We do a lot for our kids each and every day. But in between making their lunches, taking them to soccer practice, helping them with math homework and organizing play dates, we sometimes lose sight of something else that we should be doing for our kids: teaching them the importance of gratitude and giving back to society.
Embarking on charitable or volunteer efforts as a family can go a long way in encouraging young people to be responsible and truly appreciate what they have.
There are many ways to help out and give back as a family in Toronto, depending on what causes and activities interest your family the most. Here are just a few ideas.
1. Helping the Homeless
While a number of soup kitchens and other programs to help the homeless put age restrictions on who can volunteer, there are opportunities out there for families who want to involve their kids in programs offering food and shelter to those in need.
Churches, synagogues and mosques across the city take part in the Out of the Cold program during the winter months. Each participating institution provides food a warm place to sleep for the homeless in their buildings once a week. To volunteer, there’s no need to be affiliated with any particular religion, you just have to have a desire to help out. There’s no central organization, so to find institutions that participate do a search of local places of worship.
Depending on the hosting institution, older school-aged children (typically ages 10 or 12 and up) are often welcome to accompany their parents as volunteers. And if you want to get your younger family members involved, they can help you gather up old boots, coats, and mittens that don’t fit anymore to donate to the program.
2. Charity Walks and Runs
There is no shortage of charity walks and runs in the city, and many of these welcome children as participants—even those as young as babies in jogging strollers. The Terry Fox Run is an annual event that takes place across Canada to raise money for cancer research, for instance, with entire families coming out to join the fun and feel good in the process.
And the RBC Run for the Kids is a lively event aimed at getting the whole family out to run (choosing from 5K, 7K, or 15K options), which raises money for youth mental health initiatives at Sunnybrook.
At charity walks and runs like these, families can get out together, have fun, get some exercise and know that they’re doing something great by raising money for a charity that needs it.
Click here for upcoming charity events in Toronto and the GTA (choose Charity & Community Service).
3. Environmental Causes and Clean-Ups
While there’s a wide variety of organized charities working to conserve the environment, helping the environment as a family can be as simple as getting the kids to organize their friends and neighbours to head out to a local park or outdoor area to pick up garbage for an hour or so on a Saturday morning.
Everyone gets fresh air, exercise, camaraderie, and can take pride in knowing they had a hand in keeping their natural surroundings beautiful.
4. Donating Toys and Books
So many kids today have toy boxes that are absolutely overloaded with items they never play with anymore—and often more than a few toys that they never even used to begin with! Why not have your kids go through their toys and books, find ones that are in terrific condition that they never use, and donate them to people in need?
Family shelters and women’s shelters, daycares in low-income neighbourhoods, the Salvation Army or Goodwill will be happy to receive your donations, and your kids can feel good about sharing with children who might not have as many toys as they do.
5. Sharing the Birthday Good Fortune
A popular birthday party trend these days is to have the birthday child choose a charity that means something to them, and then donate a portion of what people would have spent on a birthday gift for them toward that charity.
Through websites like ECHOage, for instance, you can create an e-invitation that offers invitees the option to use their credit card to give money in lieu of buying a gift—and then half of that donation would go toward the child’s chosen charity, and half would go toward a gift of the child’s choice. So the invitation might read: “Half of what you contribute will go toward the Heart and Stroke Foundation, in memory of Holden’s grandpa, and the other half will go toward buying Holden the giant Minecraft Lego set he’s had his eye on for weeks.”
This way, the child still gets a big gift (because what kid doesn’t like presents for their birthday?) but they can also feel great about sharing their birthday good fortune with those in need. It’s a win-win situation.
READ MORE LIKE THIS:
- 7 small acts of kindness kids can perform
- 5 ways to encourage kids to give back
- make your child’s party about getting and giving!
Live in Toronto or the GTA? Browse our online directory for more family volunteer opportunities.
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