cdrumm4448 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 I am interested in finding a place or way to volunteer with my children that would directly benefit the poor, without putting my children at risk. We attend Catholic church on a VERY spotty basis, and I realize they do provide some assistance to the poor, but I feel it's my responsibility to get personally involved in helping people. DH and I both have issues with the church, so we don't want to get involved there. There are homeless shelters near us, but I'm not comfortable taking my kids there as they're in a very bad area and I'm afraid for our safety. Where or how do you directly help others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plucky Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Food banks are great places to volunteer. They welcome children with their parents. In fact, in my area they specifically have days that kids come in to volunteer. It is good to start young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 My children and I work in a food pantry once a week one month a year and during Spring break (once a week..) This is our 2nd yr to do so. We work before the people arrive to receive their foods. We help stock the shelves and make it look nice, setting it up like a store kind of. There are shopping carts that I take to the main food cabinet, fill up, and then wheel to the "shopping room." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Not people, but the kids and I volunteer 2-3 mornings a week at our local animal shelter. I don't know if this is something you might be interested in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Meals on wheels is perfect for this. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Meals on wheels is perfect for this. Lisa :iagree: Also, I want to say something about volunteering. This isn't just for the OP but for everyone who wants to volunteer. I used to be a volunteer coordinator for the local Volunteer Center. I had 100's of volunteer opportunities but many of them weren't directly working with the poor people. BUT these jobs definitely helped the poor in the county. Don't pass up something that isn't direct enough for you because it doesn't make you "feel good". A lot of the offices need people to come in and just do office stuff for them because they don't have the money to pay people to do it. Kids can sometimes help with those things also. Maybe an agency needs someone to fold newsletters or stuff envelopes. Without volunteers doing those jobs they won't be able to do their direct work with their clients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubilynne4 Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 wow! i'm glad this thread is here. i was wanting the same thing, and had the same concerns. i am having my dd9 volunteer at our chrch, but it's more along the lines of helping the children's church leader with cleaning, etc, and then office work, general cleaning, etc, but i wanted to also do the helping in the community thing as well. my issue is i have 2 littles who i would need to get a sitter for. i think i will check out our local food bank/pantry though, that might be a good start. thanks op for asking, and everyone else for responding. great ideas. i like the animal shelter one too, both my older girls love animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 wow! i'm glad this thread is here. i was wanting the same thing, and had the same concerns. i am having my dd9 volunteer at our chrch, but it's more along the lines of helping the children's church leader with cleaning, etc, and then office work, general cleaning, etc, but i wanted to also do the helping in the community thing as well. my issue is i have 2 littles who i would need to get a sitter for. i think i will check out our local food bank/pantry though, that might be a good start. thanks op for asking, and everyone else for responding. great ideas. i like the animal shelter one too, both my older girls love animals. How old are your littlest ones? My kids and I have been doing Meals on Wheels now for about 2 years so my youngest was 3 when we started. That is one of the best to do with really small kids. It can be a hassle buckling car seats. Good luck with your volunteering! It is such a great thing to get your kids used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Another vote for food pantry here. I work for one and it's a great opportunity to help the needy in a safe environment. Our area has at least 17 food pantries operating right now and we are always looking for help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora in NC Posted June 17, 2010 Share Posted June 17, 2010 Food banks are great places to volunteer. They welcome children with their parents. In fact, in my area they specifically have days that kids come in to volunteer. It is good to start young. :iagree: We do this occasionally through our church, and the kids love it! They help by filling carts for orders, and ds is old enough to help bring food out to the cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rubilynne4 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 How old are your littlest ones? My kids and I have been doing Meals on Wheels now for about 2 years so my youngest was 3 when we started. That is one of the best to do with really small kids. It can be a hassle buckling car seats. Good luck with your volunteering! It is such a great thing to get your kids used to. thanks for the info. i may look into this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhjmom Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 We have a summer program here called "Feed the Children". I am not sure if it is part of a larger organization or just something local, but maybe your area has something similar. The program is just for the summer and it is to meet the need of providing lunch for thsoe children who would receive breakfast/lunch through the free/reduced lunch program during the school year. The idea is that if these kids need a free lunch Sept.-May, then who is filling that need in the summer? We wll be serving one week our church is signed up for, but there are other organizations that take a week so the entire summer is covered. I have been thinking about trying to connect with some of the other groups so we can do more than one week. I have also checked into Meals on Wheels and was hoping to maybe do that starting in the fall, but I am waiting to confirm some scheduling things before makign the committment. :) I am glad to hear that others have done well wih MOW with kids! We also have a local community outreach organization that has a food bank, clothes closet, resale shops, etc. I know that kids are welcome to accompany parents to sort clothes, box & shelve food and other odd jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 One of the things I do is *pick up* the food for our church's food locker. You need a pretty big van or truck to do this though probably. I go to the supermarket that donates their day-old baked goods and pick them up and deliver to the food locker. My kids come with me sometimes and help load and unload - it's a big help. We've also packed boxes of food to give out. My older kids also volunteer at the meals to feed the hungry. Usually they wash dishes and help clean up. Another thing you might do is collect toiletries and washcloths for the homeless. I like to crochet washcloths and donate them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paintedlady Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 My kids & I volunteer every month helping to pass out food with Angel Food Ministries. We all love it and it's very safe & easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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