10 Ways to help your community in 30 minutes or less
From waking up early to put in a first load of laundry to working all day and driving the mom taxi all afternoon, most women have little time to think about volunteering for community projects. But busy schedules do not mean we have to write off community involvement completely. In thirty minutes or less, anyone can make a difference in the community.
Check out the following ideas for ways to help your community in the midst of your everyday activities.
- Take a garbage bag while walking through the neighborhood. Pick up any litter along the way. As a by-product, you can get some exercise built into your day.
- Shop with locally owned businesses, saving time and money . Many locally owned businesses offer services like free gift-wrapping and delivery. And a percentage of your sales taxes go directly to the local community.
- Find positive aspects of your community share with other people. A positive image encourages residents to shop locally, increases the chance new businesses will open in the area and promotes growth.
- Attend a local festival or other event. Many have free admission and activities. Most festivals are actually fundraisers for non-profit organizations who make their money through sponsorships. Since sponsors look at attendance numbers to decide how much to give, your family can add to the number and help increase what businesses give next year.
- Write a letter to local elected officials encouraging them for making good decisions for the community. People work harder when they know they are appreciated. And elected officials seldom hear enough encouraging words.
- Put a potted plant on your front porch. When your home looks spruced up, it makes the whole neighborhood and the community to look better as well.
- Take left over dinner to an elderly neighbor. If you have a family of four, cook enough dinner for five one night and deliver a plate to the widow next door. Your delivery helps you to get to know your neighbors better. And police promote knowing your neighbors as the best way to fight neighborhood crime.
- Look for opportunities to give in your community. Many schools collect items, such as like canned foods, old coats, toys and eyeglasses, for less fortunate families.
- Vote. While the Presidential election comes around only once every four years, elections happen every year. Check out the candidates for local and state elections.
- Encourage your employer to sponsor local events, join a civic organization or allow employees to volunteer during work hours. Many businesses have volunteer programs to reward employees for volunteering. Local news media often cover large volunteer events and having employee representation gives businesses extra publicity.
By doing our part to contribute to the community, we add people to our circle of influence and gain opportunities to build relationships with our neighbours. We also demonstrate what it means to be a good citizen to our children.
Thank you for posting this up. This helped me a lot for my english presentation called “What can we do to make our community a better place.”
Any new ways?
its a nice idea to help
Hi,in ma community were i came from (Nigeria) we hav alot of begers on the street especially under the bridge no home for them ,the sleep there an in the morning they will wake up and continue their beging activities.so i would want to put them off the street a conveniet place were the could learn vocational skills that will better their lives tomorrow and also some group of children called Almajeris who walk about the street beging for food and money,and also called all islamic clergy to assist this children off the children.Tanks
Try that
Hi Ally, You may have been homeless or hungry or both. When I lived in one of our Canadian cities there was a soup-kitchen. Also, in a church basement a group of volunteers fed hundreds of people a Christmas banquet (and then had them choose either a pair of warm socks or a pair of mittens). That was not every day, but it made a difference to many! Also, I heard of an effort to provide shelter via “In From The Cold” for people who were in the work force, had children going to school, but no place to live: They were housed in church basements, one week at a time, where they received supper and breakfast and also lunches. They were taken by a designated bus(s) to schools and work. The next week a different church took its turn to house and feed this group. It takes a heart to give time and food for such a cause, yet it’s very rewarding. Have you ever volunteered to work at a food-bank? That’s also a very good organization. God will judge as to who is really in need and who is abusing the system. It is up to us to be Spirit-led, and to act as we are prompted to give. If there is a need where you are, Ally, it may be time to ask for someone to assist you in starting a program to meet that need. Maybe that will even put a smile on your face. Blessings!
Help people they can die with out eating
Help people they are homeless
Helping out in your community can be a small action that makes a big difference! All uou have to do is help out in any small way I perfer to ‘start with the small, progress to the big’ For example you can help and elderly neighbor with household chores or maybe do some crafts with them, you could help out other neighbors with low income and children by babysitting for free! You could help by walking someones dog or various dogs, all these things are small things but can help in big ways. You may thing that it only will put a smile on their faces but it will also incourage them yo do something to help the community,. So your being a good samaritan, and encouraging others to help out. Now to do hands on things to really help the plant you could plant a garden or gardens around the neighborhood, hold neighborhood meetings to help make your neighborhood safer or greener, you could plant trees, or even go around picking up trash. There are many ways to help the communities but these are just some of my favorites.
comunity garden
Wow, Ben I am so encouraged by your passion and devotion to helping others. You are truly living “true religion” by putting your faith into actions.
It sounds like you have awesome plans and are doing many things to try to engage people. My only advice is somehow you need to make a personal connection with people you hope to engage. I have been doing some of the same things you have and I find no one really responds to emails or requests from people they don’t know, regardless of how incredible or worthy the cause may sound.
Somehow you need to make personal contact or find some way to personally engage the people you are trying to get support from.
Most importantly pray for God to open the right doors. I spend hours planning and pouring myself into projects but I find they don’t really succeed when I try to do things in my own strenght. Yet when I pray and ask for God’s divine wisdom and empowerment, he opens up doors and opportunities that are beyond what I could possibly achieve.
One example is working for Power to Change. I longed to help and minister to people but I didn’t have an avenue to do this. Instead of just trying to find somewhere to volunteer, I prayed for months for God to open up the right doors that would enable me to have the greatest eternal impact on the most amount of people. Through about ten divine appointments which I could not have arranged, God opened up many doors and did countless miracles to enable me to work for Power To Change. I am humbled and in awe of God answering my prayer and giving me a far greater sphere of influence then I ever imagined possible!
Prayer is the absolute key. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you and God will make your ministry expontentially more fruitful than you could have imagined possible.
Heavenly Father I pray you would divinely empower Ben with all wisdom and understanding to fulfill the mission you have called him to. I know you desire to please God with all of your heart and God sees this! He desires to work through you to help others even more than you desire to help others!! He wants to divinely empower you to live and minister beyond your abilities. Open your life to his direction and guidance. Just as David did continually “inquire of the Lord” because he yearns to give you wisdom and make this ministry fruitful beyond your wildest dreams.
God bless my friend and I will continue to pray for you. Please let me know how things are going and how we can continue to pray for you!
I am passionate in leading or just doing community services with my small select group of young college students. Activities like medical and dental missions, cleaning school grounds before class starts, sponsoring tree seedlings for tree planting along our highways with the community officials. I have been wanting to increase my memberships by encouraging fellow professionals in our community but, it seems they are too busy with their daily lives and never respond to my open letters and invites in the email, community papers. What is missing? I would appreciate very much any suggestions you have in mind. Thanks
@Kevin,I am fairly certain that Conroe has many Evangelical churches that have programs to help the community as the reason Churches exist is to help others withing their community. I would suggest calling up a few of the churches and seeing what they offer or even do a search on a website. G
I live in Conroe, Texas and I really would like to do some volunteer work for my community. Whether it be to build homes for the less fortunate, help kids in need, or help clean up public areas. Any volunteer work would help me feel like I’m giving back to my community. I just want to do my part of good in the world. Any suggestions?
Rosie, We’re always open to suggestions. What do you do to help your community?
These things are not very good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If those 10 points in this article and the many great suggestions in the responses don’t move you to action than what will? Being in the Fish & Game Association in Calgary, I helped clean up a portion of the banks of the Bow River every spring. It made a great difference and was good fun too.
Being a regular blood donor was also a rewarding service to our community.
Now, to Nora in Saint Paul, I’d say: Have you checked the Yellow Pages of the phone book? In mine I found it under “Social Service Organizations”. All the best, and God bless….
I live in Saint Paul and I would like to volunteer in a womans shelter. Any Ideas where I could look ? Phone numbers would be helpful! Thank you and God Bless you.
Hi
Greetings ..The Holy spirit spoke to me about giving to children that are in need
I trust Him for provision this article just revived me in a way I cannot express
I am currently busy with a project named Rich out and Touch we collecting school
Uniforms like shoes,lunch boxes,Shirts ect and God is touching His people to
Donate all this things in a mighty way So will like to encourage that we give to
Our communities as we can if you cannot give to 100 then give to 1 make the difference
Give and it shall be given to you 1 good measures 2 pressed down 3 shaken together. 4 and running over God bless you
Hi blase,
We are a Canadian ministry but the vast majority of our audience is from the United States so we do provide information that accommodates Canada and the U.S.A.
Power to Change Editorial team
I thought Power to Change was Canadian and the article talks about Presidential elections and your “state”. hmmm.
thank you this could help me out
Thanks for the great ideas I’m a kid and I pretty much have everything I need. But I saw the thing on television and I starting feeling that I need to help out in my community. There’s this center of hope right in downtown and I’m thinking I shout start working there on my days off from basketball. I also think that people need more Goodd and it makes makes e r some whatu mad because kids say mom there’s no food but they have a full Cabenet cause of food and and its a totally different connotation. Because those kids actually do but some are dead serious I just feel like I need to do mY part to help who agrees.?
it makes a difference when it’s clean than when it’sdirty. It fels like your in a new world
Yea maybe I should think about that I am going home tomorrow and maybe I could talk to my pastor at church and maybe I should get the church started on the night time look out. I am glade that u wrote back Jamie thanks i will do that this week.
That is a great suggestion carrie. You should talk to some people in your church and see how something like that could work.
we could create a night time watch in your city to make sure that people and their property’s are safe from harms way.
Our church puts food hampers together at Christmas for the less fortunate
Have a neighbor with a eyesore yard, offer to weed maybe spruce it up. Give it a try. You will feel good at the end of the day! No.. then fix up your yard!
Great ideas everyone! Thanks for taking the time to visit our site and add your comments to this post.
you can make food for the homless
you can make money and donate old clotes or toys and help homeless.
this helps alot of people
You could start a fundraiser and collect money for the childrens mirical network.
*Make your yard a habitat by putting up feeders and houses for animals.
*Make a Wherigo for nature or historical visiting areas to encourage tourism.
*Take note of small things that need improvement, such as cracked sidewalks and missing street signs, and notify the proper officials. Little things can have a huge effect on the aesthetic appeal of a community.
*Ask family owned grocery stores and restaurants to offer more locally grown foods
*If your local shelter is not a no kill shelter offer to find places for pets at a rescue center or foster home instead. You can also fund raise to cover the cost of boarding and adoption to give pets a better chance of finding homes.
*Give old books, movies, and cd to your local library. (Ask the librarian if they have a list of wanted material. Most bookstores sell used books very cheap.)
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Recycling old materials, products, and equipment is helping the community. New products containing recycled ingredients are very attractive.
Help by tutoring people on subjects such as spelling so they can learn stray isnt spelled staray.
help by creating care packages to local homeless.
help by getting starays off the street