Don’t leave the kids at home: Why you should be volunteering as a family

Volunteering as a family can be hard. Opportunities that allow for adults and kids to work side-by-side are sometimes difficult to find, especially when you want the work to be both fun and meaningful.

But getting your kids involved as early as possible is important. According to ServiceLeader.Org, volunteering as a child “promotes healthy lifestyle and choices, enhances development, teaches life skills, improves the community and encourages a lifelong service ethic.”

And it’s a great way to spend quality time together as a family.

In the greater Charlotte area, there are several organizations that allow you to volunteer with your children and provide a good range of activities for all ages. Here are two of them.

Bright Blessings

According to their website, Bright Blessings’ mission is “to bring joy, care and hope to homeless and impoverished children by mobilizing community volunteers of all ages.”

One of the best ways for parents and children to volunteer together at Bright Blessings is to participate in Purpose Parties.

Alicia McArthur has organized Purpose Parties with her children on more than one occasion.

Alicia said, “One of our family values is ‘people are more important than things,’ so we have tried to emphasize that to our kids in a number of ways. Serving others directly by volunteering is one way for them to tangibly experience the joy of helping others. Also, we want to model for our kids the importance of serving others, and we can’t do that if they aren’t with us.

“We want this to be just what we do as a family. We help others. We love that Bright Blessings is one of the places that we can take all of our kids. It can be challenging to find organizations where kids as young as five can serve alongside the adults.”

Bright Blessings is located at 1150-C Crews Road, Matthews, NC. You can find information about Bright Blessings Purpose Parties here. Look under the “Get Involved” tab, then “Volunteer At The Giving Village.” You can also give them a call at 704-846-2329.

Signposts Ministries

Signposts Ministries serves families that have children with chronic health problems and disabilities. They recently opened a new facility in Monroe, called the Signposts Family Resource Center.

The building is still undergoing improvements, but besides housing the SpM office and programs, it has space for other activities and classes for both children and caregivers. There are playrooms that focus on physical and mental development as well as rentable office spaces for services, such as therapists and tutors, that have a similar mission. There is also a caregiver lounge where caregivers can relax, have a complimentary cup of coffee, and browse a bookshelf of disability resources.

Lynda Strecker, who has been working with her kids at the new facility, said, “Going and physically doing something with our children is showing them what we believe in action. ‘Do what we do’ instead of ‘do what we say.’ How we choose to invest our time and energy reflect what we believe is important. And when you throw in donuts, the kids are good to go.”

Signposts Ministries Family Resource Center is located at 115 Henderson Street, Monroe, NC. For Center hours and events, you can call 704-219-8981. You can also find them on Facebook, or check them out on the web at www.signpostsministries.org.

Photo Credit: Annie Beth Donahue

This story was originally published April 23, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Don’t leave the kids at home: Why you should be volunteering as a family."