One of the cornerstone components of social and emotional skill development is that of empathy. When we can understand the feelings and perspectives of others, we can truly connect with each other. It’s much harder to be mean to people when we understand them.
I believe that most people are innately empathetic. I also believe that it’s a skill that needs to be honed throughout our entire lives. One way to keep growing empathy in ourselves and in our children is through community service.
When we engage with our community through service, we allow ourselves to experience true human connection while doing something that feeds our souls. Research shows that volunteering increases our happiness — it also has several other benefits.
So — as busy people caring for smaller busy people, how do we get involved with community service? I’ve compiled a few ideas here that are fairly low-effort. Some can be much higher effort, if you’re so inclined! 😁
Point out the people who volunteer
This one isn’t technically community service, but it’s a stepping stone. In my own kids’ lives, there are many people whose volunteerism keeps things running.
At school: Parent groups plan engaging, fun activities to keep spirits up. Classroom volunteers allow the teacher to run small groups and provide individualized instruction. On the yard, volunteers keep students safe and handle conflicts.
In sports: Our kids’ soccer league is entirely volunteer run. Coaches, referees, and league organizers are all lending their own time to keep kids having positive experiences with soccer.
During community events: We recently had a Halloween festival in our city, and all of the games were run by high-school volunteers.
Our kids had no idea that some of these people were volunteers. It’s something I want to keep talking with them about, to normalize and celebrate the idea of community service as a way of life.
Participate in school- or community-based food and toy drives
Not everyone has the means to do this, but if you do, this is low-hanging fruit for community service. My kids’ school has food and toy drives most years around the holidays.
Ideally, this provides us with the opportunity to discuss why we’re doing it. We can acknowledge that everyone needs help sometimes, and reflect in gratitude that — this time — we are able to help.
With the hustle and bustle of daily life, these conversations happen less frequently than I’d like them to. But I do think that the mere act of giving instills a bit of what I’m hoping they’ll get from the experience.
Find local community-engagement activities
Many communities have local Facebook groups that post events. Join one for your community and be on the lookout! (I know I’m totally aging myself by talking Facebook, but it really IS helpful!)
If you want to go REALLY old school, keep your eyes peeled for flyers and posters around town. Our community recently hosted a coastal cleanup event, and we couldn’t not know about it because of all of the stuff posted on street corners and telephone poles.
I’m not sure how the youngsters are advertising community events these days — if you do, please leave it in the comments! 😄
Volunteer for school events
Many schools host community-building activities throughout the year. At our school, most of those are exclusively run by parent volunteers. But there are a few times when we ask students to volunteer as well. Getting the kids involved at this level is sort of instant gratification, because their peers are excited to see them at the events, and they can feel the appreciation for their service from parents, students, and community members.
Even if students aren’t asked to volunteer, when your kids see you lending your time, energy, and expertise to school events, they’ll internalize the importance of community engagement.
Engage with Events That Are Important to Friends & Family
You likely have at least one friend or family member who supports or works for a cause that’s important to them. They run the gamut — cancer research, animal welfare, environmental issues, food security, Alzheimer’s disease, etc.
If you know that a cause is important to someone you care about, and you know that they’re involved in an awareness campaign or fundraising event, see how you can get your family engaged! I’m not talking about posting a link to a GoFundMe or similar donation website. That kind of stuff is beneficial, but it isn’t the type of active community service I’m talking about here.
Story time!
One of my best friends has been working for an advocacy and research organization related to a specific degenerative disease for years now. Each year, my family and I attend the fundraising/awareness event to support her work and the cause.
When the kids were younger, they just focused on having fun with their friends and raiding all the free swag along the way. (We have many, many pill organizers at this point.) Now that they’re older, however, they’ve started asking questions about why we are there and what the disease is all about.
This has given us the opportunity to help the kids understand the importance of the research that’s being done, as well as the impact these events have on furthering that research. The most recent event was maybe our 6th or 7th one… and I think something really sunk in this time.
A couple of weeks after the event, my son’s teacher asked the class to write about what they’d do with one million dollars if they couldn’t spend it on themselves. He told me that he said he’d donate it to the organization that my friend works for. Of all the things! That disease actually hasn’t personally impacted my family yet, thankfully, so this notion was a direct result of his involvement in the annual event.
The kids still went around and got all the water bottles, pill boxes, and candy they could get their hands on, of course, but they may have come away with a little more empathy as well.
Getting involved with events related to causes that are important to your friends and family is a great way to show your love and support for them. It’s also a fairly easy way to help your kids see that community engagement can be fun and impactful at the same time.
I guess that’s my biggest takeaway after thinking about this topic as I’ve written. Community service can be fun and impactful, and showing that to our kids is probably the best way to ensure that they continue the practice as they get older.
What would you add? How do you get your kids involved in community service?