The Power of Community
When you love where you live, you often want to give back to your community. This is the gift that keeps on giving because when you invest in your town, you can instantly and continually see the results. Your neighbors can also see the benefits, and that might inspire a chain reaction of goodness that stretches over the entire area.
What have you got to lose? Read on to discover five easy ways to give back to your community. The bonus? These actions will give back to YOU as well.
1. Join Your Community Association
A good first step is to join your Community Association and pay the dues, which are generally very minimal. Being a part of this association gets you and your family counted, for starters, and it gives you a voice. You are able to attend meetings and are encouraged to speak up on issues that are important to you, your family, or your neighborhood.
When you join the Community Association and attend the meetings, you also hear firsthand about events and activities coming up and will have a chance to be a part of them. It’s a chance to have an ear to the ground and also to weigh in on community matters as they arise.
2. Participate In Beautification Efforts
Cities and towns often have events encouraging citizens to pitch in, and this year you could make it a priority to attend one or more. These are often trash pick-ups, but there are also spring planting gatherings in many communities.
If you attend a garbage pick-up event, they will often be on the beach, in the forest, or in a park, i.e. natural places that people visit but then leave behind all their picnic remnants. You will likely be provided with bags and/or gloves, and then work in groups to canvas an entire zone. You will be amazed at how quickly this can go and how wonderful it feels afterward.
For planting events, you will be provided the plants and tools in most cases, because there is a dedicated landscaping plan involved. This could be as simple as plugging in some fresh annuals together around a community building and will brighten the experience for pedestrians all springtime and summer.
3. Volunteer At The Schools
Teachers often struggle with large class sizes and multiple learning levels, so there might be a place in classrooms for people who want to help. There are often programs, for example, at the school libraries in your town, looking for volunteers to read to students. You could also work up enough hours to be an in-class assistant if you had the time and motivation. Inquire at your local school in-person if this is something that might interest you.
4. Donate Your Possessions, Even Your Car
Most communities have plenty of thrift or consignment stores that would be grateful for the donation of quality goods. You could also opt to have a charitable organization come and pick up your clothes and furniture for free as there are plenty of groups that operate this service.
When you’re getting ready to purchase a new car and are trying to unload the old one, consider donating it to a reputable organization. This takes the headache away from trying to list it online to sell it or haggling with a dealer on a trade-in. This is always a nightmare, and people tend to want to avoid it altogether.
Instead, you can simply dial the kidney foundation pickup and schedule a time to get it hauled away for free. You get a tax write-off, and the foundation gets a valuable boost in the form of a car to sell.
5. Take Community Education Classes
This is a total win-win because you are directly and financially supporting your town and the residents within it, while simultaneously learning or experiencing something new in your class. These class offerings range from sports to arts & crafts to higher education learning classes and are available for all ages groups. Get a Community Catalog and see if anything interesting calls to you!
Final Thoughts On Helping Your Community
You chose your community carefully, and most likely want it to be as lovely, welcoming and pleasant as possible, right? Then consider taking a recommendation or two off this list to really give back to the place that has made you feel at home. You won’t regret benefiting your community while also improving your own life experience, and you could also have a lot of fun in the process.