Back when I laid out my monthly challenges, I picked a group of topics related to sustainability and thought about how I could incorporate them into my life. September is typically back-to-school time, and it’s a time when communities start coming back together after the summer months of fun and vacations. I feel like the cooler weather spurs people to start re-evaluating their to-do lists, dusting off the planner to make sure all the activities are penciled in, and community meetings strike up again.
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Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash
Lend a Hand
With all of that in mind, I figured #lendahand was the perfect challenge for the month. The purpose of this month’s mission is to work on the people aspect of sustainability (Planet, Profit, People) and to get involved in your community – however big or small you’d like to define that. At the time that I planned this out, I had NO clue how appropriate this mission was going to be for this month. It seems that #lendahand is particularly important this month after the devastation that hit Texas with Harvey. *Update* And with Irma hitting Florida.
Hurricane Recovery Assistance
There are a bunch of websites out there focused on different ways you can help the hurricane relief efforts. Rather than create another blog post on the internet that lists off a bunch of different websites, I’ve decided to go a slightly different route. Obviously when disasters hit, I want to help; but I like to know that my donations are going to reputable organizations that actually make an impact. My go-to resource for vetting charities is Charity Navigator. They rate organizations based on their financial health, accountability, and transparency. The people over at Charity Navigator pulled together lists of top-rated organizations that are responding to the storms and providing assistance and disaster recovery to the communities that need it. The links to these lists are below. They’ve included a wide range of charities so hopefully you can find something that aligns with your interests.
Charity Navigator Disaster Relief Lists:
Volunteer
Aside from disaster relief there are tons of ways you can get involved in your community and lend a hand. Many people like to donate money, which is great, but I encourage you volunteer your time and get out into your community. I’m an introvert by nature, but I still think there’s nothing like creating ties with people that live in your town or city (or beyond if the spirit moves you!). It creates bonds that bring people together instead of drive them apart. And the great thing about volunteering and getting involved is that there’s usually something for everyone! Plus, there are tons of studies that show that when you volunteer and help others, it actually makes you happier and healthier!
A great first resource, if you don’t really know what you want to do, what’s available around you, or how to get started, is Volunteer Match. It’s easy to create a profile and pick topics that are important to you. From there, they provide a list – generally a pretty extensive list – of the volunteer opportunities in your area. They also have virtual options if you’d prefer to help people that way.
In addition to Volunteer Match, I’ve created some lists below to spark some #lendahand ideas:
Help the Animals
- Volunteer at your local animal shelter – from what I’ve seen, there are generally lots of options but can require some reoccurring time commitment, so make sure that fits with your schedule
- Foster an animal – you may know from my Instagram, we foster pups for a local shelter. It is hard sometimes – I definitely get attached to the dogs – but it’s also great knowing you saved a dog from being put down and it gets to live with a family that will love it
- Donate food or supplies to a local shelter
Help the Kids
- Participate in an organization that gets kids interested in STEM (I volunteer for Future City and LOVE this group!)
- Look into helping out at an after school program
- If you’re a rock-star in a particular area (math, history, science) you could become a tutor
- Babysit (although this might help the adults more!)
- Become a volunteer at Big Brothers, Big Sisters or similar groups
Focus on Food
- Become a volunteer at the food bank
- Donate to the food shelter
- Organize a food drive
- Cook for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House – this is something I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do
- Volunteer at a soup kitchen
Get Outside
- Work in your community gardens
- Organize or participate in trash cleanup days
- Volunteer for a state or national park – in the gift shop, as a ranger, as a tour guide – whatever floats your boat
- Organize a bike group – you could organize rides or lead/guide members to find a path to commute to work
Other ideas
- See what kinds of programs are offered by your local library and if you can lead a group or help an existing one- they generally have all kinds of things from book clubs to craft nights to interest group meetings (ex: photography clubs or adult color book nights)
- Volunteer for groups focused on Social Justice causes
- Support community initiatives
- Organize a clothing swap
- Organize a book drive
- Volunteer your time for a crisis help line
- Donate blood
- Sign up for disaster relief classes to help your community in the future
- Become part of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps to become a climate activist in your community
As I’ve done in other months, I have a Pinterest Board dedicated to this month’s mission, so check that out if you’re looking for other ideas. Also, if you’d like to share any pins with me, I’d be happy to add them to the board as well!
I also have the tracking calendar set up for September. I like being able to not only check off the day as complete, but write down what I did to work toward the mission each day. If you’d like to use my tracking calendar, you can find it here: September Mission Lend A Hand.
Let me know if you plan to #lendahand this month! And if so – how! You can leave comments below, or tag me in social media. Also don’t forget to use the hashtags #sustainablelivingchallenge and #lendahand when you post to social media so I can follow along!
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