We recently volunteered at a local Youth and Women’s Alliance (a sort of independent YWCA). The activity was organized through my employer as part of the nationwide Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. It was a terrific day full of coloring with toddlers, playing basketball with tweens and cleaning, organizing and straightening the many bookshelves, supply closets, board games and puzzles lying around the place.
In the words of Jimmy Valvano “It was a full day”.
As anyone who has ever volunteered knows, there is a great sense of purpose and accomplishment that engulfs you after your work is done. You really feel good about yourself and your fellow man (and woman) when you spend your time helping others in your community and neighborhood. Imagine how this feeling could be magnified as you perform your good deeds with your little darlings by your side the whole time. Instilling a sense of volunteerism, charity and even philanthropy in our young is a terrific thing to do as a parent and can pay dividends for a very long time… a lifetime even.
Maybe you did not know that you are permitted, even encouraged in some cases, to bring your kids to a volunteering opportunity, we certainly did not. Having children, even young ones, does not have to limit your ability to chip in and lend a hand or two or four at a local recreation center, YWCA, or shelter.
It turns out that there are plenty of chances to get your entire family involved in the fun. You are bound to find that you will come away changed, in an amazing way, by the experience of volunteering. Your worldview cannot help but expand as you work with people who are in a rougher patch then you and your family. You may also end up spending time in a place without all the comforts of home that most of us enjoy on a daily basis, and that alone can be an eye opening experience for adult or child. Your kids may gain a greater appreciation for the things present in their lives and see just how fortunate they actually are. Volunteering may also help to put some of the petty sibling battles to rest (at least temporarily) or place in perspective the often silly parent/child arguments.
But most of all, your family will have a great time playing with, and helping, other families and kids in your community.
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