November 5th is 50 days until Christmas. Start a new tradition by doing 50 days of service and everyone in your home will feel the spirit of giving this Holiday season! Small acts of service might seem to go unnoticed, but to the people you serve, they will remember. I encourage our kids to serve because it teaches them how to love others and recognize when someone has a need they can help fill. There are so many ways to serve, but knowing where to begin can be daunting. To help you get a start on 50 days of service I have divided service into 4 categories, from which you will find great service ideas.
1st Start by serving others in your home
I like to start with getting myself and my kids to serve in our home. I feel like this helps the children to love each other more and be more kind towards one another. If you are unsure how to serve those you live with start by thinking about how they spend their day. You could ask yourself questions like what activities do they do, what responsibilities do they have, are they really busy? Try to imagine what you could do to make their day go more smoothly. Maybe it’s making breakfast for a busy parent/spouse who leaves early for work. Or helping a sibling/child with an activity they cannot do on their own. If you can’t think of any ideas I have a few to share!
- Start a Thankful Tree – this is a fun way to express gratitude throughout the Holidays and recognize when you see other people around you serving.
- Start a service jar – For a jar use small slips of paper and each time a person does an act of service they can write it down and place it in the jar. Watch as your jar fills up.
- Use a little manager or buy one – place pieces of straw into it for each act of service.
- Write a note to someone telling them how much you love them.
- offer to do someone’s chore or make dinner without being asked (you could also secretly do an act of service and don’t tell who did it)
2nd Serve in your neighborhood
Serving our neighbors can really help you create a feeling of community. This is a rarity in today’s world with everyone hurrying to and from their homes.
- Rake leaves, do yard work, take the garbage to the curb or help hang Christmas lights
- Bake a treat and share it with your neighbors. If you don’t have time to bake, look for treats your kids can make!
- Do neighbor Christmas gifts
- 12 days of Christmas – Think of someone in need and take them gifts for 12 days leading up to Christmas.
- Offer to walk a neighbors dog
3rd Volunteer in your community
Service in the community can really help you feel apart and connected to the community you live in. Offering your service can help you develop new skills and talents you never had before. I also love how community service and helps people get to know others in their community that otherwise, they would have not met.
- Volunteer at your local soup kitchen or food pantry or homeless shelter.
- Sing Christmas carols to the elderly in assisted living homes
- Gather supplies like blankets, household kits, and school supplies for refugees
- Look for other opportunities to serve in your community by visiting your local city building or a library. They often have ads about service opportunities in the community.
- volunteer to clean up garbage in your community
4th Volunteer globally
There are so many ways to serve globally from humanitarian aid to donating money or items to a global cause. Our country and other countries are still suffering the effects of the global pandemic. Now is a great time to start giving back and helping people around the world.
- Volunteer abroad by signing up for a humanitarian trip by yourself, with your family, or with some friends.
- Donate to walk for water fund. if you gave $5, that can give fresh, clean water to an entire family for the rest of their life!
- Justserve.org is another great way to find places to serve, this website has a variety of service opportunities that range from in-person to online depending on your location.
- There are so many volunteer abroad opportunities from working with individuals and teach, to helping communities be safe and grow in construction and renovation.
- Virtual Abroad Volunteer opportunities. If you can’t travel consider an option where you can serve from the comfort of your home.
There are so many ways to serve, and I have only listed a few. But hopefully, this list gets your wheels in your head turning as your think of volunteer opportunities can do.
I would love to know how these 50 days of serve go! Don’t get discouraged if you miss a day or two or three. Just start right back up the next day and keep serving! Happy Holidays!
Rach
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