5 Youth Service Ideas for Spring
Springtime is the time for getting out and doing good with your kids! Here are a few key opportunities for kids and teens to pitch in and help someone in need this season:
1. National Volunteer Week (April 6 - 10, 2016) > The long celebrated National Volunteer Week is a great time for families to connect with local organizations and causes they care about to support a specific volunteer project in their community. The week-long celebration also encourages volunteer appreciation and media coverage of year-round opportunities for volunteers to pitch in and help others. Learn more and access a free National Volunteer Week toolkit over on PointsofLight.org.
2. Global Youth Service Day (April 15 - 17, 2016) > With a special focus on the contributions of children and youth in their community, GYSD (sponsored by Youth Service America) is the largest service event in the world. It's easy for families to get involved > visit the Global Youth Service Day website and work with your kids to pick, plan, post and promote a service project that will impact their neighborhood or community.
3. Earth Day (April 22, 2016) > Earth Day falls on a Friday this year and what better way to engage children in stewardship of the environment than with service and volunteer projects that weekend? Whether volunteering at an Earth festival or celebration in your city, pitching in at the community or school learning garden, or simply beautifying the green space of a local nonprofit, there are tons of 'green' ways to get involved, see more here.
Related: 6 Eco-friendly Service Ideas
4. Teacher Appreciation Week (May 2 - 6, 2016) > This treasured week to recognize and thank teachers is a great way to involve kids in acts of kindness and generosity. Handwriting thank you cards and creating giftbaskets or baking sweet treats for the teacher together are simple ways kids can take action in showing their appreciation. Check out more teacher appreciation ideas here.
5. Hasbro Community Action Hero Award > Know a young person already making a difference in their community? You can nominate them for the Hasbro Community Action Hero Award, a program of GenerationOn. With nominations opening soon, it's a great time to think about the outstanding children (5 - 18 yrs) who you know that are making an extraordinary mark on their community through service, advocacy or innovation. Learn more here.
Also see:
10 Tips for Volunteering as a Family
5 Summer Volunteer Ideas for Teens and Tweens
How to Encourage Teens to Volunteer
