Do you want to make a difference in your community? Volunteer! Research reveals that both kids and adults benefit from volunteering:
Family members become closer when they spend quality family time serving others.
Families communicate better when they’re volunteering.
Family members become role models to each other, to those they serve, and to those who have never served.
Families can make significant contributions by serving others.
When kids volunteer with their families, they’re more likely to become lifelong volunteers.
Kids are more likely to see the value of service when they do it with their families compared to when they serve others only with their peers.
Serving others builds Developmental Assets in young people. Asset #9 is Service to Others. Volunteering not only builds that asset but many more since volunteering provides a key way to support young people, empower them, provides clear boundaries and expectations, gives a constructive way to spend time, promotes a commitment to learning, instills positive values, builds social competencies, and promotes a strong sense of identity.
Connect with a local church or your child's school to discover volunteer opportunities.
The organization Doing Good Together focuses on ways that families can volunteer together. Be sure to sign up for their monthly e-mail newsletters which include one simple family volunteer activity that you can do at home with your family.
I’ve discovered that when I volunteer with my kids, they become much more aware of the social issues around them. One of my kids has become an environmental activist. My other kid has become a humanitarian, promoting the equal rights of all people. I believe that doing family volunteer activities has shown them that they can make a difference because through these activities they do make a difference.
Tell Us:----> How do you volunteer? Share a story, idea, or resource!
Volunteering has been part of my adult life and I now instill it in all the children I’m responsible for (nieces, nephews, godchildren). I found a great way to volunteer and have them see it in action. I now volunteer with Operation HOPE/Banking on Our Future (operationhope.org). It is a non-profit that teaches financial literacy at schools. It’s a great organization, I get to volunteer and the students learn about money with a real curriculum. The best part is I can tell the kids in my life to save money and that volunteering is important.
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[...] 21. Do something good for someone else. Bake cookies or cookie bars. Drop them off and wish them a happy day. Get more ideas here. [...]
Another GREAT article/resource! Readers may also be interested in, “Twenty Ways to Foster Values in Children.” See
http://www.kellybear.com/ParentTips.html
Volunteering has been part of my adult life and I now instill it in all the children I’m responsible for (nieces, nephews, godchildren). I found a great way to volunteer and have them see it in action. I now volunteer with Operation HOPE/Banking on Our Future (operationhope.org). It is a non-profit that teaches financial literacy at schools. It’s a great organization, I get to volunteer and the students learn about money with a real curriculum. The best part is I can tell the kids in my life to save money and that volunteering is important.
Post new comment