Kids really do want to help, just ask them
By Susan Frasca
Extended phone conversations with my sister are extremely rare. A mother of five (ages 9, 7, 5-year-old twins and a 2-year-old), she doesn't have much time for idle chit-chat. So, when we rattled on for more than 15 minutes the other day, I assumed the kids were not at home. "No," she said. "They're all present and accounted for. Sorting laundry, dusting, setting the table and the baby's pretend vacuuming."
While I am wishing my teens were doing the same, my sister adds, "They love it. They're so proud of themselves when they help me."
Young kids do love to help, and they feel a sense of pride when they can contribute around the house, in the classroom or anywhere else their assistance is welcome. So, just imagine the pride kids feel when they're asked to contribute to even greater causes.
And contributing they are
According to Steve Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America, a nonstop drumbeat of studies over the last 15 years indicates that kids in America are volunteering at record rates. More than any generation in history.
"We are utterly dependent on kids to be volunteers and leaders in community service efforts," Culbertson says. When you consider that most adults who volunteer now started as children, it makes perfect sense. "Volunteering and performing community service at an early age is the biggest indicator of lifelong service and philanthropy," Culbertson says.
The mistake many adults make is thinking their child is too young to participate in service-oriented activities, when in fact, kids need to feel needed.
"Global climate changes and Darfur are too big for 4- and 5-year-olds to wrap their minds around, but litter in the local park and on the beach, and kids who don't have as much as they do are within their realm of understanding," Culbertson says.
Kids can serve
Although there are age restrictions for certain volunteer opportunities, there are plenty of ways for kids to serve their community. Culbertson says the best way to start is to simply ask your kids for their thoughts and ideas. "You'd be amazed at what kids worry about," he says. Animals, trash, safety and poor people rank high on their list of concerns.
Right now would be a great time to find out your child's concerns and start to do something about them. The largest service event in the world, National and Global Youth Service Day, is just around the corner. Over the weekend of April 20–22, young people across the nation will design and lead service-learning projects related to the issues that concern them, ranging from the environment to poverty to education. The day itself is simply a way to draw attention to the volunteering done by youth 365 days a year.
A group of third- and fourth-grade at-risk youth from the I Have a Dream-Overtown program in Miami will participate in a community beautification project. The children will work with student volunteers from Miami Dade College to beautify an area of Overtown by picking up litter and planting flowers and trees.
Their goal is to encourage others in the community to keep the area clean and make it more welcoming and safe for both people and animals. What's really special is that, since first grade, these kids have been on the receiving end of mentoring, tutoring, enrichment and tuition assistance to meet their educational and career goals. Yet project coordinator Eric Lewis says that one of the most important lessons they've learned is to give back. With the help of Miami Dade College and Slow Foods, the kids are also learning about and planting an organic garden. The project includes a service-learning component where the children will make donations to the community with their harvest.
As they grow, projects abound
A junior at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Melissa Oppenheim also has a project for this year's Youth Service Day. Oppenheim has been involved in community service since her early elementary school years.
"I was always involved in service because of my family," she says. As a chairperson for her synagogue, Melissa's mother involved the family in delivering food to the homebound, visiting the elderly, and walks for diabetes and cancer.
Oppenheim recalls feeling awkward during her first visit to someone who was homebound, she also remembers how good she felt afterward. "It really makes your whole day better," she says. Today, she compiles and edits a service guide for high school students so they can connect with a volunteer opportunity that will make their required service hours more meaningful. "Without the influence of my family, I'm not sure I would be as involved as I am now," she says.
Parents who want their children involved in service from an early age must be involved themselves. You'll be hard-pressed to find any organization that will allow your 5-year-old to volunteer her services -- unless of course, Mom or Dad volunteers too. Kids love to care for pets, and a local shelter could likely use help washing and walking dogs. A food pantry might have age limitations for handing out food or stocking shelves, but kids might be better at collecting canned goods for a food drive than adults. Identify a community center or organization for less-privileged kids and organize a book drive of new or gently used books to build their library.
How to get involved
Still not sure how to get your child involved? Break out the flour and baking pans and participate in Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale. Every kid loves to bake. Enjoy an afternoon or two of baking and bonding with your kids, then host a bake sale -- in your community, school or place of worship. "Explaining that the money raised goes directly toward ending childhood hunger is a great way to instill philanthropy at the youngest of ages," says Heather Todd, manager of the Great American Bake Sale.
Parents deserve an enormous amount of credit for the record youth service rates in America today. With no shortage of negative forces to influence kids, Cul-bertson says that service from an early age is a "huge opportunity to put them on a lifelong path to being a positive part of the world," Parents who take advantage of that opportunity "should be thanked and congratulated," he says.
