“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale
Have you ever found yourself wishing there was an easier way to help others, but felt limited by time or money constraints? Or maybe you’ve been overwhelmed with the mere thought of how and where to begin. When we get bogged by down by what we can’t do, it’s easy to lose sight of what we can do. So let’s start small and take a closer look at some simple ideas to make a meaningful difference, many of which are free and can be done right from home!
– Party with a purpose:
- Sole Hope party – Hosting a shoe cutting party is fun and easy to do with step by step directions provided from Sole Hope. Every piece of fabric cut will cover and protect the feet of children while providing jobs for Ugandans who sew the shoes.
- Operation Shoebox packing party – Hosting a shoebox packing party is a wonderful way to spend time with friends or family while making a big difference for children across the world. Sign up for free materials and information!
– Shop for a cause:
- Amazon Smile – AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. You can choose from nearly one million organizations to support.
- iGive – Through iGive, a percentage of what you already spend is donated to your chosen cause, paid for by the store. You never pay more and sometimes you pay less with coupons and deals.
- Gift of Happiness – Browse thousands of unique gifts and 5-15% of your purchase is donated to a charity of your choice. Gift of Happiness is a cause-centric marketplace dedicated to donating money to worthwhile causes with every single purchase.
– Search the web or play games for good:
- Good Search – Use Goodsearch for everyday activities like searching the web and shopping online. When you shop, you can also save money with over 100,000 coupons and deals.
- Free Rice – Free Rice is an educational trivia game that supports the United Nations World Food Program, which provides rice for countries across the world. As you play the game, sponsored ads run on the bottom of the screen, which pays for the donated rice.
– Donate unwanted items:
- Buy it Forward – Simply donate any items to sell. The items are listed for sale to benefit your favorite cause. You favorite non-profit is credited when your items sells!
- Soles4Souls – There are convenient drop off locations across the country to make it easier for individuals to donate shoes and help those in need around the world through Soles4Souls.
- Dress for Success – Donate unwanted professional wear to this wonderful organization that provides professional attire and career development tools to help underprivileged women thrive in work and in life.
- Refugees International – Unwanted medicines or toiletries can be donated to Refugees International, an organization that provides assistance and training for those dropped off in the US without a dime to their name or a place to stay. Nearly anything in your home that’s not needed can be donated.
– Show someone they are loved:
- Operation Beautiful – Leave a positive note in a public place for someone who needs to be uplifted, encouraged, comforted, or inspired!
- Free compliments from Kind of Matter – Make someone smile with uplifting and encouraging written compliments, courtesy of this fun, free printable!
- Love letters – You can request love letters for someone who needs encouragement or you can write love letters to those who have been nominated.
– Be an advocate:
- Become an orphan advocate – Volunteer your time at a local shelter or ministry or use your social media presence to spread awareness and education
- Support widows, orphans and adoptive families – Through Both Hands, you can help families fundraise for their adoptions while fixing up a widow’s home. Families and their teams send letters to raise sponsorship for their day of service. The funds raised help an orphan become adopted into a forever family.
- Start a blog, change the world – As a World Help blogger, you put resources and opportunities into the hands of people looking for ways to get involved and help others.
- Volunteer and advocate with Compassion – Compassion International has a wide range of ways to serve others in need, from home or otherwise.
– Miscellaneous:
- Coupons for Troops – Troopons® are what you can do with coupons you don’t use! Sending them to the troops overseas is a great way to show you care and want to make life easier for them!
- Become a RAKtivist – This is a fun way to spread random acts of kindness as you are given monthly missions to do good in your communities and on social media.
Let’s chat! What are your favorite ways to serve others? Have you found any ideas here you are excited to try? What would you add to this list?
