Holiday season is right around the corner, which provides an excellent opportunity to find ways to get your residents involved in giving back to the local community. Organizing volunteer opportunities for your residents offers several benefits, including:
- You’re helping others in need, including nonprofits who rely on volunteers to continue serving their mission.
- You’re bringing happiness to your community. Weekly volunteering leads to happiness levels comparable to a life-changing salary boost, according to Forbes.
- You’re building connections among residents. Forbes reports “when people work together in a volunteer capacity, they begin to build social connections based on shared values, all of which work in favor of a stronger, more connected community./li>
A little over a quarter of the American population volunteers each year. Two of the most common reasons for people not volunteering is that they don’t know what to do, or quite simply, they’ve never been asked to. The Stanford Center on Longevity reports that “one out of four people say they don’t volunteer because no one asked them to.This holiday season work to bring your community together and help others by asking residents to volunteer with the following organizations.
Feed the Hungry
No one should go hungry during the holidays. Rally residents to make a difference by volunteering at a local food bank, soup kitchen, or homeless shelter. We recommend performing a search on Google for volunteer opportunities or visiting a site like VolunteerMatch.org. You could also consider hosting a canned food drive and donating the proceeds to lesser known food banks or homeless shelters that might be struggling to get necessary supplies.
Adopt a Family
Based on the interest in your community, consider adopting a family (or several) in need this holiday season. To get involved, visit a website like VolunteerMatch to find a local charity that can pair you with a family. Once paired, you’ll receive a wish list as well as more details about each member of the family. Organize three groups of volunteers to shop, wrap, and deliver the presents.
Spend Time with Seniors
There are several ways members of your community can brighten up the holidays for local senior citizens. Find a local senior living facility and offer to:
- Decorate the facility for the holidays
- Organize an outing to the facility to sing Christmas carols
- Write Christmas cards for those living in the facility
Bringing residents together and helping them build connections with each other is a great way to improve resident experience in your communities. Download our free six-step guide for more tips on improving resident experience!
