10 Benefits of Getting Your Kids Involved in Volunteering

How to Get Kids More Interested in Volunteering

The most important aspect of getting kids excited about volunteering is teaching them why? Does God care when we do something for someone else? Yes! God chose that we would live in community with one another. Volunteering is basically a component of what it means to be a human. And Jesus said that the two most important commandments are to love God and our neighbor.

First, talk to them about who Jesus was talking about. Who is their neighbor? How can we follow Jesus' command to serve people in need–the sick, the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the homeless– and where are these people?

As early as possible, try to put as much responsibility on your child for choosing a way to serve. Obviously, you will need to steer them to what is feasible, but kids need to have early ownership giving them a better sense that "their" project made a difference. Even if you pick the project, ask them if there is a better way to do something within the scope of it. The sooner they feel a strong sense that they can bless people, the more they will want to be involved. Did you know that volunteering activates the reward center in your brain? Such a God-thing to allow us to feel physically good by serving!

Start to create a ripple effect by having your child do something to serve someone within your household or family. Does someone need help with yard work, or can they help cook a favorite meal for someone?

The ripple grows wider as you expand beyond your immediate family. Is there a family at church that needs a project done? Is there a shut-in who needs some fresh-cut flowers and a visit?

Also, as you branch out to serve others outside your circle (people in the community, state, country, and world), your child may enlist other family members or friends to make a bigger impact.

Perhaps start with something that the child loves to do. If she plays violin, can she play somewhere where people don't have access to beautiful music? If your son loves to fish, can he help keep the river clean along with the county?

Once they've had a taste of volunteering, give them a sense of how many ways there are to help out. Set a monthly schedule for when they can serve next. Older adolescents or teens may get connected with a group that has regularly scheduled events that they can participate in. A local food bank may have openings for evaluating donations. Organizations like the Salvation Army and homeless shelters may have a need for such efforts as well. Perhaps you have a builder in the family who wants to be involved with Habitat for Humanity or likes to volunteer with the Red Cross if there is a local disaster (few and far between, hopefully). It is easy to research "non-profit organizations" in your area and go to their websites to see if they need one-time or ongoing assistance.

10 Benefits of Getting Kids Involved in Volunteering

-Volunteering is a great way to teach children that they are not the center of the universe. When they begin to see that people have such incredible needs, it should tug at their heartstrings (if it doesn't, study the life of Jesus with your kids again). It also allows them to see that they can live without a lot of extra.

-Not only can serving others show the level of need, but it can also show the varied needs all around them. And no project is more important than another. Jesus said, "Love your neighbor"; He didn't say love your neighbor only if you can help an entire small country and not just your grandma.

-Volunteering can bond you as a family and expand your family as you bond with others who are volunteering. Our church has three ministries that feed three different homeless shelters in our area. The same 20 people have served in these ministries for years and have become very close as a result.

-Serving develops empathy in children in a world where people are very often unkind to one another.

-If your child volunteers to rescue animals, they could save a life. That is very empowering, especially for young children who love animals. Though I would encourage this as an adjunct to serving people.

-Kids can learn to worship God by appreciating His creation as they work to preserve it. Can they pick up trash in the forest preserve or plant trees or community gardens?

-Volunteering helps kids to see that no matter how old they are, they can make a significant difference in the name of Christ. It is great for developing a healthy sense of self-esteem.

-Working together with your child to serve others shows them that you care about other people and are a great role model for a lifetime of service.

-Kids can learn many life skills by volunteering. Maybe they learn construction by restoring a home or nutrition by ensuring a low-income lunch program has fresh fruit.

-Can develop lifelong connections with people who have been served. Maybe your child will be a pen pal with a nursing home resident or someone with special needs. Maybe they can help out with the Special Olympics every year and help out the same people each time.

10 Bible Verses about Serving Others

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 4:10-11

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' Acts 20-35

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:35-40

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Matthew 5:7

And whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:44-45

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:13-14

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

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Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).