If you have felt the need to begin service work with your children but haven’t found the time, this summer might be the perfect time to start. Service work has all kinds of benefits for the whole family. When you volunteer your time, it makes you feel good about doing something helpful for your community or for others. It also provides you with a sense of purpose while you meet new people and learn new skills. Maybe your children will even find their life’s direction through volunteer work. There are so many opportunities to volunteer. Whatever you choose, it will certainly change your life for the better.
Maybe you have made a decision to volunteer but do not know where or how to get started. Involve your children in the decision making and ask them what type of service work is meaningful to them. Where would they feel they would make the most difference? What is feasible for all your children to get involved in? You might even want to include other families in your volunteer venture. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- If your family loves animals, you could volunteer at an animal shelter, a local zoo, or another facility. You might even volunteer to watch a neighbor’s pet while they are away from home. If a senior center or other organization will allow, you might consider volunteering with your pet in a pet therapy program. Wildlife parks are also a great place to volunteer. Sometimes these groups host different activities for fundraising and they need many volunteers for the function to run smoothly.
- Community improvement is always well received and is a great option for service work. Cleaning up litter, helping an elderly person with home maintenance, planting flowers and trees are just some ideas for you to help spruce up the neighborhood. If you are interested in recycling, visit a recycling center to find out what happens to recycled products and what products can be recycled. Help raise awareness in your community about the benefits of recycling.
- Visit the elderly in nursing homes, senior apartment buildings, or other retirement centers. There are many lonely senior citizens that would love to have an occasional conversation. If you have a musical talent, you could provide entertainment for them. You could also read poetry or other books. Starting a game night once a month to play board games or card games might be of interest to some of the residents in nursing homes or retirement centers.
- Learn about homeless shelters or food banks and volunteer your time. You might be asked to sort or pack food. At a soup kitchen, you could pick up or donate food, serve food, or help clean up. You can make simple care kits for the homeless that might include items such as combs, tissues, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and deodorant. Or you can stuff a pair of socks with a water bottle and a granola bar.
- If you like working with children, offer to babysit for a family while the parents have a night out. Local churches host Vacation Bible School during the summer and are always in need of volunteers. Or you could offer to help clean and organize your church nursery. Another idea for children is making craft kits for a children’s hospital in your area and take some time to visit them.
- If there is a particular organization that is near and dear to your heart, find out more about how you can personally be involved. There will be so many opportunities for you to be a part of helping to make a difference. Even volunteering your time during a race or run to raise money for the organization will be beneficial. You could also host a lemonade stand or bake sale and donate the money to the organization.
There is always a need for service work or volunteers. By giving a small amount of your time this summer, you will discover it has blessed you as much as it has the people you are serving. You will learn so much about yourself and others and might even pick up a new skill in the process!
