Lend A Hand

There are thousands of things we can do to make a difference. Here’s a list long enough to keep you busy all year round.

Spring

1. Cut some flowers from your garden and share them with a lonely or elderly neighbor.
2. Go for a walk with someone you know who is lonely and doesn’t have much to do. Just spending time with someone can cheer up their day and maybe gain you a new friend.
3. Collect old eyeglasses and donate them to a charity that can use them. Search online for “places to donate eyeglasses”
4. Offer to do some gardening for an elderly or disabled neighbor who can’t garden as well anymore.
5. Buy a gift certificate for an ice cream cone, a movie rental, etc and give it as a gift with a note letting someone know how special they are and how much you appreciate them.
6. Pay for the coffee order or fast food order for the car behind you in a drive-through. Have the cashier let them know to pass the favor forward.
7. Make a picnic for a neighbor or elderly friend. Even if they can’t get out, they’re sure to enjoy the chicken, potato salad and apple pie!
8. Compliment every service person you come across today. Let the cashier know you appreciate her smile or her quick service, etc. Go out of your way to look for ways to make others feel special today.
9. Become a foster parent for homeless cats and/or dogs. At this time of the year many shelters are overrun with strays and need to find places to stay until they can be adopted.
10. Someday when your family is planning a fun event, invite at least one child you feel could really use a day of fun.
11. Clean the gutters for an elderly or disabled neighbor
12. Build or buy a birdfeeder for a housebound neighbor, friend or family. Hang it in a tree where they can see it and make sure to keep it filled with birdseed.
13. Plant a neighborhood garden. Invite everyone in the neighborhood to help out. When the vegetables are ready to harvest you can donate them to a local homeless shelter where fresh produce is hard to come by.
14. Start writing letters to soldiers overseas and away from their families. It means a lot to those men and women to know that we support and appreciate their sacrifice and haven’t forgotten them.
15. Contact a children’s sport team in your area and see if they are willing to donate their old equipment to a less fortunate team.
16. Give blood. Simple, quick and much needed.
17. Throw a tea party or movie day for an area Senior Center.
18. Build or buy birdhouses and hang them everywhere you can. Birds are beneficial to the community and beautiful to watch.
19. Plant trees anywhere possible. Visit the Arbor Day website to learn about getting tree seedlings.
20. Offer to collect plastic bags from your neighbors to bring to a local store that recycles plastic bags.
21. Put a notice in the paper asking for unwanted musical instruments. There are plenty of kids who want to learn to play who can’t afford them.
22. If you have long hair you can get it cut and donate the cuttings to Locks of Love – a wonderful organization that gives hair pieces to children suffering hair loss due to medical conditions.
23. Join CASA and help a child caught in the child welfare and family court system.
24. Hold a book drive for the local libraries. Many charities don’t like donated books while just as many libraries have a tough time finding funds to increase their selection.
25. Clean up the local park. Grab some trash bags, maybe some friends and just walk through a public park picking up litter as you go. Not only do you enjoy a lovely day in the park, you make the park more lovely for others.

Summer

1. If you know some specialized skill, offer it free once a week to someone you know that needs your service but can’t afford it.
2. Every evening after dinner take your family for a walk. Bring along small trash bags and pick up litter along your path.
3. If you own a pool you can throw a Pool Party as a reward for a group of kids who spent the morning cleaning up a community area.
4. Visit local entertainment spots – skate rinks, amusement parks, bowling alleys, movie cinemas – and ask for FREE coupons that you can give to kids that need to feel special and need to know they are important.
5. Shoot off an email to someone each day reminding them that they are appreciated.
6. Spend an hour volunteering for a local charity
7. Leave cookies and thank you notes for delivery people, mail carriers, sanitation people, etc.
8. Babysit for a single mom while she takes a much deserved break.
9. Surprise your neighbor by mowing their lawn while they are at work.
10. Join Habitat for Humanity and help build a home for a deserving family. Don’t worry if you don’t have any building skills, there is always plenty for everyone to do.
11. Help maintain the home of a sick or elderly neighbor – mow their lawn, paint, fix a leak, whatever needs to be done.
12. If you own an air compressor, you can spend a day one weekend offering “Free Air Pressure Check”. When cars stop, check their pressure and inflate if needed.
13. Give a tomato plant to someone who would enjoy it. One plant can provide as much as 5 pounds of fresh tomatoes. Make sure they place it in a sunny spot and keep it well watered.
14. Create a “Good Deed Patrol” – pay attention to people in your community who are doing good deeds. Then ask a local paper or radio station if they will give a small bit to say thank you to these people. Recognition may encourage further good deeds.
15. If you spot a good sale at the supermarket pick up a few dollars worth of items for the local food bank
16. Have a yard sale and donate your profits instead of keeping them.
17. Organize a neighborhood yard sale and work together to raise as much money as possible for one cause. This also serves to bring the community closer.
18. Offer to run errands for a sick or elderly neighbor.
19. Collect poster to decorate nursing homes and shelters.
20. Paint over graffiti in playgrounds, on schools, and on local businesses.
21. Grab your family or a couple of friends and head out to clean up a yard that’s horribly overgrown. Make sure to recycle all the yard waste.
22. Extend an invitation for family celebrations to someone you know is lonely. Make sure they sincerely feel wanted.
23. Commit to conserving energy and water. Hang clothes outside to dry and use rainwater for your lawn and garden.
24. Throw a block party. Invite everyone you know and all your neighbors.
25. Get together a group of kids and adults who like to work hard and work outside. Head over to a community center or playground and spend some time cleaning the grounds, planting flowers, fixing quipment and repainting what needs to be painted. Throw in some new equipment purchased with money raised during a group yard sale or bake sale and you have the makings of a great time and a good deed.

Autumn

1. Spend your lunch hour picking up litter. Ask other coworkers to help.
2. Send a thank you note or card to your local police or fire station.
3. Give your old cell phones to a homeless shelter or home for battered women.
4. Buy a large glass or clear plastic jar and have everyone in the family drop their loose change in it at the end of the day. Every 6 or 12 months donate the money to a charity you all agree on.
5. Get in touch with a local school and ask how you can help. You may be able to mentor a child, provide tutoring or monitor lunchtime or recess.
6. Offer to teach a free class on Making a Difference at a community college. Homework assignments can be doing good deeds. The final exam can be a large group project in the community
7. Offer to teach the same free class to an elementary, middle, or high school.
8. Purchase tulip and daffodil bulbs now when they are cheapest and plant them anywhere they will cheer people up.
9. The next time someone is rude or impatient with you, respond with a smile and a kind word. You may cheer up their day.
10. Volunteer to rear to children in your local hospital.
11. If you have office, computer or managerial skills you can offer them to an organization that needs them.
12. Collect socks and underwear for the homeless. These items are rarely donated and a pack of new underwear will only cost someone about 5 bucks.
13. Ask the manager at the local performing arts center to give free passes to an event to children in a group home or shelter.
14. Offer to weatherize someone’s house for the winter by installing insulation and weather stripping on doors and windows.
15. Secure the doormats to the floor of an elderly person’s home to prevent tripping
16. If you can paint, offer to create a mural for your local school, hospital, etc.
17. Offer to design the website for a local charity
18. Create a Squidoo lens to raise money for your charity/charities.
19. Offer to read to a visually impaired person or to borrow books on tape from the library for them and return them when due.
20. Design and maintain a website for your neighborhood.
21. Make it a habit to bring dinner to new neighbors their first evening in their new home. After such a busy day, they’ll be happy to have one less thing to think about.
22. Organize an ‘Autumn Fun Day’ for the community children.
23. Take your old magazines to a local senior center or homeless shelter.
24. Ask the manager at your local grocery store to provide gift certificates (excluding alcohol) to hand out to the homeless.
25. Send an ailing child a card or small gift. Visit www.makeachildsmile.org for more info.

Winter

1. Become a bone marrow donor. There’s great need and too few volunteers.
2. Become the email pen pal of someone in need. A child in a group home or detention center, a recovering addict in a halfway house or someone in a nursing home.
3. Donate your old computers to an elderly neighbor and spend a few hours teaching them how to use it. This will allow them to stay in touch with friends and family who live far away.
4. Teach a free class at your local YMCA/YWCA
5. Put together a group of people who are willing and able to refurbished and repair toys to be donated to needy children.
6. If you live in an area where the show sometimes covers the fire hydrants you can make brightly colored flags to help emergency teams find them if needed.
7. Take a bag of salt or ice melt to an elderly or disabled neighbor to help clear icy stairs and pathways.
8. Offer to help an elderly or disabled neighbor put up decorations for the holidays, write out and mail cards and enjoy freshly baked cookies
9. Create a school website for a local school to allow students to stay updated and communicate with each other.
10. Commit to buying products packaged in recyclable containers
11. Visit www.VolunteerMatch.org and/or www.unitedway.org for volunteer opportunities in your area.
12. If you can quilt, knit, or crochet you can make a blanket for a homeless of battered women’s shelter.
13. Start a collection of old towels and blankets for local animal shelters. Dry food, clay litter and rubber balls are usually appreciated also.
14. Make holiday cards for children who will be spending the holiday in the hospital.
15. Collect and donate gently used coats, hats, scarves and mittens to group homes and homeless shelters.
16. Bake goodies and make “sweet treat” baskets for your neighbors.
17. Host a night of holiday movies for the neighborhood children. Serve popcorn and hot cocoa to make the even complete.
18. If you can knit or crochet, make up a bunch of hats and pairs of mittens and donate them to a local head start, preschool or day care center. You children are constantly losing these items and care providers appreciate having extra pairs on hand for when the children go outside.
19. Purchase a turkey and all the trimmings for a holiday meal. Donate this meal to a food bank.
20. Purchase several small toys for a needy family that you know or to donate to toys for tots.
21. Make pinecone bird feeders and hang them from trees for the birds that stick around for the winter.
22. Make and donate fleece blankets to the neonatal unit at the local hospital
23. Shovel the snow on the steps and pathway of a disabled or elderly neighbor.
24. If you are good at building or fixing computers you can take discarded parts and rebuild for people unable to get a computer.
25. Always wear a smile. It brightens the day of everyone who sees you.

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What’s good for the Earth is good for us so it is possible to do things that can make a difference in the world and still help yourself out at the same time. Of course this shouldn’t be your main motivation but a nice side effect all the same.

1. Landscape your home – Green things give off oxygen and landscaping makes your home more beautiful and increases its value.
2. Switch to a hybrid vehicle – Hybrids use less gas which is a relief on our stressed oil supply while costing you less at the gas pump.
3. Find out if your area has a coupon charity – Some areas have a group of people who collect coupons that others don’t want and use them to help buy food for the hungry. You get rid of some clutter without wasting paper and help the food banks too. If your area doesn’t have a coupon charity, you may be able to fin one out of area that will let you mail coupons to them.
4. Switch to canvas grocery bags – You probably already know that using reusable bags saves trees, energy and keeps tons of plastic out of landfills. But canvas bags also have the benefit of being stronger (no more broken bags and groceries all over the front steps) and larger (why carry seven bags when you can carry four?)
5. Make your own mulch and compost- If you like to garden you can save quite a bit of money by making your own mulch and compost. The benefit to the environment is recycling without wasting precious energy. Shredded paper makes pretty good mulch and vegetable waste breaks down into usable compost in about 6 months.

There’s five examples proving that helping our planet doesn’t have to be expensive, time-consuming, or unprofitable. Do you still need a reason to lend a hand?

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It is said that pride cometh before the fall. The saying is meant to remind people to be humble and modest. It’s a good lesson. Overly proud people think so much of themselves that not only do they annoy the people they meet, they also tend to believe that they can do nothing wrong. Pride leads to overconfidence leads to chaos.

But there is another sort of pride – a pride that I think even the Lord would approve of. It is the pride in yourself that makes you get out of bed, shower, get dressed and do something productive all day. The pride that makes you keep your house clean, well maintained and in good repair. Also the pride that prevents you from destroying others property, vandalizing public areas and stealing from others.

This pride goes by many other names; self-respect, good citizenship, dignity but really it is just pride. Thinking too highly of yourself to live in filth, not take care of your possessions, or destroy that which does not belong to you.

Teaching pride in yourself, your home and your community is a lesson we should stress to every child. If we did I bet there would be a lot less petty crime in the world.

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CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. These advocates are assigned to a child currently caught in the child welfare system.

Children caught in the system are often moved from place to place, questioned by many different police officers, judges, doctors, and social workers. As you can imagine this can be a terrifying and insecure time for the child.

CASA volunteers are typically assigned only one child at a time and will stay with that child until the child is in a safe, permanent home. Your only job is to care for the child and stand up for the child’s rights when needed.

Currently there are nearly 60,000 CASA volunteers while there are nearly half a million children in the child welfare system. Obviously there is a great need for more volunteers. In order to become a CASA volunteer you will have to attend 30 hours of training after passing a background test. Most advocates spend about 10 hours a month working on their case.

To learn more about CASA and how you can help: www.nationalcasa.org

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We’ve all heard that this is the only world we’ve got and we’ve got to take care of it not only for us but for future generations to come. True, all true.

Also true is that our ancestors knew next to nothing about being careful with the environment and left a big fat global warming, landfill overflowing mess in our laps. Since time travel hasn’t yet been perfected and our forefathers probably wouldn’t listen to our warnings anyway, all we can do is try to fix as much as we can now.

Here’s 10 ways to get started:

1. Buy reusable bags for when you go to the store. Not only do they help the planet they hold more at one time than paper or plastic and have convenient handles.
2. Plant a tree (or two or three) every arbor day. More info.
3. Have a drive-free day once a week. Commit to not driving your car for one day a week. Walk, bike or stay home.
4. Start a compost pile or build a compost bin.
5. Recycle your old cell phones, computers and other electronics. This keeps harmful toxins out of the landfills. Your local sanitation department or city hall should have information.
6. Reuse anything you can before recycling. For example, you can use shredded paper and newspaper for mulch or pet litter while glass jars and bottles can be reused. This saves the energy spent on recycling.
7. Use greywater instead of letting it go down the drain. Here’s more information about household greywater and its uses.
8. Use only organic mulch, pesticides and weed killers in your gardens. Shredded paper can serve as mulch, compost fertilizes the soil giving it much needed nutrients, certain herbs planted between other plants can repel pests while providing nutrients to the soil that they need.
9. Collect rainwater to use for watering your lawn, garden or for washing your car. Be sure to cover any standing water so not to attract mosquitoes.
10. As you update your appliances commit to only buying energy saver products. They use less energy and may allow you to claim a credit on your taxes.

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For years I put off volunteering because I wasn’t sure what to expect, I didn’t know how many different opportunities there were, and I didn’t know how to get started. I’m sure others out there are putting off getting involved for similar reasons.

First of all organizations looking for volunteers are very flexible about working with your schedule. If you can only offer an hour or two every week, they’ll be more than grateful for any help. Too many people feel they are too busy for charity work leaving organizations desperate for volunteers.

Secondly there are literally hundreds if not thousands of volunteer opportunities doing all sorts of things. No longer does volunteering mean working in a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter. You can help build a house, hang up clothing, do office work, help design websites, and on and on. In fact if you possess any sort of specialized skill it’s likely an organization out there could benefit from it.

Lastly, all you have to do to find more than enough volunteer opportunities is visit the United Way website and search for charities looking for help in your area. I live in a moderate-sized city in Rhode Island and there were over 480 opportunities within 10 miles from my house.

So make this the year that you get out there and get involved. Trust me when I say volunteering is its own reward.

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Poverty is a major issue in America today. More than 37 million live at or beneath the poverty level which is pathetic at only $21,200 for a family of four per year. The fact is most people/families can’t live at or slightly above the level of poverty. Statistics show that an average family of four (two parents, two children) need at least twice that to survive – which means just the basics; no braces, no glasses, no college, no extra activities.

This year, as our country’s recession deepens, we must make a commitment to fight to combat poverty. We can do this by getting informed about poverty, getting out there and doing our part in food kitchens, food and clothing drives, donate money, food, clothing, anything that you can spare – most of all your time. As a society it is our responsibility to share what we have extra with those who have-not.

Visit these links to learn more about poverty: U.S. Census, Health and Human Services, Global Issues

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Last year my family came up with an interesting idea to do our part while having some fun too. We decided to do 6 service projects for two months each. Not only would we do some good it would also give my two sons a chance to discover which cause they were most passionate about. For this reason we did two animal-related projects, two environmentally-focused projects and two people-related projects. Here are the ideas we came up with for each two-month chunk.

January – February: Collecting supplies for local animal shelters. Most shelters are in desparate need of supplies especially in these tough economic times. Most shelters are also more than happy to let you know exactly what supplies they need most. Dry food, clay cat litter, and dog toys are usually in heavy demand.

March – April: Planting flowers outside a youth center and playground. Naturally you have to get permission before doing this but most centers are happy for the free landscaping.

May – June: Cleaning up a local beach. We took a bunch of trash bags and walked up and down the beach picking up litter that had accumulated. Our goal was to have the beach looking beautiful for the start of the beach season.

July – August: Create cards and gift bags for the children’s ward at our local hospital. Ideas for the gift bag are small puzzles, Rubik cubes, silly putty and other small activities that will help bored kids be less bored.

September – October: We spent these two months spreading information about animal cruelty and how to prevent it as well as the role of shelters in our society. We also invited a woman from one of the local shelters to give a demonstration at my sons’ high school about protecting animals and volunteer opportunities.

November – December: Last but certainly not least my family spent the holiday season doing what we could to spread good cheer. For this reason we decided to do a bunch of small things instead of one big one. We spent a couple of weeks collecting gently-used coats for a drive the boys were having at school. We bought some toys and clothes and donated them to toys for tots and an angel network that does almost the same thing but also gifts clothing. We spent a weekend putting  holiday decorations up for some elderly neighbors. None of these activities took much time or effort but by the end of the year we felt like we had made a real difference and touched more than a few lives.

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The easiest way to try to make a difference is to write to your elected representative. But how do you find the addresses of your officials?

It depends on what level official you are interested in writing to. City-level representatives, like Mayors, should have all contact information available on your city website. Keep in mind that most city (and state) websites end in .gov instead of .com.

State-level officials’ addresses as well as their email addresses are available on your state;s main website. Here is where you will find your state congressmen. Again you will probably be looking for a .gov domain name.

Lastly you can find all of the federal representatives’ contact information on one website Congress.org. This site is also good for checking out what bills are being voted on and how your officials are voting. Helpful if you want to find your allies and know your foes.

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Once upon a time neighborhoods were tiny communities where most everyone know everyone and there was always a helping hand available. Today too many neighbors are merely civil giving maybe a smile and nod if they see each other. Consequently we have lost a coherence, traded security and belonging for privacy.

Back in the day, neighbors watched out for each other and theirs. If a neighbor had seen me as a child playing in the street, she would’ve sent me home. If my mother had ever seen a neighbor’s yard being vandalized she would have taken notice and reported the incident to the neighbor or the authorities. Today most people just mind their own business and refuse to get involved.

I long for the days where neighbors were more like extended family. Believe it or not there are steps you can take to bring your neighborhood closer and build a friendlier community.

1. Start a Neighborhood Committee- Pass around flyers (you can leave them inside storm doors) inviting neighbors to a neighborhood meeting to discuss future improvements to the neighborhood. Don’t forget to serve refreshments. Once you have people gathered you can talk about forming groups to deal with specific purposes such as a neighborhood watch, welcome wagon, neighborhood newsletter, etc.
2. Throw a block party – A block party is a get-together of several neighbors in one area. Everyone brings some food, some drinks (non-alcoholic of course) and some good cheer. You can set up a Mp3 player and some speakers to provide music as well.
3. Do some landscaping- Every street has an area that could use a few flowers. Perhaps a church, school, or community center could use a little landscaping. Gather together a group of neighbors and spend the day raking, mowing, pruning and planting to beautify your neighborhood.
4. Start a neighborhood newsletter- Keep your neighbors informed about events and going on with a simple newsletter. You can include upcoming events, births, school events, special accomplishments of fellow neighbors, church events, etc. You can even have kids from the neighborhood draw pictures or comics and include a pecial section for them.
5. Start A Neighborhood Tag- Begin a game of “tag” by leaving a platter of goodies and a note on a neighbor’s steps. The note should state that you are grateful for your neighbor and that they have been ‘tagged’ and must continue by leaving a small gift of gratitude and a copy of the note. The goal here is for neighbors to show gratitude and kindness towards each other. Eventually everyone in the neighborhood should be the recipient of a “tag”.

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