With the warmer weather and longer days of spring, most often our thoughts turn to outdoor activities and fun. But spring is also the traditional time for growth and renewal, and a great time to get started on service projects.
Why? It’s not just the right thing to do: Service and volunteerism can lighten your mood in a way nothing else will. As human beings, we’re wired to want good healthy relationships with other people. We are all connected to our world. And when you offer a helping hand to someone in need, you experience your own power to make a difference – which can get your mind off your own troubles.
In fact, the spring season is fast becoming a favorite time for people of all ages to serve in all kinds of volunteer projects. Nationwide, it has become a tradition for many junior high, high school and college students to voluntarily give up their spring break vacations in favor of a week or weekend long service project organized by families, churches, schools and other nonprofit organizations. Youth are fighting hunger, helping to build homes, lending a helping hand to people in need, and so much more.
This is such an amazing trend! Service is a powerful experience for everyone involved. If you’re ready to get involved, here’s a starter list of volunteer activities you can participate in close to home:
- Gather up old toys, books, or clothes to donate to a homeless shelter or organization that serves underprivileged youth.
- Clean out rain gutters for elderly, disabled or even just very busy neighbors. Offer to perform spring garden clean up by edging yards, removing leaves and other debris, or clearing out flowerbeds.
- Pick up trash from park areas whenever you see it.
- Volunteer to walk dogs, clean cages and play with animals at a shelter.
- Help to paint, fix or refurbish fences, benches or other outdoor structures that might need a little clean up after winter. Offer your services to churches, senior centers, and nonprofits.
- Organize a recycling run. If your neighborhood services don’t collect glass, electronic waste, green waste or other materials, scouts could notify residents of a pickup day and collect the items for transport.
- Visit a senior center to provide company to the elderly, serve meals at lunchtime or lead an activity, such as teaching tech skills.
- Teach English locally. Many nonprofit organizations that work with refugees have tutoring programs to help people learn to speak English. You can volunteer to help by taking teaching classes, or even just taking time to talk with a non-native English speaker, to help them learn and practice.
- Get in touch with your local county or municipal public works office to find opportunities to participate in a neighborhood clean up, trail building project, or fill sandbags to have on hand in case of spring runoff flooding.
These ideas are just the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg.’ Also, don’t forget that you can ALWAYS help out even closer to home! Start with your family. It’s sometimes easier to help strangers, but we all have someone close to us that could use some support and understanding.
Maybe you could run errands for an older uncle or aunt, or take your sister’s kids to school. Offering to organize the garage or closets, or to deep clean bathrooms are all great ways to help. It’s not hard to find opportunities to serve if you really pay attention to the needs of the people around you.
No matter how you choose to serve, you’ll be amazed at how rewarding it can be!