By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — When Cami Teacoach’s son turned three she set out to find volunteer opportunities they could do together. He made Valentine cards for senior citizens. They hiked and picked up trash. He helped harvest produce at community gardens and made seed balls out of mud, throwing them into the forest to promote wildflower growth.
Teacoach had reached out to many organizations looking for volunteer projects that she could do with her young child, but most places said no, so she came up with her own.
“Everyone was like, ‘A 3-year-old can’t do that,’” Teacoach said. “And I was like, ‘No, I swear, he really can if you would just give him a chance.’”
Volunteering with children can instill confidence in youngsters, teach social and problem-solving skills and provide unique ways for families to bond. During the holiday season, many people seek such opportunities, looking for ways to give back.
But often nonprofit organizations seek helpers who are at least 18 years old. Finding volunteer work to do as a family with young children can be challenging, but there are opportunities, if you persist.
“There’s a million different ways to help people and volunteer. So many families want to do this and literally just don’t know where to start,” said Polly Lagana, executive director of Volunteer New York!, which connects people with service opportunities. “In a turbulent time in our world, families — and parents in particular — are very interested in showing their kids how they can help out and how they can give back.”
Children excel at activities such as sorting coats, packing groceries and following through on tasks, said Sapreet Saluja, executive director of New York Cares, which works with organizations to develop volunteer programs in New York City.
“I’ve been very impressed with the detail-orientation and the precision and the following of directions and the care that some kids I’ve seen, as young as six, take to the tasks that they’re doing,” Saluja said. “It’s been explained to them that this is to benefit someone, and it’s important, and they’re following the directions and they want to get it just right. And in many cases, they’re more detail-oriented than the adults, which I think is very inspiring.”
To get started, look for organizations in your community that match volunteers with family-friendly projects and reach out to ask if there’s a minimum age requirement.
Here are some other ways to involve little ones in projects that help the community.
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Provide choices
Children prefer to have agency and information to make a decision, so include them when you’re choosing an activity, Lagana said.
“Let them know what problem you’re trying to fix in your community, and maybe one or two options of how that problem can be fixed,” Lagana said. For example, you can explain there are people who don’t have enough food, and children in the hospital who might not have blankets, and then ask, ‘Which one do you think you want to help out with?’ she suggested.
Consider volunteering for a mission that you can explain to your child, such as cleaning up litter at a park.
“Kids are unbelievably curious. They ask questions about what they’re doing, what they’re seeing, what they’re feeling, what they’re hearing, and it opens up a dialogue,” Saluja said. “It helps you see even at a young age some of the challenges that society is facing and it gives you agency to know that you can be a part of the solution.”
Sharing food
Children understand hunger, and they can help alleviate the problem. They can sort grocery boxes at a food pantry or help deliver sustenance to home-bound individuals.
Aviva Davis was about eight years old when she and her brother Brendan began helping her parents deliver Meals on Wheels to senior citizens and medically frail individuals in Denver. Initially, they rode in the car with their parents and helped bring food to the door. When they were older, they took turns driving.
“It definitely opened my eyes to what the world is like outside of our bubble. We saw all sorts of different things and I saw not everyone lives the same way,” said Davis, now 17. “But even at such a young age I could realize it’s amazing what we’re doing that we could help people that aren’t as lucky as we were.”
Davis became a resource at school for fellow students looking to volunteer. She still does monthly meal deliveries with her parents.
“It’s a great chance for us to catch up as a family,” said her father, Seth Davis. “When we’re not all on our phones, you get some pretty cool quality time.”
Her brother is now in college, but when he’s home, they do deliveries altogether.
“The older they get, the harder it is to get that time together,” said their mother, Bonnie Davis, who found the Meals on Wheels opportunity after extensive research.
Create your own opportunities
When Teacoach couldn’t find organizations willing to accept her toddler, she started a group in Pittsburgh called VolunTOTs, which creates service opportunities for children as young as 3. The children and their parents pack 500 boxes of groceries to distribute to families in need, play bingo with seniors in nursing homes and make dog treats for an animal rescue center, among other projects.
Parents have told Teacoach their children’s conduct improves after volunteering. “They feel so good about themselves, they were a helper, and that translates into better behavior,” she said.
Stephanie Bernaba’s family started “Tough Cookies,” a project where they bake and deliver cookies to veterans, when her son Matthew was in eighth grade and had to complete a service project for school.
“Going up to the houses, it was very nice, because they’re mostly living alone. A lot of their family or friends died,” said Michael Bernaba, 14, now a freshman at The Prout School in Wakefield, Rhode Island. “It’s just nice to be there and bring it to them … They were very happy, especially for someone to bring them treats like that.”
The project also helped the teens learn social skills and meet people in various stages of life and health conditions, Stephanie Bernaba said.
“We went to the first couple of places and I was really scared, because I’m more of a shy person,” Matthew Bernaba, now 15, said. “For the first couple of deliveries I was more to myself, and as we kept going, we talked more with the veterans and got to hear great stories from them.”
Friends make it fun
Children can be more willing to try new activities with a buddy, so consider signing up with people you know.
You can also connect with a nonprofit in need of a service and invite other families over to do a project together, as Lagana’s friends have done, organizing clothing donations or assembling snack packs in living rooms.
Bonnie Davis organized a drive for menstrual supplies, and families gathered in her backyard to assemble the baskets. She also turned half of her son’s graduation party into a volunteer project assembling kits of bean soup.
“It’s a win for everybody. You get quality time, you’re raising your children with what feels like good values, and people benefit,” she said.
Send your wellness questions and story ideas to cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well.
