Helping our Community

Volunteering is so important and so helpful to our community. This pandemic may have caused you to stop being able to volunteer, but if you would like to step out of the house, there are still so many ways that we can help our community during this time. 

Helping seniors is a great way to volunteer in your community. I was part of a small volunteer project, in which I helped to clean a yard. My friend had noticed that there was an old woman with a yard that needed some work. With her permission, me and a couple of my friends went to her house one day and cleaned up her yard. We stayed there for just around two hours, pulling weeds, raking leaves, and putting all of it into trash bags. In the end, her yard was certainly much cleaner than before, and ready to renovate. We made a big difference in her yard! She was so grateful for our help; we were proud of what we did and happy we could assist her. This was quite a simple task, but so effective for our community. We can help seniors in so many ways, even just by checking in on them. 

It may seem simple, but talking to your neighbors, especially seniors is a great way to help out. You can ask them if they need anything, and leave it outside the door so you aren’t nearby. If both of you are comfortable, try talking through a distance. Even having a short, friendly conversation can be so nice, and can improve a hard time. 

Some so many people are still working endlessly every day, and there are a lot of easy ways you can support them and honor their work. You can ask a local hospital if they would be willing to take cards, if so, make cards for the brave healthcare workers! Grocery store workers, policemen and women, pharmacy workers, and many other people are hardly working during this pandemic. If they aren’t able to take physical items, you can always put up a sign by your home, or make a drawing with chalk. Even these small gestures can show your support for all of these people.  

Giving meals or donating food is a very helpful thing that you can do for your community. Homeless shelters need food, and depending on its guidelines, you can donate canned or even homemade food to help the people in the shelter. When donating to homeless shelters, sometimes, it can be more beneficial to donate food rather than money.  

Volunteering your time can also go a long way. Many of us might not have much to do in quarantine, and giving your time can be helpful. Even if it’s doing something you might enjoy, like calling family, it can make quite a difference in someone’s day. There are also many different online gatherings that you can attend. Different projects do many wonderful things for our society. For example, Project Sunshine brings joy to pediatric patients, and Spark The Change Colorado is holding kindness lessons and virtual mental health sessions. These are just two projects that have such an important purpose and spread positivity. 

Supporting small or family businesses is a great way to help our community. Especially during this time, when businesses aren’t able to be at their full potential, it is great to buy from small businesses. These types of businesses often sell handmade or completely natural items that you might be interested in!  You can buy gift cards, order things online and if you like the products, recommend them to others. 

Did you know that the world generates three point five million tons of trash and waste in a day? Americans accumulate the most trash, around four and a half pounds per day per person! Picking up trash truly is an effective solution to help our community. Nowadays, many people are getting out of the house by going on walks around the neighborhood. Why not bring a trash bag, wear gloves, and pick up trash around you? Sidewalks by streets are often littered with random pieces of trash. Change your route and pick up even more trash! If you pick up trash around you often, that will make a difference in our community, and help to conserve our environment. 

Overall, helping and serving our community is so important and while some of our volunteer opportunities have been shut down, there are still so many ways we can improve our surroundings!