Volunteering in Metro Denver over the Holidays

Volunteering is a great way to give your child perspective and teach them to be generous, caring individuals. Give your child a sense of community and social responsibility through volunteering.

Volunteering helps to create well rounded individuals and encourages them to be grateful for the fortunate circumstances of their own lives. Volunteering should be fun, so take care to choose an activity that suits your child’s interests and age. Volunteering does not have to be emotionally draining either; every small act of kindness is usually met with such positive feedback that your child’s confidence and self image will be bolstered by the experience. Volunteering teaches your children responsibility and commitment and makes them feel needed. Holidays are an especially good time to spread the spirit of the season through helping others. There are many activities to choose from.

Toy Drives

Many children live in circumstances that render it unlikely that they will receive gifts for Christmas. Get your children to donate toys to a worthy cause. Most toy drives take toys up until January or February for the next Christmas. You can get your child to donate some of the toys they got for Christmas to the toy drive. Your children can also ask family members to donate money that they would have spent on Christmas and birthday gifts to a charity of their choice. Your child can help to sort and label or wrap toys for distribution or they can work with teachers and classmates to organize a school toy drive.

Care 4 Colorado Toy Drive

CBS4 has teamed up with King Soopers, MIX 100.3, and the University of Denver Athletics and Recreation to collect new toys and cash donations for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver’s 2013 Care 4 Colorado Toy Drive. King Soopers will collect new toys at all Front Range locations from Friday, November 29 through December 24. Visit their website at www.bgcmd.org/toydrive

Helter Shelter

Most shelters appreciate volunteers who can walk the dogs every day. This will be a great way for your children to get some exercise while learning more about pets. If you have no shelter near you, your children can offer to walk pets for the elderly residents in your neighborhood.

Dumb Friends League. Please visit http://ddfl.org/ways-to-give/get-involved for more information.

Buddy Center: 4556 Castleton Court, Castle Rock, CO 80109

Clean Green

If your children enjoy the outdoors, contact your local municipality for parks or trails that need to be cleaned. Your children can go on hikes and pick up trash as they go. This will not only help to beautify your area, it also helps to protect wildlife.

Food Banks

Food banks need volunteers to sort food, check expiry dates and make up food packages. Kids can also collect coupons from newspapers and magazines to help food banks stretch their budgets. Work with schools or other community institutions to collect food for foods banks, especially over the festive season.

Ansar Pantry: Aurora, CO 80010 (303) 459-2153

A study by the Search Institute found that children who volunteer for one hour a week are 50% less likely to use drugs, alcohol or cigarettes. Volunteering is also a great activity to do together as a family. Encourage your children to volunteer and spread some joy this festive season.

Community Service: Ways in which Students can Give Back

Those of us who stay in bigger towns will feel the loss of a sense of community most keenly. We have become isolated and wary of our neighbors. The more this becomes part of our culture, the more we suffer from depression and other anxieties. Being part of a family, and a community is good for our mental health, our physical health and is crucial to having happy, well-adjusted students. One of the ways in which your students can experience a sense of belonging is through community service.

Community service not only helps your students to meet and mix with the people in their community, it also helps to foster a culture of giving, care for their fellow humans, social skills and organizational skills. There are many ways in which students can help only some of which are listed below.

Environmental Impact

Your student can organize or join cleanups in your area. Keeping garbage out of sensitive natural areas will help to preserve local eco-systems. Students can rally their friends to help in a cleanup, but ensure that gloves and masks are worn for additional safety.

Students can also help the environment by saving energy. This is augmented by energy monitoring systems that are installed by many local municipalities to help residents to monitor consumption. You can also just work off your utilities bills. Consumption can further be reduced by growing vegetables in the backyard, conducting clothing swaps rather than buying new clothing and upcycling old items to keep them from the landfill.

Seniors

Loneliness is a huge issue many seniors living in homes face. Most senior’s residences welcome student volunteers who can spend time with seniors and keep them company or help them with everyday tasks. If you have seniors in your neighborhood, your students could help them with more strenuous tasks like cleaning gutters or mowing the lawn.

Animals

If your student is an animal lover, then local shelters are a great place for them to volunteer. They can also help by raising money for shelters or organizing donations of food and other pet supplies. Students can offer to help friends and neighbors who are at work all day by taking their dogs for a walk.

Community Gardens

These are a great way to introduce good nutrition and teach your students about growing plants. Community gardens are a healthy and fun way to grow your own food. They provide communities with a source of fresh fruit and vegetables that can be organic and are definitely locally grown.

Random acts of kindness

These should be done every day. Community means the people around us and your student is sure to find a student at school that needs a little help. Tutoring younger students is a great way for your kids to give back. They can bring lunch for someone who regularly has no lunch at school, they can stand up to bullying, they can help students who are struggling academically and show appreciation to a teacher for all the hard work they do.