Summer is the time to finally get to those big projects we've been putting off, or finally have a chunk of time to devote to something important. Now that my kids are old enough, I'm looking forward to using a chunk of summer time not just for swimming and reading, but for teaching my kids the value of service to others.
To start, we sat down as a family and talked about how fortunate we are, and that we live in a wonderful place, and it's important to try to help other people and our community. Each of the children then talked about what kinds of things they thought they could do to help out, and here is a list of what they came up with:
- Pick up trash
- Feed animals
- Clean up at the park
- Help other kids
- Read to other kids
- Give money to people in need
It was truly heartwarming to hear how quickly they came up with ideas of how they could help, and specific actions that they were capable of doing. Once I had their ideas in mind, it was time to figure out what summer projects we could do together. We've already set aside a 2 hour block of time each week when we will go out in service to the community, and I'm now calling the local parks department and library to find out if there are roles we can play.
I was discussing this idea with one of the other parents at school and a number of them wanted to join in. And so, with 5 families working together, we're using VolunteerSpot to set up each of our projects, assign jobs, figure out what tools we need and ask people to bring them. We've already set up four big projects for the summer and more people want to join with us.
So as I sit, waiting for May to pass and summer to start, I know our summer service projects are going to make a difference in our community and a really big difference in my kids.
