If one of your resolutions this year is to volunteer more (or for the first time), no doubt your local community is full of opportunities to give back. Lending a hand once a week or once a month will go a long way towards making a difference in your city.

My family and I are trying to get in the habit of volunteering together. My wife and I have a desire to instill values of giving in our children. Once place that we've found welcoming to families who want to serve together is The Safe Haven Family Shelter in Nashville. One of their ongoing needs is for people to volunteer to make dinners for their residents.

Unlike most shelters which are men-only, this family shelter is child-friendly, which gives us the chance to engage our children and provides them with the experiences of helping, serving, and even providing some short-term childcare for resident parents, so they can have a quiet meal and some adult conversation.

We can also share the cooking with other families and enjoy the meal with friends as well as residents. The extra hands not only lessen the workload, but also make things easier and more exciting socially. We're all preparing family meals anyway, and it's very easy to simply triple a recipe, especially if another family is preparing half of the meal.

It's an easy thing to make this a habit of doing, which provides those of us who aren't homeless regular, personal contact with real people who are. Interacting with homeless families makes us sensitive to their needs, and makes us more aware of the blessings of our lives and the resources we have to do more than we might have thought.

We've found that the dinnertime conversation helps us to think about poverty at both the personal and the corporate levels, opening our minds to practical things that might help one person, as well as systematic ways to help society.

As for the men's shelters, Nashville and other cities are providing an invaluable service in the cold months with "Room in the Inn" and similar programs. You've probably heard of these programs, but it's always good to have a reminder how easy it is to volunteer - even if it's just one night a year - or to start a program in areas that don't have one.

Make this year the best one yet by making it the most meaningful one yet. Spend time with your family and those in need all at once.

2 others have done this "5 minutes of caring" To date, you've cared for 0 minutes on CoolPeopleCare.org

Post a comment

You must be a registered user to post comments.
Log in or create an account.

Ingredients:

• Desire to help others
• Ability to make a simple meal
• Willingness to make time for others
• Family (optional)

Caring Time:

• 60 Minutes (at a time, as often as you like)

Cost:

• Free!

Results:

• Increased knowledge about the realities of homelessness
• New friends
• More time with your families
• Full stomachs