituting a Neighborhood Watch
program on your block and/or becoming a McGruff House. |
| National Crime
Prevention Council - suggestions on how parents, teens, teachers, law enforcement,
principals and the community at large can all help prevent school violence. |
