How Can We Help Poor People?

Poor child eating porridge

We can help the poor in so many ways. Even the smallest effort counts and that can be achieved with the following steps: volunteer, donate and fundraise. Volunteering is the easiest way to give your time to another person in need. Donating money can be done comfortably on any budget, because every penny counts. Fundraising can be challenging, but the reward in the end makes all the hard work worth it. Whether you are helping the poor in your community or the poor around the world, you are doing a good deed and helping those less fortunate.

Instructions

Volunteer

1. 

   Help others without breaking the bank. Volunteering your time to help the poor does not cost any money. There are several organizations that receive funding to help the poor, and you can put your time to use through one of these outlets. You can help serve meals at a soup kitchen, start a community garden growing vegetables and fruit that the poor can use, be a big brother or sister at a YMCA or Boys & Girls Clubs, tutor kids in homeless shelters who have missed school and build houses for the poor with Habitat for Humanity.

2. 

   Do the research. Some organizations require long-term commitments. For example, if you are mentoring a child, it must be a long-term commitment because you are forming a relationship. Habitat for Humanity has short-term and long-term trips as well as local programs. Volunteering at a soup kitchen is more flexible and does not require a long-term commitment.

3. 

   Get involved locally. You can also find out more information about volunteering from your local town hall and schools. While some school volunteer events need kids to participate, they also look for adults to chaperone the trips.

Donate

1. 

   Think about what you want to do with your money. Donating to a charity that helps the poor is a selfless thing to do. A perk to donating money is that your donation is usually tax-deductible.

2. 

   Choose from a wide range of charities in the United States and abroad. Some of the charities are religiously affiliated.

3. 

   Decide where you want your money to go based on the charity you pick. Some focus on educating the poor while others focus on food and shelter.

Fundraise

1. 

   Prepare yourself for hard work. Fundraising is not easy. It takes a lot of dedication, time and passion. Fundraising can be done individually or in a group.

2. 

   Think small. The easiest way is to collect spare change. Take your change to a supermarket that has a change-counting machine. The fee to use the machine is small, and it's a simple way to skip the hassle of counting it out yourself.

3. 

   Get more people involved. Raise money by having a bake sale. You will have to put your own money into buying cooking materials, but you will make enough baked goods to raise more money than you initially invested.

4. 

   Be active. Host a walkathon, marathon or race. People who believe in raising money for the poor ask friends and relatives to support them by donating money if they complete the event. They can also get pledges for how many miles they walk or run. Those pledges then turn into donations.

5. 

   Challenge yourself. An elaborate fundraising event is a silent auction. Ask people to donate items for free--anything from artwork to a free dinner at a nice restaurant to tickets to the theater. After you have a collection of items, host a silent auction and allow people to bid on each item. Start the bid high, and depending on the appeal of the item, people will bid higher and higher--and you will raise more money.

Tips & Warnings

• Be cautious about donating money online. Make sure the site is reliable and safe.

References

• Volunteering Resource
• Donation Resource
• Fundraising Resource

Resources

• Volunteer Opportunities