Great Ways to Serve Others

Great Ways to Serve Others

Have you ever thought about ways of helping people? Do you volunteer or have you ever wanted to volunteer but don’t know where to start? We have come up with a list of several good places where you could volunteer and/or find new and rewarding ways of helping others around you. Showing empathy and helping other people is basic human nature. Doing good feels wonderful for the person doing it, as well as whoever is on the receiving end, and even the smallest gesture can show a person that they are appreciated and valued. Also, the best way to teach your child to be service-oriented is for you to be actively seeking out ways to serve. Our children learn primarily by example and they will repeat what they see in us.

 Serve through your school

Here are some ideas of how to serve through joining one of these groups at school and some links to their websites…

1. Amnesty International: Start or join an existing chapter of this human rights organization at your school and fight against human rights abuses around the world.

2. Key Club: Develop leadership skills through this service-oriented club.

3. Students Against Destructive Decisions: Promote youth health and safety in your community and around the country.

4. Operation Smile: Raise money and build awareness for children with cleft palates and cleft lips around the world.

5. Special Olympics: Help people with disabilities participate in sporting events.

6. Habitat for Humanity: Organize a group to help build homes for people in need. (NB: Participants must be 16+ and have parental permission if they are under 18.)

7. Sustainability or environmental awareness club: Educate others at your school and in your community about the importance of sustainability, and host green-conscious events.

8. Tutoring club: Organize a group of students to tutor peers or other children in your community.

9. General volunteering club: Mobilize classmates to get involved with different organizations and causes. You might volunteer at soup kitchens and hospitals, for instance.

Serve through organizations in your community

 

1.    Teach computer skills at your local library or senior center.

2.    Tutor at a community center, your high school, or another school in your area.

3.    Volunteer at an animal shelter. (NB: Age restrictions may apply.)

4.    Volunteer at a local daycare.

5.    Help out at a children’s reading group at your library.

6.    Run social media for a nonprofit.

7.    Help out at an afterschool program.

8.    Volunteer at a hospital.

9.    Donate your time to a senior center.

10.Start a community garden.

DIY Community Service Opportunities

 

1. Send care packages to deployed troops. 

2. Collect gifts for children’s hospitals.

3. Start a book drive and donate books to a local library or literacy center.

4. Prepare meals for soup kitchens and homeless centers.

5. Have a bake sale to raise money for a charity of your choosing.

6. Organize a letter-writing campaign to write letters to your state representatives about an important cause.

7. Knit blankets for people in need. Check out Project Linus for tips.

8. Check out DoSomething.org to find projects that are important to you. Through this site, you can specify the type of project, time commitment, and cause you’d prefer.

Event Volunteer Opportunities

1. Race for the Cure: Organize a group to run or walk and raise money for breast cancer research.

2. Earth Day cleanup: Collect trash or clean up a park to promote environmental awareness.

3. Blood Drive: Connect with the Red Cross to organize a drive at your school. (NB: Donors must be 18+ to participate or 17 with parental permission.)

4. Be the Match Registry: Recruit others to join the bone marrow registry. You could also volunteer and join events to fundraise for the organization. (NB: You must be 18+ to donate.)

5. National disaster relief fundraiser: Host an event to raise funds to help people and communities affected by a disaster.

These are just a few of the opportunities that await you through service to others. Please share in the comment section below any ideas you might have on how best to serve others.