Service Ideas for the Whole Family

The holiday season is a popular time of year for people to look for ways to serve in their community. If you have children, you know that it can be difficult to find time to volunteer on your own, and that it is also difficult to find service opportunities that you can involve your kids in. Below is a list of service project ideas that the whole family can participate in this holiday season.

• Organize a bake sale/yard sale with all of the proceeds going to a nonprofit in your area
• Deliver a meal to someone who is elderly or ill
• Bake brownies with the kids and take them to neighbors
• Project Linus http://www.projectlinus.org/volunteer/volunteer.php?StateKey=UT#tgt
• Donate items to Primary Children’s Hospital https://intermountainhealthcare.org/locations/primary-childrens-hospital/giving-volunteering/intermountain-foundation/service-projects-donations/
• Write thank you cards
• Donate to a local food pantry https://www.utahfoodbank.org/give-food/
• Volunteer at a food bank (for example, http://communityactionprovo.org/)
• Help serve in the local Meals on Wheels program http://slco.org/aging-adult-services/meals-on-wheels/
• Pack a shoe box for operation Christmas Child https://www.samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child/pack-a-shoe-box/
• Make and deliver Christmas cards/sing Christmas carols at a local nursing home
• Take brownies/cookies to the local fire department or police station
• Make fleece blankets to donate to homeless shelters https://www.theroadhome.org/give/in-kind-donations/
• Donate school supplies to your local school
• Participate in the free rice program http://freerice.com/about
• Knit scarves for troops through operation gratitude https://opgrat.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/scarves-for-troops/
• Donate items needed for refugees in SLC https://www.rescue.org/announcement/items-needed-refugees-salt-lake-city or http://serverefugees.org/give/
•  Provide gifts for refugee individuals and families https://www.rescue.org/announcement/become-light-one-candle-sponsor

Visit Volunteermatch.org to find other opportunities that will match your family’s availability and location!

Get into the spirit of the holiday season by finding ways to serve with your family! If you have any other ideas for service projects during the holidays, we would love to hear about them in the comments below.