We Make Volunteering Easy!
Volunteering should NOT be so hard. Our easy service ideas can help!
Introverted? Have small kids? Schedule too crazy to commit? Homebound? There’s a host of projects YOU can do, no matter your life circumstance. Do good . . . and feel good, knowing you have contributed to a cause bigger than yourself.
Let’s start off with charitable and kind acts you and you family can do together.
Simple Ways to Serve
No gift is too small, your hands and hearts are precious to the organizations and recipients! Here are some ideas:
Make a laundromat care package. A roll of quarters, detergent pods, a granola bar, and a handmade card bring cheer. Drop the care package(s) at a local laundromat.
Adopt a soldier. Contact the military base in your area and see what holiday programs/activities they offer. Invite a soldier or sailor to enjoy a meal with you. Or respond to needs the base identifies.
Feed our feathered friends for the winter. Make and hang pine cone bird feeders.
Do a random act of kindness. Pay the tab for someone in line with you. Pay off lay away for a stranger. Settle someone’s medical debt at a local hospital. Underwrite the cost of treats after a children’s Christmas program or play.
Introverted? Here’s Volunteer Work for You!
Volunteering is good for the soul and the body. But for introverts, the social aspects of volunteering can sometimes be daunting. Fear not! Here are five service projects that you can do on your own:
Transcribe historical documents for the Smithsonian.
Send a card, letter or note once a week to someone undergoing chemotherapy. Apply at Chemo Angels.
Track bird populations with eBird.
Sew emotional support blankets for Binky Patrol.
Identify New York Wildlife, map our galaxy, or assist researchers in many other ways with Zooniverse.
We update our easy volunteer ideas regularly so check back to find more service work that works for you!
Volunteer Ideas for Families
Write cards to kids who are hospitalized; send them to the nearest children’s hospital.
Host a lemonade stand and give the proceeds to a favorite charity.
Sing songs or play an instrument for people at a local nursing home or a shelter. Have mom and dad arrange a time.
Do good works around the house or devote part of your allowance to micro-loans or to a favorite nonprofit.
Organize a beach, waterway, or park cleanup with a group of family or friends. Host a picnic afterwards as a treat.
Have older kids tutor or read to other kids. Keep their academic skills sharp over the break by lending help to others.
Plant a tree. It does wonders for the environment — and for beautifying a neighborhood.
Host a book or magazine drive. Hospitals, waiting rooms, shelters, and libraries appreciate gently used books.
Clean your closets and toy chests. Call a shelter, school or house of worship to see if they need the items. Or donate them to a charity thrift shop.
Collect used mobile phones from friends and neighbors to donate to Cell Phones for Soldiers.
Offer to do yard or house work for a neighbor who might need a little extra help.
Participate in or create a campaign to improve your community or further a cause at DoSomething.org.
Write a letter to your senator about upcoming legislation or a need in your community.
Test your vocabulary skills on freerice.com. For every right answer, the organization donates 10 grains of rice through the World Food Programme.
Inspired by cooking shows on TV? Hold a bake sale and donate the proceeds to a local nonprofit.
Social media savvy teens, offer your know-how to a charity. Nonprofits often need the help.
Volunteer to coach or referee at the Boys and Girls Club.
Sign up to run/walk/ride for an event, like Race for the Cure or Relay for Life. Or for older kids, offer to register or help out at the event.
Volunteer Ideas You Can Pursue Any Time!
Thank our deployed military by writing letters, sending care packages, and more through Operation Gratitude
Lend your eyes to solve tasks for blind and low vision people. Visit Be My Eyes.
Identify New York Wildlife, map our galaxy, or assist researchers in many other ways with Zooniverse.
Sew emotional support blankets for Binky Patrol.
Transcribe historical documents for the Smithsonian.
Answer texts from people in crisis using active listening and collaborative problem solving with Crisis Text Line.
Create care packages (cookies, homemade casseroles, etc.) and thank-you cards for community helpers. Deliver them to local firefighters, police, mail carriers, groundskeepers, paramedics, and school personnel.
Make no-sew dog toys for animals in shelters. Deliver them to your local SPCA.
Set up a Blessing Box outside your home — with a sign that reads, “Take a blessing when you need one. Leave a blessing when you can.”
Volunteer as a family to help at a Ronald McDonald House in your area.
Help your local library run an Edible Book Festival. For more library-related service ideas, check out Celebrate Hug Your Librarian Day.
Make warm scarves to donate. Collect clothing, blankets, toys, disposable diapers, and personal care items to give to homeless shelters in your area.
Proofread ebooks for Project Gutenberg.
Track bird populations with eBird.
Crochet or knit afghan squares that will help build blankets for both babies and adults. Send them to Warm Up America.
Send a card, letter or note once a week to someone undergoing chemotherapy. Apply at Chemo Angels.
Provide learning and encouragement to children around the world via Skype and the Granny Cloud website.
Discover how you can certify your dog as a therapy dog to volunteer in hospitals and schools.
Volunteer to translate with Translators without Borders.
You Can Volunteer Even When Temperatures Climb
You can be an angel to others during the summer’s warm weather. Often, that is when the need is great. Distract yourself from the temperatures by engaging in volunteer service and random acts of kindness. You can:
Paint some rocks and hide them around town for others to find and be delighted.
Donate a fan. Aldi and other discount stores carry small fans for $5. Why not bring them to an elder day care or another center that serves those in need?
Leave cold drinks out for the mail carrier, trash collector, and others. So many people serve us every day but often go unnoticed. Bring a little chill and cheer to their daily routine by greeting them with a kind note, a popsicle, or a cooler full of water.
Put water and bird feed out for birds.
Get more cool ideas for volunteering during hot weather here.
Don’t forget to post your photos/video of completed projects on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Add #heavenonearthnow to your posts.
Contact us to get involved in our ongoing projects. We welcome your church groups, school clubs, scout troops, or group of friends to become angel volunteers. Feel free to share an idea of yours you want help implementing.
Let Us Show You How . . .
Here are some of our favorite volunteer projects you can easily do with your family in your own home or neighborhood.
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