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"Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give."
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Looking for a great way to spend time as a family this summer? You might want to consider volunteering.
Volunteering your time as a family is a great way to teach children the values of kindness, compassion, tolerance, responsibility and good citizenship. It also:
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is an opportunity for busy parents to spend quality time with their kids;
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allows family members of all ages to be role models;
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increases the connection to community; and
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encourages a sense of gratitude for all that your family has.
Developing a more global
view—whether by baking a cake for the neighbors who've moved in next door or by collecting funds for needy children continents away in Sri
Lanka—has always been important. As technology expands our ability to interact with others around the world as friends, classmates and co-workers, developing a sense of connection, cultural understanding and tolerance has become more important than ever.
Natural helpers
Although it may sometimes be difficult for children to understand that it is better to give than to receive, children's natural instinct is to be helpful. Finding ways to tap into this tendency now by volunteering can create a lasting influence.
In Voices of Volunteers, a report by the Girl Scout Research Institute, 60 percent of the volunteers who were surveyed say they began their "tradition of volunteering" during childhood.
This idea is echoed by Christine Capuano, who, along with her husband, has included her two school-age children in a variety of volunteer
experiences—delivering Meals on Wheels, organizing chicken barbeques to benefit the local library, creating cheery cards for elderly
neighbors—from the time the children were very young.
"We were both brought up volunteering," says Capuano. "It is just part of who we are and something we wanted our children to experience, too."
"In some ways," Capuano continues, "volunteering can be sort of a selfish act, since the personal rewards are so great. It really is as good for the giver as it is for the receiver, if not more so."
Getting started
Although the desire to help out can be strong, families often wonder how to volunteer...and how they'll fit it into their already busy lives. Organizations such as Family Cares (www.familycares.org) suggest that you first sit down together as a family and talk about what you'd like to do. Some of the questions to ask include:
What are we interested in (animals, the environment, senior citizens)?
What are our skills or talents?
What is our availability?
What projects fit the ages of our family members?
What do we hope to get from our volunteer experience?
Family volunteer resources
Whether you decide to volunteer every week or just for a couple of hours on one Saturday afternoon, there is a project that will match your family's interests, time limitations, location and personalities. Here are some places to find ideas:
Volunteer centers connect people with volunteer opportunities in
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Capital Region BOCES Communications Service at (518)
464-3960.
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