Giving Back: Simple Things We Can Do to Give Back to Our Community

Many people want to know what they can do to give back to their community. Sometimes, however, they just don't know where to get started. Let me share a few ideas with you to help you get started. Some things we can do to give back to others are to visit a women's shelter, missions, homeless shelters... etc. and donate our time as well as our money and goods to those who have fallen on hard times. We can take our love and share it with those who are living through the hardest times in their lives and, by doing so, improve our own lives as well.

We can make (knit, crochet, sew, etc.) gifts for people who most likely have nothing --no family, no hope, no personal belongings. We can volunteer our time. We can donate books and magazines we've already read. We can donate clothes our children have grown out of or clothes we no longer want or need. We can include these people, our neighbors, on our homemade gift lists and make soaps, lotions, lip balms, facial creams, bath oils, bath salts, etc. for them as well. We can donate telephone calling cards so they can call family or friends who live far away.

We can donate gift cards for fast food restaurants, gas stations, quick stops, grocery stores, Wal-Marts, K-Mart, Target, etc. so those who are down on their luck can feel human once more by buying food and other items they want or need. If we can cut hair, do nails, baby-sit children, or any other service, we can also donate our time. There is just so much more we can do besides donate money to our favorite charities. We can make this more personal. We can truly give of ourselves.

I became involved with my local women's shelter while living in Michigan; after I had to make use of their services. I know what it's like to be in a women's shelter and I know how simple things like a telephone calling card, gas gift card or even soap can make the difference of feeling competent rather than feeling powerless.

I'm not rich, but I do a lot of crafty things like making soap and jewelry and I just donate what I can afford to donate when I have soap and such left over from making things for my self, friends and family. I like to think that handmade soap, aromatic bath salts and handmade jewelry can add a little luxury to a stark experience. I know I would have loved to have either of those things while I was in the women's shelter.

While I was staying at the women's shelter, I was always looking for something to read or something to watch on television. We had a lot of time and very few magazines, books, DVDs or videos. We would have loved to have had many more magazines, books and movies to watch. There was just something depressing about the quiet nights alone in those small rooms barren of any personal touches. I think we all would have loved to have had a radio in our rooms as well as decorations to try and make the rooms seem more like home.

My two daughters were with me at the women's shelter and we went through a lot of donated overnight pull-ups, so I know that donations of diapers and pull-ups are a high priority. The women's shelter received a lot of donated bread, cakes, muffins and cookies from grocery stores and such, but it was really, really nice to get together a couple of dollars and walk up to the local gas station and buy a coffee or a slice of pizza for the kids. That is why I think fast food coupons and/or gift cards would be a nice donation.

It was very tough to keep gas in my car because I was driving my daughter back and forth to school, which was a half hour away. I had to borrow gas money from the women's shelter quite a few times. Unfortunately, they weren't funded well enough to offer cash for fuel very often. This is where donated gas cards would come in handy. Another problem was the inability to make all the necessary phone calls one might need to make in that situation. I could only make local phone calls, even though all my family was in Georgia, because the women's shelter was out of phone cards. I think shelters probably go through phone cards just as fast as they get them, so they will always make a nice donation.

An enormously incredible kindness was perpetuated by hairdressers who volunteered to do everyone's hair for free at least once a month. This helped a lot of women feel better about their selves and helped them to get the right attitude to look for a job and to start life on their own. If you are a hairdresser, make-up consultant or manicurist, donating your time could seriously help improve self-esteem which is in very short supply in a shelter. I also saw senior citizens volunteer their time to watch the children for an hour or two in the play room so the Mom's could have a few moments to take care of business or just be alone. Other senior citizens volunteered to help the children with their homework or to do crafts with them. Every little bit helped.

In a shelter, it's the simple things that make it bearable and I know that we can donate those things if we only know about the need. A lot of times, a shelter will have a web page with a list of needed items. If this isn't the case for your local women's shelter, you can call and ask them what they need. Be sure to ask what kind of services they could use as well. When people are in a shelter, they often feel as if nobody really has time for them, so, sometimes, offering your time is even more important than making a monetary or material donation.

There is so much we can do for others and believe it or not, if you are hurting, feeling lonely or feeling depressed... this can help heal you too. It can lift you up and fill you with Love and a sense of purpose. Assisting others will make you feel good! Volunteering your time and efforts help you connect with other human beings and that is truly an extraordinary experience. Find a way to reach out to others at women's shelters, missions, etc. and I think you'll be surprised how others, then, start to reach out to you.