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1. Read up about hunger in the United States and then look for it where you live.
2. See your community with fresh eyes. Where are the needs? What do you see, hear, smell, touch?
3. Think of your kids’ summer camp. Could you (and they) provide a way for a needy child to attend.
4. Does your church serve meals to the hungry? Have you considered volunteering to assist, provide food?
5. See if your local schools have the Food 4 Kids program sending food home with needy kids in backpacks..
6. Visit your local food bank. Ask what is needed. Volunteer to go help find, sort and bag food for them.
7. Buy fast food gift certificates to give out to people you see who need a meal.
8. Start a food bank or food pantry in your church, temple or synagogue. Offer used clothing there.
9. Fix sack lunches for needy kids in the summer or senior adults for the weekend.
10. Deliver meals on wheels to seniors. Get your friends to volunteer and divide up the days.
11. Join those who provide hot meals weekly for the needy in your town.
12. Join Habitat for Humanity and help build houses for needy families.
13. Volunteer to paint the home of a needy person (call DHS or a home health agency for a name).
14. Do yard work: rake leaves, trim limbs, clean up yard of a needy neighbor. “Who is your neighbor?”
15. Clean house or build a ramp or install smoke detectors for a needy person who is elderly or disabled.
16. Learn and then teach basic home repairs (fixing a leaky faucet, a toilet, a roof leak, etc.)
17. Call your local homeless or domestic abuse shelters and find out what kinds of programs they could use.
18. Call and find out what they need: washcloths, shower caps, shampoo, underwear, or other needs.
19. Provide funds so a needy kid can go on a school outing or a concert or game.
20. Provide a place for kids and youth to play basketball or soccer in a low income area.
21. Build a park, a meditation or memorial garden in a low income area.
22. Get permission from the school to eat lunch with kids who don’t have a parent ever come.
23. Be a volunteer babysitter for a teen mom finishing school.
24. Donate infant and children’s car seats to those who can’t afford to buy them.
25. Donate band instruments to your school for low income kids.
26. Host a party at your local Head Start center.
27. Donate coats, gloves, lice shampoo and other needs to your local school.
28. Offer a free scholarship so a needy kid can take art, music or gymnastics classes.
29. Provide affordable, quality child care.
30. Sponsor a wholesome, fun movie night for kids in an apartment complex outside.
31. Be a big brother, big sister, a mentor for a kid.
32. Be a mentor to someone out of work.
33. Involve your friends and/or family in sending cards to nursing home residents.
34. Get floral shops to give you dated flowers and deliver to home bound seniors or nursing home residents.
35. Help seniors change light bulbs, take down their curtains to wash, etc.
36. Donate fans for the summer heat for needy seniors.
37. Volunteer to teach English as a second language in your home, community center, church or synagogue.
38. Start a free medical/dental clinic with the churches of your area.
39. Collect and distribute used medical equipment (walkers, wheelchairs, shower chairs, etc.).
40. Volunteer as a teacher’s assistant gather school supplies, prizes, flashcards, learning games for a tutoring.
See Diana Lewis and her Southern Baptist Missions Ministries Team* for 101 ideas.
*You see. Gandhi was correct to say even our adversaries have something to contribute to our lives.
