Where Can I Take My Kids to Volunteer to Help the Needy?

Do you belong to a church? Our church has lots of opportunities for the younger kids to do some type of charity work

Call a nursing home, a hospital and ask where some volunteer work could be used. Maybe just baking cookies or reading a book to elderly or long term hospital bound.

Feed my starving children is nationwide. Or a food pantry. Also boy scouts and girl scouts are huge in these areas for children.

The Christmas season really opens up the options too. Maybe find a giving tree and let them each pick a child to buy a present for. Or sponsor and entire family.

Hope you find something.

It will be very limited if there is even any. Something about a liability issue. But there are still things you can do.

Mine are fairly young (7 and 9) and I personally would like to find things they can relate to.

In the past...
We have stuffed bears and donated them to the local children's hospital (My oldest was 3 then)

I made hair bows and my oldest was 4 and she helped attached them to beanies and headbands to donate to Queen for a day. A nonprofit that serve to brighten cancer stricken kids day.

In lieu of a gift exchange we had girlfriends over for a shoebox frolic for the homeless. We filled them with toiletries, gloves, socks, a toy (for a kid's box), puzzles like sodoku (for a grown up's box).The boxes were donated to the local shelter ***Hint hit your dentist for toothpaste and toothbrushes. They can really be generous. We also did this with my daughter's 3rd grade class. Boxes can also be donated to your local school district.

Have the kids do Random Act of Kindness. My daughters had a great time with this. Their teacher even let me pull them out of school for half a day. This really pimps out the idea of giving because it does not factor in whether it is deserved or not.
Ideas:
-snacks and beverage for the salvation army bell ringer
-cashing in your coins at coinstar and giving it out the cashier for the next person inline at the register
-drop bagels at the local fire/police station
-hand out had warmers to crossing guards **ooops you're in TX maybe not =)
-dropping a box of chocolates for fast-food workers at the drive thru
-take coins to parking meters & vending machines
- search internet for more ideas.

Go to a Special Olympics event. I'm not sure if kids are allowed volunteer time but cheering from the sidelines can brighten those kids' day. I personally know because I have one of those kids =).

Do a money jar. Every time you think of spending, like ordering pizza or dining out but consciously opted to eat in instead...When you skip a movie and decide to watch a DVD instead... Put the money you would have spent in the jar. At the end of the month you will probably have enough money to buy a chicken, a goat or even a cow for a third world family http://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/entire-catalog.html?ms...

You can also make those simple knot fleece blankets. Small sized ones can be donated and delivered to animal shelters.

There's a group here in Dallas called wee volunteer. http://www.weevolunteer.org/ they organize great service opportunities to do with your kids!

I would ask local churches in your area.

Look up Salvation Army.

Ask local retirement homes if they would allow you & your kids to visit to
spread some joy during the holidays (Thanksgiving & all through Dec.).

Edit: You can also lead by example showing them each time how you can help people, letting an elderly person go ahead of you in line, give some change to the Salvation Army pot when they ring the bell by the doors of stores in December, see if your local library or Chamber of Commerce has a toys for tots tree for the less fortunate where you buy & drop off a wrapped toy.

Have them go through their rooms/toy boxes & donate all of their no longer loved/played with toys to Salvation Army or thrift stores so they can help those less fortunate.

You could "adopt" a family for the holidays. Check with your church (or any nearby) and they usually can put you in touch with families in need. Usually they'll have you buy gifts and then personally deliver them. You can have them over for dinner, etc. but that's totally up to you how much you want to do.

Good luck!

Talk to your kids' school. You might be surprised that there are needy people right under your nose.

When my kids were little we did the "adopt a family" program at Christmas. We went shopping for the family together (all ages, sometimes even a grandparent) we had a budget, and a task of buying one clothing gift and one "fun" gift, like a toy, or some makeup, for each family member. It was very hands on and a great way to talk about being thankful for what we have and sharing our good fortune with others.
When they got older we did boy & girl scouts and did all kinds of community service that way, children's hospital, animal shelter, homeless shelter, food pantry, breast cancer project, clothing/food/book drives, too many to list here! The kids did hands on projects as well as fundraising, absolutely wonderful experiences during those years.
And keep in mind that a lot of these places are over run with help during the holidays, but often the biggest need is after that, during the long cold months of January through March.

Not sure how close you are to Denton, but Serve Denton has lots of opportunities. You could help sort food and pantry items at Vision Ministry, or serve lunch at Our Daily Bread at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. ODB also needs drivers to pick up "leftovers" at a few area business in town who donate for the daily lunch.
Another option might be a meals on wheels service. I did this in college for about a year, one day a week. It took less than an hour. For some individuals, the meal you deliver is the only one they'll get that day. It was a huge blessing to the people I delivered to, and to me as well! A close friend of mine has always taken her children when she delivers.
Here is an idea: find out who in yoru area is doing a coat drive/blanket drive/ etc and have your kids be the collection point! They can then deliver all those items to the shelter.

I use to take my son to a convalescent home and pass out socks for the holiday time.

We spend a ton of time (4-5 nights a week) at a nursing home. My step-father is blind and has MS, and I go there to feed him most nights. My boys are 9 and 15, and they often go with me. It's amazing how the residents' eyes light up when they see the boys. They enjoy the boys just being there. My kids just visit with the residents while I feed my step-father. Sometimes they do whatever needs to be done - reading mail, changing channels on the TV, getting things off of shelves that they can't reach. They just like having younger people around that are smiling and kind. If you call around, I bet nursing homes would love for your family to visit. :)

I took my oldest to the North Texas Food Bank last Christmas but you have to be 10. I am looking for something this year as well, with an 8 yr old and almost 11 yr old. You could try calling the Ronald McDonald House, I believe they do movie nights and will let you host it. Another one we did with our older son was he collected donations of very gently used or new children's books and we donated them to a local hospital. We took in over 100 books and I can't tell you how excited they were when we brought them. Children's Hospital collects art supplies too.

Our kids attend a school that makes lunches that are then distributed to the homeless and the working poor in our town. We have also had opportunities to cook meals that are distributed to the soup kitchens. While making this food, I have been able to talk with my kids about serving others. Many organizations that serve the needy might be concerned about children being on the premises, both due to liabilities and also out of respect for the folks they are serving. If you work on projects at home to provide a need and explain to your kids why you are doing this, they will learn. Then when they are a bit older they will appreciate and be better prepared for the direct involvement.

Call local churches in your area. They may be able to point you in the right direction.

Don't forget about Angel tree. It's hard to explain how Angel tree works to young children if you still talk about Santa Clause in your home. But, it is well worth the effort.

Good luck,
L.

We're getting started this month by signing our entire family up for Sacramento's big Run to Feed the Hungry. We're doing the 5k walking portion. We also participate in our school's gift giving program for school in a poor area of our city and the kids choose the gifts for the kids their age.

I ran into the same roadblock looking into ways to get our kids involved. Our local food bank does have family volunteer days, but most charities seem to have age requirements.

there is a program called feed my starving children. take them to that. there is no age limit on that. also another thought. go with a wagon door to door and gather food for a food pantry. maybe send out a note to your neighbors that you will be doing it. then when you have gathered the food together take it to the local food pantry and drop it off. your kids could help with that.