Volunteer work and Charitable Giving - involving your children

[Justicedog]

If you don't want to listen to what I do for volunteer work, don't open this thread.

I'm including what I do because I'm looking for a way to involve my kids or to get them to understand that volunteering, and doing for others is important.

Part of the reason I work for a non-profit organization is a belief in helping those who need it. It's not possible to involve my children in my work.

When we get those Scholastic Book order forms, I order extras of books and bring in books to give to the children with whom we work or the children of those who come into our office. (We have a kids room with a bookshelf of books inviting children to take a book with them when they leave.) My kids are marginally aware that I do this, I don't make a big deal about it, but if they ask who those books are for, I'll tell them they're for kids who don't get to have new books.

My kids see me volunteer at the school and for the PTA, but I'm not sure that they really get it, that it's a volunteer thing, that I'm doing it to try to improve the school.

I've brought stuff we're no longer using to a charity with the kids and told them we're giving them to charity so that those who need the things and cannot afford them can get them. DD wanted us to go ask Charity for her racecar toddler bed back.

I've thought of a soup kitchen type work, but am concerned about what they may see there.

Also, I've a disability in this area because my dh doesn't feel the need to volunteer or assist others at all.

How do you include your children in volunteering and how do you get them to understand that it's important to do for others?

[irisheyes81]

My kids are still pretty young (4 and under), so I stick with letting them help me pick up food for the food bank and take it down to the drop off center. I explain why we are donating the food, so even though they might not understand yet, they will see it at something normal that they should do as a kind person. Also, they come with me to take things into Goodwill, and I explain why we are donating their toys and unused furniture. My oldest dd was very upset when I took one of her tables to goodwill, which I think is normal for her age, but at least it will get her started on the path to understanding that 1) not everyone has the things she has and 2) it is good to help them. I have them put money into donation boxes when we see them, again explaining what the money will be going towards. I think she will be old enough soon to help out at a soup kitchen, which is something I would really like to have her do. I think the worst she is going to see is how badly some people have to live, which is not a bad thing for anyone to see.

[TuetonicWillow]

My oldest has gone to the soup kitchen with me and our local atheists for charity group. I bet that will leave a few mouths gaping open. He's also accompanied me and the 501st at various events like March of Dimes parade, a police widow's charity fund. He's come with us when we've done collection tables at local shopping centers, usually for the local children's hospital. DS also stayed with me twice last year in our toy drive, which we do in conjunction with the Marines (Toys for Tots)

DH has gotten both older kids involved with two events run by his Scottish Rite lodge. That's an ongoing thing. There are other things that come up here and there, like family night bingo through my local women's business league, the profits going to a women's shelter. And so on and so on.

More important than any of that, they see me extend generositry to friends, both when they need it and when they don't. That, IMO, is the best way to instill charity in anyone. Lead by daily example.

[Justicedog]

How old are they when they go to the soup kitchen?

[TuetonicWillow]

Mine started at 11. He can't serve or prep but he cleans and helps load and unload incoming supplies. He also helps hand out flyers to the diners that come in.

[irisheyes81]

Yes, I agree with TW...just being a generous person yourself will help teach your children to do the same. And I find it unfortunate that some people would see atheists doing charity work as odd...as if being religious makes a person kind and caring.

[Tweet]

Well, we've done lots of things over the years that even our younger kids have been able to help. I'm on the board of a non profit group and we do various community services throughout the year. The things my children have been able to help with have been : helping prepare and serve food to the local Daybreak Shelter(this is a shelter specifically for families that are homeless and need help getting back on their feet),knitting hats for preemies (we use a loom and the older kids can help. We then go as a group to the hospital), and various fund raisers for the Mother to Mother fund. For those fund raisers, the kids have helped prepare snacks . We've also done walk- a -thons that the whole family can participate in .

We've had the kids help post flyers for such events, decorate,and clean up and set up. They've also donated their own spare change to various programs we've donated to. We also do the Toys for Tots and they've helped clean out their toys for donation as well. We're hoping to sponsor a family this year for the holidays which basically consists of serving dinner and visiting with said family. It should be fun!

Anyway, we've been fortunate to have had many ways for the kiddos to be involved at an early age. There certainly hasn't been a shortage of things to do!

[QuiltyConscience]

Dh is a scout leader, and they have done several community clean ups, Either at people's homes, or public areas. All the kids pitch in to pickup trash, plant flowers, rake, etc.

and on Holidays, the scouts pick a family who needs it and gets them Thanksgiving dinner , Christmas presents, etc. The boys do some of the cooking with the parents and help get things ready.


Our Church has a program for Christmas, where the different Sunday schools donate toys and clothes to be given for Christmas presents for families living in a shelter in town. Jake helps pick out toys for that. And the kids help wrap presents. They really get excited about making the packages look nice.

I have donated knitted hats for MIFA, and I will be teaching our Homeschool group how to crochet and knit, and their project will be a baby hat for MIFA.


I volunteer at the Animal Shelter, and as soon as Jake is old enough that the shelter will allow it, I'll have him come help.

My goal is to get the kids to see that the little things they can do, picking up some trash, making one hat, buying one toy, all of that makes a difference to somebody.

[Tweet]

Something else we've done that is just really easy..when someone we know has had a surgery,death in the family, or some other crisis, we all get together and do a dinner or two. The kids can draw (or G's case, scribble,lol) some pics and we put it in with the dinner(s)

[Justicedog]

...And I find it unfortunate that some people would see atheists doing charity work as odd...as if being religious makes a person kind and caring.



Oh, I hadn't put together the mouths gapping that way, or any way for that matter. I agree.

[Sashahomeschoolmama]

My kids are 7 and 9 and they recently worked at the soup kitchen. They cleaned tables and took food to people who were in wheelchairs and such. We live in a very small town so I wasn't terribly worried about what they might see as compared to if we lived in, say, Brooklyn (I'm not trying to stereotype but I mean there aren't any visibly homeless "bag lady" types, mentally unstable people, and so on where we were serving). I've seen homeless people in LA and stuff and it's nothing like that.

We give surplus crops to the community kitchens in the summer and the local Catholic charity accepts raw cheeses and farm eggs. The kids love taking these things since it's something that they work hard to create.

We donate our old stuff to Goodwill but that's not very satisfying for them.

In the past in the fall we've bought backpacks, taken the school supply lists that are put out at Wal-Mart, and bought supplies to donate to the school for kids who need it. I didn't have the energy this year with Seryozha's birth and everything.

This holiday season I'd like to take the kids to a nursing home to pass out homemade cookies or something. I've worked for an Alzheimer's unit in the past and it's a sad, lonely place during the holidays.

[Ma_Whit]

My kids have been coming to the animal shelter to volunteer with me since they were 7, 5, and 3. They help with cleaning, feeding, watering, and loving. They've also helped collect money to donate ot the shelter.

When dd1 turened 8, she started a collection for the local homeless shelter/outreach. She started with her $50 birthday check from her grandparents, and by the time she had finished her collection, she was able to donate well over $600. This was her third donation to the homeless shelter, and by far the largest. They let her earmark part of the money for a special meal at the shelter--she chose the menu and helped serve the food.

I recently started a cat rescue, and they volunteer their labor all the time, helping with the cats, donating change and leftover gift card balances, etc.

[Sameach]

We do volunteer work around whatever is interesting to them at the time, and we also really try and relate it to our religion since my kids are definitely in the religious minority where we live. In the late summer we stocked backpacks for children living in war-torn areas in the Middle East. This fall they seem to be really into the military, so we're creating Hanukkah celebration baskets for Jewish families at Ft. Bragg who have parents deployed overseas. At Christmas we always pick children's names off of the angel tree at the church where I work. They love shopping for kids their own ages.

[still_me]

How old are your kids JD?

We have a give, save, spend thing going with DS1. Our local grocery store has veterans at it a lot, so DS1 usually gives to them because, well, to be honest, they talk to him like he is a person. He knows when he sees those men that they talk to him and he told me he likes helping them out. I've briefly touched on war with him so far and more about what they do and why. It also has a lot to do with our family being saturated with military too.

I give both boys money to give to people when we see them outside stores. I also give money to different charities throughout the year when the time comes to donate.

As for bigger things, we help out families throughout the year in our community. I am upfront with DS1 when he asks why we are going shopping for people we don't know at Christmas, or why we are donating clothes or food. DS1&2 give toys from their own stockpile to other kids through our church or Goodwill. The toys are gently used and they know they have too much to play, so DS1 asked if they could give some away. We also help out families at DS1's preschool for Christmas and donate things to the classrooms.

And for really small things, I show DS1 and DS2 that packaging sometimes is different on products because money is going to a charity. Of course lately the Susan G Komen foundation has been on a lot of things this month because of Breast Cancer Awareness. I'll show them that we are getting that type of yogurt for instance because of it. I talk to them about how every little bit helps.

We also pick up trash when we see it. DS1 is old enough to hold doors for others so he does now (when he can handle the lighter doors). We have some neighbors that we help and I often make food for people we know who have lost loved ones or are sick and he helps. We pick up sticks in our neighbors yard when storms have blown through because she is too old to do it herself. DH does free plumbing work on people's houses that we know are in need.

The things we do don't always involve large amounts of money, but we do give it when we can. Openly talking about what we have and why we are grateful is big in our family. In '09 DH and I decided we'll start doing Autism and Breast Cancer walks. They are two things that our family has dealt with so those will be our first walks. After that we'll hopefully be able to do the March of Dimes walks.

I don't know if any of what we do can help you get some ideas, but I think you are giving a great example through what you do at work. Books for children are vital. I think I might start picking up some more books with our book orders and donating them to the local Women and Children's shelter.

[WalkingTittyBar]

Funny you should post this....My ds (13yo) and I just volunteered yesterday at the local homeless shelter for the first time. We had 3 kids to work with. We read them a Halloween story, made a spider web with paint and a marble, and sang Halloween songs.

Ds is normally shy in situations like that, but yesterday he really surprised me by getting involved by talking alot to the little ones and actually joining in the singing. He also helped me set up the room and supplies. He was so nice and polite. This will be an ongoing thing for us to do together a couple times a month.

We also pick one or two children from the Angel Tree to buy Christmas gifts for and ds helps pick out the gifts. Im not really sure that makes much of an impact on him though because he doesnt actually "see" where our efforts are going. I think I like the idea of hiim being face-to-face with people. I definitely plan to have him involved in more volunteer activities soon.

What has really motivated me to start this with him has been his bad attitude and bad grades. He really needs humbling, and I think he got a dose of reality yesterday at the homeless shelter. The Activities Manager sat down and talked to ds and I for a while yesterday about how things are ran at the shelter. And she talked about how making bad decisions, laziness, etc can leave a person homeless or in a terrible situation. (Not that she was saying that about their clients, just in generally conversation.) I believe it had an impact on ds because after we left, he really opened up to me about alot of things. I feel like it helped he and I to reconnect.

I have been doing volunteer work and non-profit work since I was 18 and I love it. I think its what I am meant to do with my life, one of the few things that comes naturally to me. So I also want to give ds a little direction in a possible career of social work or something of that nature.

[still_me]

WTB, that is so great that your son was able to open up to you! I'm glad that you two have found something to share and that it has helped him out. It sounds like things are looking up. :)

[MissionaryMomma]

This thread is great! Y'all rock!

Kids love to help. One idea is to make a bunch of cookies and take them to a neighborhood shut-in. It would be best to know if the person is diabetic or not.

One of the families here helps the community widows. They help with yard work, garden work, etc. One lady can't read and loves it for the kids to read the Bible to her. She also likes it when they sing to her.

A lot of kids like to draw/color. Older people/shut-ins enjoy such projects.

Really, just finding someone who needs attention can be a wonderful thing---people of all ages and backgrounds.

Church food banks are another place where kids can help.

[Marcia]

Mine have both helped out at the homeless shelter/soup kitchen at my mom's church. It's a huge Methodist church with a great program for helping the homeless. When we visit, DD always goes with my mom. She sets the table and serves the food. She's been doing that for several years. DS started helping this year (he's 7).

DD has been involved in Girl Scouts since 1st grade (she's in 8th now), so that right there has just given her so many ways to help out...from food drives, clothing drives, book drives, visiting/entertaining at nursing homes, animal shelters, IHN, and on and on. For her bronze award she and a friend chose The Women's Crisis Center (for abused women). They baked a bunch of homemade dinners (pasta), cookies, and collected videos, books, and small toiletries for the Center.

DS is in Boy Scouts and has already started with the community service.

We also take a name from a Christmas tree and buy for a family. I have DD go along with me and help me pick out things. She loves that.

Both Boy/Girl Scouts where we live (or, I should say, our particular den/troop) are very, very involved with helping the community. The opportunities to help the needy are just endless.

[SingingMom]

We walk around and pick up trash in the neighborhood. The kids are also involved with supporting a family whose kids are all in foster care (they are loosely related to us). We visit the kids, do birthday parties, take them out for trips.

The local YMCA has some "backpack" donation projects we're doing this year. You know, fill a backpack with school supplies, or personal hygiene products. We've always meant to donate our coats, but we kept having kids who grew into the old coats... Someday.

The kids are helping pack up baby supplies for donation to the women's shelter. We're talking about starting a blanket for a similar program.

[Justicedog]

How old are your kids JD?
...

I don't know if any of what we do can help you get some ideas, but I think you are giving a great example through what you do at work. Books for children are vital. I think I might start picking up some more books with our book orders and donating them to the local Women and Children's shelter.

My ds is 8, he's extremely shy and my dd is 6, she's very outgoing.

I figure with the scholastic books, I'm serving 3 purposes - 1 get books to kids who need them, 2 - it benefits my kids' teachers and 3 - it satisfies my addiction, books are like crack to me.

I don't want to drive into the city to bring my kids. I wonder where our church does it's soup kitchen.