3 Awesome Websites That Help You Give Back

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

– Martin Luther King

I know that so many of us are often too busy “adulting” to find ways to serve our community or serve others, yet service really is such an important part of being a good person and one of the truest ways you can feel peace and joy!  These are three websites that will make it easier for you to give back to your community!

www.givebackbox.com

This website is awesome!  Next time you have an empty (ahem probably Amazon!) box laying around – use that as an excuse to fill it with donations and ship it off!  NO EXCUSES!  You can print the label directly from the website and the Post Man/Woman will even pick it up at your door!  How much easier could it be?  TIP: If you have a lot of items to donate and need a big box – or are in need of building a cardboard spaceship for your kids – order bulk toilet paper or paper towels on Amazon.  Not only do you get your box, but you won’t have to make a trip to the store and you usually can save money too!  Don’t knock it until you try it!  Super Easy –

1. Pack up clothes and shoes in your empty box (have kids help go through their closets too!)
2. Go to website and download, print and attach PREPAID shipping!
3. Leave on door step for mail person to pick up or take to post office!

*A tax receipt will be sent when box is received! 

www.justserve.org

I love this idea for this website!  In fact I had this idea in college where we would link college students with volunteer opportunities and we had an organization which did just that for awhile.  Then life/adulting got in the way of that project! Luckily this website came to be without me.  This website matches local volunteers with community needs around the USA.  Using your zip code, you can look for opportunities for you (and often your kids too!) to serve in the community and make an impact in your own neighborhoods!  I love this idea and website!  Also, if you know of a community need/project that is NOT listed on this site – like the local convalescent home may need their residents cheered up or a nearby park needs trash pick up, it is easy to add projects on this site.  This website provides “opportunities to help those in need and enhance the quality of life in the community.” You can be a part if this big picture!

Making sandwiches for families in evacuation centers during Thomas Fire

www.facebook.com/crisisresponse

I know there is a love/hate relationship with many of you with facebook, but one thing is for sure – they can get information out fast and rally a community!  When our community was in the throes of dealing with the Thomas Fire in December 2017 and it was a never ending nightmare, I, along with many friends used Facebook to check in with friends and family and provide updates on evacuations and condition. BUT the MOST important thing that I think facebook was used for during this time was reaching out to ask for others to help those in need.  It was heart warming to see strangers offering their homes, their horse stalls, their kitchens, their funds, their clothes and even their christmas presents for families who had lost everything or who were displaced for weeks.  So many people offered to help that many had to turn away donations as they had abundant for their needs.  It was a beautiful thing and VENTURA STRONG made me proud to live in this community!

Just posting on facebook and in facebook groups is helpful, but facebook has made it even easier to request help and see who is requesting help through their Crisis Response tool! Even if you don’t know someone who personally is in crisis, you can still can go to this page and instantly find so many in need and so many needs you can fill! Yes you can mark yourself safe but it also allows for asking for help, raising/donating money and ways you can help.  I encourage you to seek out those in need and especially those in times of crisis and offer help when you can.  Such small tokens of kindness go a long way when you are dealing with hard times! Serving others really does bring true joy and we can teach our children how important it is to help others by modeling such behavior!

I hope you commit to using one of these 3 ways to serve your community in the very near future!  Or at the very least smile at a stranger and lend a helping hand to your neighbor!   And pass it on!

Cookies brought over to our family in the middle of Thomas Fire worries