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Help senior citizens and people with disabilities
in recreation programs in nursing homes and group
residences:
- Help with arts and crafts, special events, dances, game nights
- Hold musical, dance or dramatic performances -- throw a prom!
- Be a friendly visitor - in person or "phone friend"
- Start a current events discussion group
- Help with an in-house newsletter
- Be a pen pal. Write letters or cards for disabled seniors
- Decorate and make centerpieces for a holiday
- Put together an art show - student art, resident art
- Make cards, tray favors or placemats for Meals On Wheels
recipients, nursing homes, and senior residences
- Rake leaves or shovel snow, plant flowers, weed, mow grass
- Run errands, wash windows, clean gutters
- Read to someone with poor vision – newspaper, favorite book,
mail
Collect Stuff
at school or with your youth group. Collect:
- Children's books for a nursery school, elementary school or book
sale
- Paper products (towels, napkins, tissues)
- Cleaning supplies
- Personal care products (shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, etc.)
- Disposable diapers and/or infant formula
- New socks and underwear for children
- Coats/hats/mittens (new or gently used)
- Coupons for food, soap, etc.
- Food – non-perishables like peanut butter, tuna, canned soup, etc.
Help children
Collect things like used bikes or toys; repair and clean them
and give them to an agency that helps homeless children and
families.
Sort, wash, and repair toys at an agency, day care center, or
after-school program
Help out at an after-school program, day care center, or
religious school
Supervise playground activities
Tutor
Be a "study buddy" to a kindergartner or first grader
Put on a show for a day care center or recreation program
Direct a show with the children as the stars!
Help with recreation activities
Hold sports clinics
Organize a basketball tournament
Help a coach/be a coach
Paint murals -- paint over graffiti
Organize a concert, show or "battle of the bands"
Host a "movie night" at an agency (include popcorn and theme
props)
Help fight hunger
Collect food and take it to a food pantry
Sort and shelve food at a food pantry
Help assemble food baskets for needy families
Help at museums, theaters, concerts, historic sights
Usher or be a guide
Help with sets
Help with publicity, distribute flyers, sell tickets, etc.
Help the environment
Clear a stream, help with trail maintenance, general cleanup
Adopt a park: pick up litter, plant flowers, pull weeds
Make pine cone/peanut butter "ornaments" for birds in winter
Make newspaper "logs" for fireplace burning
Learn about conservation of water, gas, oil
Teach children in day care or after school programs how they can
help the environment by keeping the heat down, shutting off water,
not littering, etc.
Decorate "recycling" or "scrap paper" boxes for classrooms and
offices
Hold a "found art" exhibit of re-usable or recycled items.
Organize a "pass it on" day at school (Organized hand-me-downs)
Clean up a vacant lot. Plant flowers, trees, etc.
STUDENTS CAN . . . do all sorts of useful tasks
Help in an office with data entry, filing, typing and answering
phones
Help with mailings -- get some friends and have a mailing party!
Help with publicity by making posters and flyers and
distributing them
Organize, or help with fundraisers: car washes, bake sales,
walk-athons, bike-a-thons
Develop a resource file on special issues such as AIDS,
drug/alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, juvenile diabetes, sexual
assault, suicide, bullying, service learning.
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