A few suggestions of family volunteer ideas you and your family can do throughout the year! (Adapt these ideas to fit your own interests as well as the needs of people in your own community!)
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
New Year’s Day
Make goals with your family about the volunteer projects you would like to be involved with together for the year. Block out time on your calendar for serving others.
Martin Luther King Day
Celebrate DIVERSITY! Make sure your home and school libraries contain books about people from many different cultures, countries, and ethnic backgrounds.
Make a calendar of celebrations and holidays from around the world.
February
Valentine’s Day
Make decorations and Valentine’s for and/or with elderly, disabled, sick, or disadvantaged children in your area. Brighten someone’s day!
President’s Day
Learn about the contributions made by some of America’s leaders and put together a puppet show for preschool children.
March
Have a Saint Patrick’s Day Party where everyone wears green with children in a low-income area.
Have a Spring festival/party to celebrate the end of winter.
April
Spring Cleaning
Go through your clothing and give away extra that you no longer wear to organizations that collect used clothing.
Participate in a cleanup effort surrounding Earth Day or clean up a nearby lake, park, or cemetery
May
May Day
May 1st is a wonderful day to give away homemade baskets filled with flowers or candy or a nice surprise! You can make them and give them as a nice present to teachers, neighbors, an elderly resident in the community, friends, etc.
Mother’s Day
Make diaper bags and baby blankets for future moms expecting their first baby.
Memorial Day
Clean up a local cemetery. Bring flowers to graves.
June
Father’s Day
Interview people in a nursing home about their childhood and record their memories for them and their families.
Flag Day
Make flags with children to decorate rooms of a nursing home with festive, bright colors.
Safe fun in the sun! Hold a sunscreen drive for children in a low-income preschool and teach them about the dangers of UV rays. (You could also collect sunglasses and flip flops!)
Mow your neighbor’s lawn while they are on vacation.
July
Independence Day
4th of July - Clean up the remnants from fireworks - the day after the big celebration there is often lots of trash littering the earth. Keep America clean and beautiful!
Have a fun outdoors barbecue with people who have a disability. Plan fun games and prizes!
August
Hold a back-to-school drive for school supplies for children in need, including backpacks, pencils, paper and crayons.
September
Spend Labor Day working hard and cleaning homes for elderly friends and neighbors! Do some organizing of special projects and trim those bushes!
October
Help out with a Halloween Party for adults or children with developmental disabilities. Wear funny clothing and dance to fun music and help them smile!
Hold a costume drive to donate dress-up clothes and Halloween costumes to an after-school program or preschool in an economically distressed area (if they have the storage space this could be done AFTER Halloween to create a large box of clothes for future plays and musicals, or just for fun at other times)!
November
Have a family fun day of raking for neighbors or senior citizens – surprise them by raking and bagging their leaves! (And have fun with your family in the process!)
Veteran’s Day
Send cards and write letters to current troops or those who have served in the past.
Hold a canned food drive around Thanksgiving to show your own thankfulness. Donate the food to families in your community in need.
December
Make decorations, ornaments, gingerbread houses, and/or cookies for people in a shelter to enjoy some holiday cheer. Make cookies together with them and give them a homemade copy of the recipe.
Sing songs for people traveling around the holidays (at the airport or train station) or shopping (at a mall). (Make sure you get permission!)
Put on a musical performance at a nursing home.
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