Here are 13 ways you can make a difference in your community:
1. Collect People’s Loose Change for Charity
Why: Because everyone has loose change that is weighing down their pockets or purse, and it’s a great and easy way to raise money.
2. Collect and Give Away Non-White Dolls for Children of Color
Why: Because kids want dolls who look like them, and not all children are blonde haired and blue eyed.
3. Have a Book Collection for Kids
Why: A lot of schools and after-school programs need books.
4. Sing with the Folks at the Nursing Home with Your Family
Why: Because time goes by v-e-r-y slowly in a nursing home and it’s great to show them they are not forgotten.
5. Organize a Dinner Train for an Ailing Family
Why: If someone is sick or has recently died, it’s a lovely gesture.
6. Package Toiletry for Homeless and Poor People
Why: No matter how many kits you pack, homeless shelters, food pantries, group homes, and low-income schools, they will still need more.
7. Host a Day of Beauty at a Women’s Shelter
Why: Anyone who is living at a shelter has sunk pretty low, and it’s nice for their self-esteem to be fussed over and made to look pretty.
8. Organize an E-Cycling Event
Why: Everyone has things like cell phones or computers that they no longer use that can either can be refurbished and used by others, or whose parts can be reused.
9. Collect Used Business Clothes for People Trying to Get Back in the Workforce
Why: Many people who are looking for work do not have the proper clothes to wear to an interview.
10. Join a Quilting Bee to Make Quilts for Soldiers
Why: There are many wounded soldiers returning from the Middle East who have many months of recovery ahead of them.
11. Take Part in a Job Fair for Low-Income Kids
Why: Many low-income kids have no idea what many jobs entail, starting with how to learn how to do them and have no idea how to get on the right path.
12. Collect New Socks and/or Underwear for Needy People
Why: No matter how many pairs of socks or underwear is donated, shelters, group homes, even some schools and food banks need more.
13. Help Low-Income Kids Write their College Essay
Why: The college bound kids at low-income schools are very special, and could use—and will really appreciate –—that extra attention to help them get to the next step.
Note: David Levinson is appearing at The Book Stall on Tuesday, November 9 at 7 p.m. He is the director of one of the largest regional volunteer organizations in the country. His book “Everyone Wins: How Absolutely Anyone Can Pitch In, Help Out, Give Back and Make the World a Better Place” gives specific advice on how, where and why volunteers can help and ideas for traditional and offbeat ways to contribute to the community.
