Devoting your Time
- Find a parent or teacher to help you start a club that focuses on service and philanthropy. Here are some suggestions:
- Find a local volunteer opportunity with Little Helping Hands. New volunteer opportunities are posted monthly.
- Search for and find opportunities to make a difference. Volunteer Guidecan help you decide on projects you can do in either 15 minutes or an hour to make a difference. The projects are divided into subject-matter categories such as animals, children's issues and environmental protection.
- Start a recycling campaign.
- Educate yourself on issues that interest you. Some sites to help you get started include:
- Do Something is one of the largest organizations in the U.S. devoted to inspiring youth (under age 25) to take action on causes they care about.
- I Live Here, I Give Here's mission is to expand and deepen the culture of personal philanthropy in the Austin area. Their main purpose is to connect people in Austin with the issues they care about.
- The Environmental Protection Agency has a section devoted to students where they can learn about environmental issues, play games and get ideas on how to take action.
- Help organize a tour to a local organization to help educate your friends about issues you care about. Examples include:
- Participate in a community running or biking event to raise awareness or raise money for an issue. Some of the most popular races in Austin are the Turkey Trot (benefiting Caritas), the Junior 'Dillo Run (benefiting the Assistance League of Austin) and the Lights of Love 5k (benefiting Ronald McDonald House). You can find a full listing of all the races going on in Central Texas at RunTex.
- Plan an event to raise money and educate others about an issue. For example, you can plan a sporting event (bike race, kickball game, etc.), a "party" or a walk-a-thon.
- Organize a neighborhood collection or "drive." Some examples of things you can collect include food, toys and books, clothes, shoes, printer cartridges and cell phones. You can even hold a "wish list" drive for your favorite organization. Most nonprofits have "wish lists" on their websites.
- Find ways to participate in activities sponsored during the cause-of-the-month or cause-of-the-week campaigns. Find out many of the causes and the month in which they are celebrated are listed at Learning to Give and Fundraisers.com
- October is Hunger Awareness Month and National School Lunch Week is in mid-October.
- Buckle Up America week is in May.
- National Volunteer Week and Earth Day are in April.
- America Recycles Day and National Philanthropy Day is November 15th.
