Volunteering Time with My Children

Hi L.,
I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. We volunteer two days a month with Meals on Wheels. It's a very awesome service that they provide and I have been very happy with them. They even did a one on one meeting/class with me instead of taking a class because I had no childcare and brought them with me for the meeting. You also can pick just how involved you want to be and have a route close to home.
C.

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I too think this is a very important thing to do with your children. They should address this more in school too. You can visit the elderly at Victoria Gardens ###-###-####
Call Samaritan Inn ###-###-####, they have several things they could do. Get involved with Habitat for Humanity (may have to google that info.) Good for you, my 6 year old daughter and I are planning on giving back too...it is soooooo important to teach them compassion. Peace ~

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Meals on Wheels. My next door neighbor works for them and says that the recipients LOVE it when people deliver food with their children. It's often the highlight of their week. We haven't done it yet, but I'm planning on doing it with my 4 year old.

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You could put together an Operation Christmas Child shoebox with them helping you choose items for it. We do these every year with our little kids and we stress that idea behind the box about helping needy children etc.

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I highly recommend Small Change - http://smallchangedallas.org We've been to several of their community service activities and my daughter loves them!

If you are close to the McKinney area, you can check the Volunteer McKinney website at www.volunteermckinney.org. You can look for volunteer opportunities for different ages.

D. T

My boys are 7 and 12 now and I too wanted to instill a sense of giving back. At the age yours are now I started with the "Angel" tree. We would go and pick a boy, their age and then they would shop with me and help me wrap and then go with me to give the package to the people for the child. We still do that today and it is a great experience for them to buy things that would fit them and that they would want and then give it to someone, knowing that they got them maybe their only Christmas gift.

I started off with Toys for Tots with my son when he was about two. I would talk about our trip beforehand, then he and I would go to the store together. I let him pick out a toy (that doesn't require batteries) for a boy his age. It was a great time to talk about the issue and need for Toys for Tots. Of course afterward we would bring it to a location that collected the toys.

This is one of our annual traditions.

I think starting easy while including little ones is less overwhelming.

I have to tell you, my heart sings a song every time we see a homeless person (which isn't very often) with a sign and my son asks me to give him money!!! That is another opportunity to teach him about things that are going on outside our little world.

I used to let my children gather coins and carry them in a large container and empty them into the Salvation Army bell ringers pot at Christmas time and then explained to them how other children would be helped by their contributions. Later, as they were older, I took them to donate food to the local food banks.

Make/collect blankets, towels, beds for animal shelters.....they are always in need and very grateful....and can easily be done around naps....lol

Plano Food Pantry or God's Food Pantry. In today's economic environment, more people than ever are in need of basic food assitance. Check with them first if they will allow such young volunteers.

K.

The Allen Early Childhood PTA has an executive board position (3rd VP Community Service) that actually plans GREAT community service projects each month! We try to make sure the kids are involved and exposed to that fact that we are helping people, as opposed to asking the parents for money to donation to a good cause. Instead we make Valentine's Day cards and go to the assisted living communities and pass out the cards to the residents as a group, for instance. Check out the website www.aecpta.com and click on the first link on the left "Upcoming", then click on Community Service and you will see the project we did in October. The group is geared toward parents with children from the ages of 0-5. Hope this help! C.

I'm going to have my son bring food to animals at a local shelter.