Check out these photos of families volunteering together. That’s what FamilyServe is all about. HandsOn has this great program going which gives families the opportunity to work on a community service project together with other families. What makes FamilyServe really terrific is the program benefits both our community and the volunteer families involved.
Okay, this is what I mean: When families spend time together working on a project, it promotes family stability and enhances values such as kindness, compassion, and tolerance. At the same time, volunteers learn new skills and feel appreciated for their contributions. Then, they can go on and train other volunteer families to serve. Its true. I looked it up. (http://www.generationon.org/parents). This website, part of the HandsOn Network, gives a lot of good information about the benefits of family volunteering.
Volunteering together develops a inter-generational interest in civic responsibility. The value of helping the community is passed down from family member to family member; kind of a ‘Generation to Generation’ type thing.
Now, that is something every community needs.
AND ITS FUN! Young children can work alongside their parents or participate in supervised activities. Older kids can be in-charge of their own assigned tasks. Everybody gets in on the action!
The next FamilyServe event will be at Bike Athens on May 6 from 12-2. Bike Athens distributes refurbished bicycles to people who do not have access to transportation. So, on May 6, families will be repairing bikes for the community. Young Kids will be in charge of washing bicycles and learning about bike safety.
Call Grandpa. Text your sister and her kids. Get the cousins together. Help out on a community service project. For more info, visit http://handsonnortheastgeorgia.com/programs/familyserve/
Join in the fun!
I’d also like to know your answers to the flniowlog. If you haven’t volunteered before, what keeps you from volunteering? Is it fear? The notion that you don’t have enough experience to contribute anything ? Unrealistic expectations? Do you think that, once you do one thing for your chapter, you’ll be expected to always do something for your chapter? Is it situational shyness? I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Your elected officers have stood in your shoes. At one time, we’ve decided that, ok, it’s not too scary to write a meeting review or suggest a meeting topic and the person to present it. Tell us just one thing that we can do to help you. We want to remove all obstacles between you and volunteering. You never know how much you can benefit from the experience until you try, right?