Perhaps you have been living at your current address for more years than you care to count and have made strong connections and friendships with your neighbors?
Alternatively, maybe you have only recently moved into your new home and have been touched on an emotional level by how welcoming and helpful everyone has been?
Regardless, giving back to the loyal, honest, and hardworking members of your community is a kind and thoughtful pursuit, and here are four simple ways to do just that.
1. Volunteer at Your Local Animal Shelter
There are, of course, plenty of different volunteering opportunities, from working at a food bank or soup kitchen to volunteering at your local animal shelter, with the latter option being perfect for animal lovers who, for whatever reason, cannot currently have a pet.
Heartbreakingly, hundreds upon thousands of rabbits, cats, dogs, and other small animals, not to mention budgies, parrots and other birds, are mistreated and/or abandoned at animal shelters across the country.
Volunteering just a couple of hours a week will not only make a huge and tangible difference in the lives of poor, defenseless animals, but is also a wholesome and pure way of giving back.
2. Create a Charity Fundraiser
Every village, town or even city has a variety of public areas that the whole community is welcome to enjoy and turning your attention to raising money to, for example, fix the roof of the local youth center or update the benches and other equipment in the park, there is no time to lose.
Look into goal tracking for fundraising events specifically aimed at helping out members of the community and indeed, your local area at large, which just a few of the most popular suggestions being:
- Charity bake sale
- Coffee morning
- Bingo evening
- Fun run
- Summer fete
- Garden sale
- Neighborhood barbecue
3. Shop Locally
Even though large, national superstores and shopping malls are undoubtedly more convenient than local, smaller and specialty shops, the truth is that changing your grocery shopping habits, even just a little bit, could make a huge difference to the community.
Numerous studies have shown that employees who work for a smaller business have much higher levels of job satisfaction; therefore, heading to your local greengrocer and baker for your weekly shopping will be ensuring such people get to keep their jobs.
4. Litter Picking
For people who have all the intentions and willingness to help out people in and around their local area, yet barely have the time to take care of their own personal commitments and professional responsibilities, there is another option.
From now on, whether you be walking to the bus stop on your way to work, heading back from a night out with work colleagues, or simply watering your own garden, if you see any litter or trash on the streets or in another’s garden, collect and recycle.
This small change may not seem like much, but if everyone did their bit to remove rubbish from the streets and local parks, the community would be a considerably nicer place to live for everyone.
