Depending on your schedule, sometimes leaving home for extended periods of time to help with a community service project is often not practical. Especially in today's day and age, with a global pandemic going on, many of the typical places you used to volunteer at may have restrictions in place with social distancing. However, you can still make a difference even if you can't go physically volunteer somewhere. Here are five DIY service projects you can do right from the safety and comfort of your home:
Care Packages
Care packages are an excellent way to brighten up someone's day and can be a really fun activity to do with friends and family. Put together a small bag or basket filled with hygiene products, self-care products, puzzles or games, blanket and socks, and words of encouragement. The great thing about making care packages is that they are very customizable and can be tailored towards different causes. You could make a hospital care package and tailor them towards kids, seniors, or cancer patients. You could make care packages for the troops in our military. Or you could make care packages for the homeless. This website provides a really cool service project idea to decorate boxes for the troops and fill them with letters and supplies they may need: https://www.packagesfromhome.org/serviceprojects
Backpack Project
Similarly to care packages, you can put together backpack packages filled with school supplies for students in need. Include things such as pencils, erasers, notebooks, folders, colored pencils and crayons, scissors, and glue. These are also super customizable and can be tailored to students with special interests or special needs.
Nursing Home Cards & Crafts
Writing cards, especially during the holidays, and making small, inexpensive crafts to give to our senior citizens at the nursing home really puts a smile on their faces. These can be made with things easily found in your home, such as paper or construction paper, colors, markers, and stickers. Take some time to write some cheerful messages and words of encouragement on the front covers and insides of the cards. Remember that whatever is created will brighten a person’s day; so don’t worry too much about it being perfect!
Community "Free Little Library"
"Free Little Libraries" are a great addition to any community and can help improve literacy skills and inspire a love for reading. You can either build your own small box or shelf to set your library books in or by an inexpensive box or shelf and decorate it. Place you little library either in your neighborhood or near local schools. Fill it with some books and let the book exchange begin! While one person leaves one book to share with your neighborhood, one person can take one from the little library to read. This idea can even be translated to many other "take an item, leave an item" projects such as "take a plant, leave a plant" or little food banks with nonperishable items for those in need. Some Free Little Library plans can be found here: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/little-free-library-plans-1357149
Homemade Face Masks
No better time for a DIY fabric mask than during a global pandemic. Orders for standard/disposable masks are on long back-orders, due to both demand and supply chain issues. All health care personnel, regardless of their role, are encouraged to wear face masks — including homemade cloth masks when all supplies have been exhausted. This database not only provides instructions on how to make a homemade face mask, but also allows you to search up hospitals accepting donations by state. Instructions for making a mask for these workers can be found here: https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask
Volunteering and giving back to others is not just limited to physically volunteering outside your home. There are many ways to support and help your community either through service projects or donating to causes online. There are many resources out there that help connect you to organizations online for you to visually volunteer as well. VoluteerMatch is one great source that hosts virtual opportunities to for people to volunteer at. Service Projects are also a great way to get kids involved so it's fun for them to give back to others. Volunteering should be an enjoyable task for you to complete, and you don't need to spend a lot to make a lot of difference. Personalize and customize your service projects in ways you'll enjoy completing them the most! Happy Volunteering!