Use your Personality to Pick a Volunteer Project

God created you with a thumbprint of very unique gifts and personalities. He designed you with a purpose, prepared to make the world a better place. Looking at your personality might help you find your niche for volunteering in the community. Here are some examples:

Adventuresome
Help with outdoor activities for a Big Brothers Big Sisters or a 4-H Club. Organize an adventure for the church youth group or a Young Life club. Plan a treasure hunt for children.

Builder
Make a puppet theatre box for children, help with home repairs for senior citizens, or build a Habitat for Humanity house. Help a single mother with yardwork and home repairs.

Comforter
Visit patients in the hospital, nursing home, or Ronald McDonald House. Volunteer as a crisis pregnancy counselor or answer calls on a crisis hotline.

Creative
Decorate a room for the Renewal House or the Ronald McDonald House. Paint a mural at a daycare center

Dramatic
Help children perform a simple drama, tell the gospel through dramatic stories, or read stories to children at a preschool.

Energizer
Coach a sports team, lead recreational activities for children, chaperone a youth group trip, or help at Vacation Bible School. Babysit for single mothers.

Funny
Visit senior citizen’s centers, dress up as a clown at a hospital, or help with puppet shows at the library

Hospitality
Host an open house or help with a fundraiser for a non-profit agency’s collaborating partners, clients or the community-at-large. Volunteer as a foster parent for children or animals.

Inspiring
Offer to give a motivational speech at a school, community center or church. Use arts and crafts to inspire other people. Read stories to children. Mentor a child.

Organizer
Help plan special events for a non-profit agency, or volunteer on their board of trustees. Tutor a child. Teach study skills to students.

Quick Thinker
Volunteer with CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates), coach a debate team, or lobby congresspersons on an important issue.

Socializer
Visit with people with disabilities, read stories to children in a low-income preschool, or host a dress-up party for the Boys & Girls Club.

Thrifty
Teach money management and share shopping tips with singles, new families, widows, and former prisoners.

Establishing a Family Service Night - from Passionate Homemaking

Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking just wrote a post on establishing a family service night.  You'll love her simple and inspiring ideas that even your little tykes can help with!

Discover the Superhero in You! Our Service-Learning Activity Booklet

I worked with Susan Ragsdale, Cindy Lawrence to develop this service-learning activity book for the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. Their youth volunteer leaders use the booklets in service-learning workshops that they lead for elementary age children.  We’d love for you to use it with your youth, or you can contract with us to develop materials especially for you!  Email Ann@TheAssetEdge.net to get your free copy of the activity book!

Do your kids like art? Learn about the Art For the Wounded Warriors Project

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is sponsoring the collection of children´s art which will be distributed to hospitals throughout the world by the Wounded Warrior Regiment. They need your help to send good wishes to brave military men and women who have been injured helping to defend our country.

Directions: Use an 8½ x 11 sheet of paper to create a message and a picture for a service member. You may draw, color, or paint your picture. Be sure to put your name, hometown, and grade level on the back of your artwork! All artwork should be sent in a flat, rigid envelope and postmarked by December 10, 2011.

Entries should be mailed to:

The National Museum of the Marine Corps
Attn : Teacher in Residence
18900 Jefferson Davis Highway
Triangle, VA 22172-1938.

Find more info at http://www.usmcmuseum.com/WW_art_flyer_2011.pdf

Across the Wide River - Book Review

Stephanie Reed's novel, Across the Wide River, is based on the true story of the Rankin family living along the Ohio River in the 1820s during the heightening tensions between slave owners and abolitionists.  It’s the story of a young boy’s journey to free slaves by helping them on the Underground Railway.  It gives readers a really good feel for the emotional, economical, spiritual and political debate around slavery.  It is a powerful story of faith and courage, as the Rankin family sacrifices to do what is right and challenge others to do what’s right.  It is a story of adventure and risk, as youth and adults navigate hostile communities and the Underground Railroad.  It’s a tale of self-discovery and growing confidence, as young Lowry overcomes the insecurities brought on by his peers to seek his own place in the world.  It’s a story of family and community.  It’s a story of finding ways to fight injustice – finding a way to help others – whether you are 9 or 89 years old.

 It’s an educational and inspirational read, and I hope it will inspire readers to explore injustices in their own communities and find a way to make a difference.  Stephanie Reed is a great story-teller, and I look forward to reading more of her books.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, as well as students who want to explore American history.  It would also be a great story for families of 3-9^th grade children to read together, then discuss topics of faith, courage and service.

Explore more about Stephanie’s books:

·         Across the Wide River

·         www.Stephanielreed.com

Learn more about serving others:

·         If you know children that want to find opportunities to help solve social problems, check out www.kidscareclubs.com.

·         If you know youth groups that want to serve together to make a difference in their communities, check out my book, Ready to Go Service Projects.

·         If you know adults that want to serve, contact your local volunteer center or visit www.volunteermatch.org.

Raising Kids With A Heart for the World

Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking continually inspires me.  I really like this article she wrote on Raising Kids With A Heart for the World.  It's full of creative, simple, yet intentional ways to help our children learn, respect and love other cultures.

Christmas ideas and deals this week

If you're thinking about Christmas, check out these great deals compiled by Kelly at Faithful Provisions:

50 Free Photo Cards (with free shipping)

Cooking Light Magazine: 1 Year Subscription Only $5

Gap, Old Navy & Banana Republic 30% off Coupon

Toys ‘R Us: Hasbro Game Deal $.56/ea!


This is also a great article with gift ideas:


Top 5 Charitable Gifts from CAbi Canary - CAbi Blog

Sharing Baby Clothes With Needy Families.

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Strick’s Gift is a new non-profit organization dedicated to helping newborns in need in Nashville, Tennessee. While many children are born to families who have the means to provide plenty in terms of clothes, blankets and bedding, many other families are unable to afford these necessary items. Strick’s Gift is a way to bridge this need.

Strick’s Gift is dedicated to the memory of and was founded in honor of our first son, Strick. We want to celebrate life and welcome with joy the babies that make it to this world safely. Our objective is to collect and pass along gently used and new infant clothing (premature to 12 months), blankets, burp cloths and bibs to underprivileged newborns in Nashville.

Currently, Strick’s Gift is working with Baptist Hospital, Vanderbilt Hospital Medical Center, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and another great organization in town, Nurses for Newborns (www.nfnf.org). We collect donations of gently used and new infant clothing, blankets, burp cloths and bibs and then divide donations into individual bags. The bags bear the Strick's Gift logo, and the items are wrapped in blue tissue paper. We hope to have at least seven days worth of clothing for each newborn. We present these items to the families in the hospitals as a gift. Each gift is brought directly to the baby in need just hours after he or she is born by a nurse or social worker that is familiar with the needs of the child. With each bag a card of well wishes from "One Angel to Another" is attached.

Strick’s Gift is a unique opportunity to impact newborns almost immediately. Additionally, it is a unique opportunity to address a significant need that you may not have realized is so great.

If you would like to participate please go to www.stricksgift.org and see how to donate – or just go ahead and email us at info@stricksgift.org and we’ll write you back!

Thank you!
Lena and Geoff Levendoski
Founders, Strick’s Gift

Extra Room in Your Suitcase?

Are you traveling this year for work or play? If so, you might be able to help others while you travel.

John Piper, through the Desiring God ministry is looking for people that will carry evangelical resources across the world. You don't have to do street evangelism - they just need people to pack books in their suitcase and deliver the books to the people/organizations that have asked for materials. It's such an easy way to make a difference!

Find out more in their article "Help Us Offer Free Resources Around the World" from Desiring God Blog.

Teaching Kids to be Green

This was my favorite post this morning - it's full of practical and fun ideas for raising kids to respect and care for the environment. Easy ideas to incorporate at home or in a childcare setting.

10 Ideas for Raising Greener Kids

And of course I love this photo she included in her post!

Super Cute Tshirts for American Cancer Society - Fight Like a Girl

My DH got one of these shirts for me for Mother's Day. Thankfully, I haven't had breast cancer, but we have dear friends that have struggled. He also knows that I appreciate supporting philanthropic causes. They're super-cute, so I thought you might be interested in ordering one too! All proceeds benefits the American Cancer Society.

Update 10/09: they have sold out of the tshirts, but I'll repost info if they get more in stock.

Treasures for You

Parenting: How to Get First Time Obedience from Women Living Well Blog - my 4yr old really likes the idea of this 'game'.

Barnes & Noble: Earn A Free Book (Summer Reading Program) from Faithful Provisions - my 7yr old is going to love this program!

Lots of Kids and Extra-Curriculars: A Guide To Managing It All from simple mom - I agree with the philosophy of one sport per season, but I'm nervous about entering the phase of parenting when I have more than one child in sports!

How to spend $32 a month from The Simple Wife - this helps put perspective on our finances and making giving a priority in our lives.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from The Mother Load - I used to always make bar cookies, but I hadn't made them in years 'til I saw Amy's recipe. Yum yum!

Freezer Meals...Mexican style for Tasty Tuesday from Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - She shares some really fast & yummy-looking dinner recipes that she pulls from the freezer on busy nights.

Caring for Friends in Need - From Across the Country

One of my dear friends just had a baby and she lives halfway across the country from me. Having a baby is challenging enough, but this is baby #3 in just over 3 years. Her oldest son turned 3 in September, her 2nd son (diagnosed with Down's Syndrome and many related health issues) turned 1 in January, and her 3rd son was born 2 weeks ago. Due to medical complications baby #3 just came home from the NICU a few days ago.

I've been working really hard to find ways to support her family, and I've finally found some avenues that feel helpful. I'm sure some of you are in (or have recently been in) the same boat - looking for ways to care for loved ones far away. So I thought I'd share what we're doing for my friend - not to brag, but to help you find creative ways to love others.

We're coordinating care efforts through a really cool website called Lotsa Helping Hands. It's a free service that allows you to post needs on a calendar that's accessible to a group of invited friends. We're using this website to coordinate meals, light house-cleaning, childcare during doctor's appointments, sending encouraging notes, and playdates for the oldest child. It's very easy to use, and a great way to involve people that want to help.

I sent an email to her out-of-town friends with opportunities for them to help.

• Provide them a gourmet meal through Dinner Helpers, Dinner A'Fare or Super Suppers. You can give a gift certificate to cover a meal or a week's worth of meals. Ask the companies if they have special deals for new mothers.
• Send a gift card for restaurants or prepared foods (I listed my friend's favorite local restaurants and grocery stores)
• Send diapers. You can send a Walmart gift card for diapers or order them from 1800diapers.com.
• And of course send thoughtful notes, care packages and encouraging emails.

Let me know if you have more ideas to support their family!

Supporting Military Moms during Deployment

I live really close to a military base, so I have several friends with spouses that are deployed overseas. I've never known very much about military life, so I asked my friend Elizabeth (military wife and mother) to coach me through how to support women whose husbands are deployed. She gave me some great advice, and said that I could share it with you.

• First, I would recommend that she get a free video that Sesame Street produced for her kids if she doesn't already have it; the first link should take you to a site where you can order it.
• Make sure that she knows that she can call you whenever for whatever. We have a neighbor whose husband is in Korea for a year; she knows that she can come ask for whatever help she might need, even if it's getting a bird out of her house or watching her kids while she unloads groceries. You might offer to watch her kids sometimes so that she can have a little time for herself.
• Don't take it personally if she doesn't want to talk at times or totally breaks down for no apparent reason; deployment is hard and it's hard to predict what emotions may be there at any given time. For example, if someone knocks on her door when she isn't expecting it, it may really throw her off for the rest of the day. There were a few times that someone knocked on my door while Kevin was deployed; it causes a horrible knot to form in your stomach. A knock on the door is how the military notifies you if your soldier has been killed. On that same note, always call before you stop by!
• If she's expecting to hear from her husband and he doesn't contact her, it will ruin her day. It's probably just because there is a communication blackout and he's probably fine, but you don't feel better until you hear for sure that everything is ok. When Kevin was deployed, a communication blackout would go into effect if a soldier in his brigade was hurt or killed; it gives the military time to properly notify the soldier's family instead of them hearing the news through rumors. There's no set length of time; it lasts until the family has been notified.
• I would recommend that she get involved with the Family Readiness Group (FRG) for her husband's unit; it's a great resource and good place to find friends who are going through the same thing you are.
• Basically, just be there for her, listen if she wants to talk, and keep reaching out even if she's not reaching back. Do whatever you can to take her mind off things, which may or may not be possible depending on the day.
• Call her and call often just to check in.

Websites that families with deployed soldiers might appreciate:
My Army Life Too
Deployment Kids
Military Spouse Resource Center
Military Avenue

Locks of Love, Wigs for Kids, and More

Amy just posted a picture of her daughter, who just donated her hair to Locks of Love.

It reminded me of some research I did last spring. A friend wanted to donate hair, but it wasn't long enough for Locks of Love's 10 inch requirement. So I started searching for other alternatives.

I found 3 reputable organizations that use donations of hair to make wigs for cancer patients. They have varying requirements for lengths and they serve different sets of clientele at various costs.

Beautiful lengths, www.beautifullengths.com = 8inches
Locks of Love, www.locksoflove.org = 10 inches
Wigs for Kids, www.wigsforkids.org = 12 inches (this group is the favorite of my friend who works for American Cancer Society)

If you know of other groups, I'd love to hear about them!

Finding Meaningful Service Projects, MLK Day

MLK Day is a national day of service - Congress challenges individuals and families to make it a day ON (volunteering together, celebrating Dr. King's legacy of social justice) instead of a day OFF.

Volunteerism offers a great opportunity to teach about (and model) character, selflessness, responsibility, and sacrifice, while exploring a plethora of social needs that are important to your family. It's also a great opportunity to build family relationships and make memories together.

I wrote an article about finding good volunteer projects on my other Giving Kids The Edge They Need to Succeed blog. Go check it out and find a way that your family can make a difference this month and throughout the year.

A Season of Giving – Volunteer Ideas for Families

Laura invited me to be a guest blogger at Joshua's House this week. It was my first guest post, so I was very excited - especially for a blog that is so empowering for christian families! She asked me to write an article highlighting ideas from my latest book, Ready to Go Service Projects: 140 Ways for Youth Groups to Lend A Hand.

I wrote an article titled "A Season of Giving – Volunteer Ideas for Families". It's a simple article about listening to your family's unique skills, talents & hobbies, recognizing needs in the community, and matching the pieces together to discover meaningful ways you and your children can serve together.

I hope it will inspire you and your family to find a way to serve - this holiday season and throughout the year.

A Mission to Serve - Life in the Church

Two of my friends planted Fellowship Church Louisville a couple of years ago. They have a great vision for serving others. Listen to this paragraph from their newsletter:

"We constantly pray that one of the hallmarks of our church will be service. But, not just service for service's sake, service that builds relational bridges to our community through which the message of the Gospel can be shared. We desire for our service to be a demonstration of the love of God that opens doors for His message to be declared to our community."

So their November service project involved partnering with Here's Life Inner City (Campus Crusade's inner city ministry) and other Louisville churches to provide Thanksgiving dinner to almost 900 families in the city. But it wasn't your typical dinner delivery. Each of the 900 families took a spiritual interest survey before the boxes were delivered, so the Gospel could be presented in a meaningful way when families delivered the boxes.

Their prayer is "that this would be a time where people both see and hear God's love. Ask God to use the Boxes of Love to meet the physical needs of those in the depressed area of our city and that large numbers of people would come to Christ and get plugged into local churches."

If you want to know more, visit www.fellowshiplouisville.org.

Clearing House Clutter - and Sending Love Packages

My friend Rhonda just told me about a really cool ministry:

Love Packages helps people in other countries get access to the Word of God just by cleaning out our bookshelves and drawers. As you are clearing out clutter, would you gather extra Bibles, Christian books and books on tape, extra commentaries, sermons on tape, etc. (see list of needs below) and ship them to this ministry?

Here are some testimonies of those who have received the materials:

FROM UGANDA: "Tears has filled my eyes because I have been pastoring in Agona Nyakrom for the past 6 years without a good reference bible. Today I have one. Now I can quickly refer to my concordance at the back of my Bible if I have to get some scripture. The name of the Lord be praise. Pastor Samson."

FROM INDIA: "Just yesterday morning I was walking in the church compound for the prayer walk, during that time God brought one person his name Mr. Chundern who is Secretary of one big temple in our area. He came inside the compound to talk to me, I felt great surprise to see him coming to talk to me. However, I invited him to the church and had conversation, while speaking to him he said please pray that I should get peace in me and to my family, I feel that I want to suicide, but I thought to meet you before I die, so therefore I came to you. I comforted him though the word of God and by prayer, I taught him who is Jesus Christ, why he came to the world, what is the salvation, etc. after talking to him 2 hours, he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ with tears of true repentance, I gave him a New Testament bible, some of the literature of gospel that I got from you. He gave me a prayer request that God should bring his whole family from the Hindu background, and also he said that God should protect him as he is going to resign his secretary post from the temple. Because he is in fear that the Hindu group may do evil to him after he comes out of the team. Please send as much as of books, bible, DVD, commentary, etc. which is greatly helping us the ministry."

"The bibles and books I have given to the people of Burma who came to collect Christian reading materials and bibles. They walked for 4 days since there is no vehicle able road. We need more to share with Christians in Nepal as I had very few left to give them."

FROM MOZAMBIQUE: "In my churches where I minister there is a lack of spiritual food, Bibles, tracts, tapes, and so on, and there is great poverty. Some women are unable to attend day services, but only night because they lack the clothing. Concerning Bibles, people are using tract verses to make a Bible. Please help us if you can."

What kinds of materials does Love Packages mail?
Bibles (new or used): All Bibles, New Testaments, Bible portions, Individual Gospel booklets
Tracts: All tracts
Reference Books & Commentaries: dictionaries, bible dictionaries, concordances, commentaries, etc.
Books & Paperbacks: All Christian books - adult or children, fiction or nonfiction
Magazines: Any magazine from a Christian publisher.
Sunday School Supplies: We accept adult quarterlies and all teacher manuals in any amount from all publishers. We accept children's quarterlies if you have the teacher's manual and at least 8 student manuals. Please DO NOT SEND any handiwork, craft, or busy work papers.
Daily Devotionals: Upper Room, Daily Bread, In Touch, etc.
Tapes (cassette & VCR), CD's, DVD's, Records: music, movies, teaching
Puppets, Noah's Ark, Bible games, Nativity sets, biblical puzzles: most anything that helps to present the gospel
Hymnals & musicals: hymnals that are in fairly good condition

SAVE ON POSTAGE - DO NOT SEND THESE ITEMS:
Guideposts
Handiwork or busy papers from Sunday School materials
Positive Thinking materials
"Hyper-Faith" messages
Secular books (other than dictionaries)

How can I get my literature to Love Packages?
Please use sturdy boxes and pack to ensure materials will not shift. Also, please do not ship overly heavy packages. Break your shipments up into smaller boxes, preferably under 35 pounds. Since we are a non-profit organization, and since we establish libraries, you may send it 4th class library rate. This library rate should save you some money. The requirements are as follows:

"Library Rate" must be written on the same side as the address
The box must show the address of a non-profit religious organization and your return address
Boxes must contain books of more than 32 pages, sheet music, or sound recordings, and be marked accordingly.
I've found some post offices won't do the Library Rate for this but will do the Media Mail rate which is only a fraction more.

Internet Search Engines and Philanthropy

I've heard about Goodsearch before, but I didn't know anything about it. It's a really cool way to designate funds to a nonprofit of your choice, simply by searching the internet. There's no fee to participate; you just need to sign up and use the search engine. You can read more about it at Above All, Love Each Other Deeply.

So which nonprofit organization or ministry would you like to give money to?
Why not start today?