Kids Helping People in Need
When kids help people in need, they are learning valuable life lessons. These include gratefulness, social awareness and the value of hard work. Parents and educators invest a great deal in the lives of children, and many of these children are eager to turn around and invest in the lives of underserved populations. Service projects large and small are available to kids who are interested in helping people in need.
Other People Are Reading
-
Building Homes
-
Kids help needy families by building them homes. Habitat for Humanity is a nationally recognized aid organization that has special programs for youth volunteers. Two of these programs cater specifically to kids: Habitat Trekkers (ages 5 to 8) and Habitat Street Team (ages 9 to 13). Both of these programs operate under the Youth United program, which is a branch of Habitat for Humanity that focuses on raising money, building homes for needy families and raising poverty awareness in local communities. Kids are given age-appropriate duties that really make an impact on impoverished communities.
Serving Food
-
Soup kitchens welcome young volunteers. Local soup kitchens often welcome child volunteers, if they are supervised by an adult. Teachers or parents can organize groups of children from school, church or community groups to serve needy families nutritious meals in nearby communities. Many of the adults that frequent soup kitchens enjoy the presence of child volunteers, as a large number of them are childless or not in communication with their own families.
-
Sponsoring a Child
-
Bake sales are a great way for kids to raise money. Compassion International is a world-renowned social justice organization that is dedicated to lifting children out of poverty. Kids can raise money to sponsor a child in a poor country by sending a set amount of money each month. This money can be raised through candy sales, odd jobs or local community fundraising drives. The sponsorship money pays for food, clothing, shelter and educational needs. Compassion has created an interactive website dedicated to educating young children on the impoverished conditions that people their own age must endure in developing nations.
Community Restoration
-
Recycling is one way for kids to help needy people. Kids can care for needy members of the community by taking a few hours each week to clean up their neighborhoods. Children can gather bottles and cans from neighborhood streets, which parents or teachers can help them drop off at local recycling centers. The money can then be donated to social justice organizations in the area. Kids also can adopt a local park in a poor neighborhood and commit themselves to keeping it clean. In addition, kids are welcome to volunteer at any cleanup effort organized by local community groups, as long as they are supervised by an adult.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images PhotoObjects.net/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images Thinkstock/Comstock/Getty Images Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images Jupiterimages/liquidlibrary/Getty Images
