Teaching our Kids the Value of Volunteering

I stopped and started this post many times, trying to figure out why I am writing it. As a child I don’t remember volunteering in my community. The first time I really remember volunteering I was 18, and I dragged my younger brother’s along with me. We spent the day doing manual labor, building a bath house for our summer camp. That building is still being used by campers 25 years later, and my family still sends kids there every year.

It’s an amazing feeling, that something I did, benefits kids TWENTY-FIVE YEARS after I did it. But let’s be honest, that kind of lasting physical evidence is few and far between. Most volunteer work goes unnoticed, and while it has an impact it’s not one that anyone can point to and say ‘I did that’. In fact, most volunteer work is repetitive and invisible.

So why do it?

Before you can understand why its important to teach volunteering to our kids we need to understand its impact to us, as adults. Within the volunteer world there is a saying that 100% of the work gets done by 20% of the people in any given group.

If only 20% do the work, then I’d better be part of the 20%, if enough of us finally step forward, then the numbers will change. Then our culture will change.

I used to volunteer because I saw a need, and I knew I could fill it. The older I get, the more I see volunteering as a way to serve, to be the hands of the church in my world. It’s a way to think outside of myself, that is the example I want to be for my kids.

What motivates you may be different than what motivates me, but this verse sums it up for me.

Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Bible Verse

So How do I teach this to my kids?

You teach your kid’s to be volunteers by letting them see all you do, and finding ways to include them. Raise them in a giving environment. That’s it. Simple right, well, not always. It can take work to find opportunities for young volunteers, but it is worth the effort.

This holiday season start a new tradition in your family by setting a goal to volunteer a certain number of hours each month or for the year (some season’s are easier to volunteer in).

Keep track of your hours with this FREE Printable! To get just sign up for my Newsletter in the link below and it will be delivered to your email. Already get my newsletter? It’s also available in my Free Library, you’ll find the password in the last email I sent.

Printable Volunteer Hours Planner Page.

Need Ideas on where to start?

• Pack Backpacks for kid’s in Foster Care.
• Pack Backpacks for back to school (for next year, put it on your calendar so you can start buying things when you see awesome prices)
• Call your food pantry and see if they have anything you can do with your children, some are able to have you come in on off days and do simple tasks that need to be done, freeing up older volunteers for the things kid’s really can’t help with. (We cull out bad fruit).
• Call your animal shelter, maybe your kid’s can help you walk a dog or socialize an animal.
• Take a trash bag and a grab-it device and pick up trash along your sidewalk or beach.
• Call a nursing home, maybe you can send letters and pictures to cheer up the residents.

Do you have any volunteer suggestions you’d like to share? I would love to hear what you and your children are doing to serve in your community.