Volunteer in your community
Volunteering some of your time to outreach activities can be very rewarding both for you and the people you help. Sometimes actions speak louder. Random acts of kindness are easy to acheive, do not cost anything and assist our community and neighbors. Here are some outreach activities you can get started with your group:
Nursing Home Assistance
Help reduce elderly social isolation in nursing homes (and beyond). You can contact various nursing homes in your area to see what types of activities you can do with the residents there. You can get your group together to read stories, write letters, just talk, put on skits, bring in cookies and more.
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Helping the Homeless
Whether you live in a small, rural town or a big city, there are always things your group can do to help out the homeless. You can contact your local police department, church, or hospital to see what you can do to participate and /or assist with this ever growing situation.
Tutoring
Contact elementary school guidance departments, the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls, or YMCA to see what they are doing to pay it forward by assisting local children with their schoolwork.
Craft Donation
Do you like to sew, knit, paint, etc? There are programs that knit hats and scarves for the needy, sick, or even military troops overseas. There are also organizations that need blankets and clothing. See if your fellow craft-minded teens would like to get involved.
Prom Dress or Tuxedo Exchange
You can start a prom dress exchange to support those who who need formal wear for this special occasion. You can also simply donate your lightly worn or new formal wear that you no longer need to a teen in your community.
Christmas Tree Delivery
Sometimes families cannot afford a tree or they cannot transport trees on their own. Your youth group can get together to deliver Christmas trees to local families.
Turkey Delivery
See if you can get families in your community or church to donate turkeys or money to buy turkeys and then offer to deliver them to needy families.
Community Clean Up and Beautification Projects
Volunteer to collect litter, cover graffiti, paint the playground, murals at schools, etc. If you see an area that needs some work, you can contact an official there to see if there is something you can do about it. Contact your police or public works department to see about cleaning up playgrounds, painting over graffiti, etc. Talk to you elementary schools to check into painting a mural. Make your town more colorful and clean.
Reading Program
Children enjoy being read to - and it promotes literacy. Check with local pre-schools, neighborhood centers, and libraries to see if there is a time your youth group can come in to read to the children.
Service Day
You can set up a service outreach group at your school for Service Days. On those days you can help a specific population like seniors, veterans, single moms, etc. You can cook, clean, do the shopping, etc. for those people who need it. Have people sign up for services to help out.