We’ve partnered up with HandsOn and will post the DIY for the month here on Richmondmom, but you want to get out and about you can find more volunteering opportunities for you or the whole family on their website.

November DIY:

Welcome Home Soldier

Richmond Fisher House, Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medial Center

The Richmond Fisher House opened on the campus of the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Hospital on July 21, 2008 and provides no-cost lodging to the families of veterans receiving treatment at the McGuire VA hospital. Having family members nearby provides significant benefits and advantages to patient treatment, rehabilitation and recovery. By offering cost-free living quarters for patient families, the Fisher House provides an immeasurable benefit to patient care, in addition to the care and well-being of our veterans’ family members.

In honor of Veteran’s Day, DIY Volunteers will be creating Welcome Home decorations for the families staying at Fisher House, to welcome home their family member with style, dignity and gratitude.

Supply List*:

Burlap/canvas/felt fabric or cardstock paper

Pinking shears/ Scissors

Red, white and blue paint

Paint brushes, foam brushes

Twine

Letter and star stencils

Craft glue

Gallon-sized Ziploc bag

*DIY Volunteers are responsible for purchasing any of the materials needed for DIY volunteer opportunities.

How To:
1. Express Interest in the project to HandsOn. HandsOn will send you instructions and schedule a time for your delivery.
2. Every person who plans to volunteer (including youth) must express interest. You can create a volunteer team to sign up your group or family members. Read about how to create and manage teams.
3. Plan the time and place to DIY! Invite guests (optional).
4. Once you’ve expressed interest, complete instructions will be sent to you. We ask that you donate a minimum of 1 complete banner. There is no maximum. Expect the total project to be done in about 3 hours depending on the number of banners made and the number of people you have volunteering with you.

Confirmed participants will receive 3 service hours for submitting a finished project prior to 4pm, Monday, December 15.

Express interest here.

Find out on October 18, 2014!

Join HandsOn Richmond and a thousand people who care about Richmond (just like yourself) and volunteer to commit 4 hours to making RVA a better place.

Register for a project
(registration closes october 17)

In addition to just feeling amazing, registered volunteers and nonprofit staff hosts are invited to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery for a celebration after service. Join in for:
• food and beverages
• live music
• a community art project
• family friendly activities and games
• in a festive indoor-outdoor atmosphere

The Celebration will be from 1:30-3:30pm. More information will be in your confirmation email after you register for a project.

HandsOn Day of Service
Saturday, October 18, 2014
9am-1pm, followed by a celebration

Register here

]]> http://richmondmom.com/2014/10/12/handson-day-of-service/feed/ 0 http://richmondmom.com/2014/07/06/diy-volunteering-of-the-month-july-2014/ http://richmondmom.com/2014/07/06/diy-volunteering-of-the-month-july-2014/#comments Sun, 06 Jul 2014 15:10:50 +0000 http://richmondmom.com/?p=58325 Each month we’re bringing you a new activity that you can do any time any place and is great for getting little kids involved in their community.

Here’s how it works:

1. Check out the cause and supply list below.  If it looks like something you’d like to do, let them know here and the lovely folks at HandsOn will send you instructions on how to do that month’s DIY project.

2. Volunteer at home with your kids, during nap time, or get a group together and volunteer as a team (learn how to create and manage a team right here).

3. Drop it off and feel good about making Richmond a little brighter while doing something really fun.

This month’s DIY: Decorate Bags and Boxes for Hilliard House

Mission:
Create at least 5 bags and 2 boxes. There is no maximum. Expect the total project to be done in about 3 hours depending on the number of items made and the number of people you have volunteering with you.

Supply List*:
• 5 paper grocery bags
• 2 empty copy paper, banker, or like-sized boxes (16.5 x 8.5 x 12.5 inches)
• Scissors
• Wallpaper, contact paper, wrapping paper, construction paper, scrapbook paper, decorative tape, markers, stamps, glitter, stickers, paint, etc.
• Adhesives- Glue, mod podge

*DIY Volunteers are responsible for purchasing any of the materials needed for DIY volunteer opportunities.

About the Hilliard House:

Hilliard House assists homeless women and their children to build their capacity to live productively within the community. Hilliard House not only provides immediate, on-site shelter and services, but also works to places families into permanent housing in the community as quickly as possible, thus shortening stays in shelter or, in many cases, eliminating shelter stays altogether. Research shows that this “rapid rehousing” approach is a more effective way to address homelessness and based on the principle that when people are in stable housing, other parts of their lives also stabilize. Most clients are provided basic supplies and goods to help them transition into their new lives. DIY volunteers will be decorating bags and boxes to transport these items and provide some much needed cheer and encouragement.

Here’s how it works:

1. Check out the cause and supply list below.  If it looks like something you’d like to do, let them know here and the lovely folks at HandsOn will send you instructions on how to do that month’s DIY project.

2. Volunteer at home with your kids, during naptime, or get a group together and volunteer as a team (learn how to create and manage a team right here).

3. Drop it off and feel good about making Richmond a little brighter while doing something really fun.

This month’s DIY:

Summer Camp Treats for Peter Paul Development Center

Create a minimum of 5 decorated snack bags, 5 decorated bookmarks and 1 box of snacks. There is no maximum. Expect the total project to be done about 3 hours.

Purpose:
Peter Paul Development Center is an outreach and community center serving Church Hill and neighboring communities in Richmond’s East End. Its mission is to build a community of learners by engaging and challenging children, families and seniors through programs that enhance academic achievement, provide cultural enrichment, and promote self-esteem and lifelong self-sufficiency. At PPDC’s Summer Institute take-home snacks are provided to every child when they leave every day. Volunteers will craft fun and creative snack bags and bookmarks for the youth. DIY Volunteers are also asked to provide granola bar-type snacks with inspirational or educational messages on them.

We’ve partnered up with HandsOn and will post the DIY for the month here on Richmondmom.com, but you want to get out and about, you can find more volunteering opportunities for you or the whole family on their website.

Now go out there and make some happy campers!
Happy Volunteering!

Which is why I really love how HandsOn Greater Richmond is providing volunteer opportunities for both me and my kids that fit perfectly into my chaotic life.

Each month HandsOn has a DIY project you can do any time, any place (or you can even plan on doing it one day, but then really do it a couple days later).  Find out more about HandsOn Greater Richmond’s DIY Volunteering initiative here.

We’ve partnered up with HandsOn and will post the DIY for the month here on Richmondmom.com, but you want to get out and about you can find more volunteering opportunities for you or the whole family on their website.

The May DIY is for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Check out the cause and supply list below.  Once you express interest in participating, you’ll be given instructions on how to do that month’s DIY project.

This month’s DIY is in honor of National Mental Health Awareness Month and volunteers will be making “thank you” and “thinking of you” cards and stress balls for the families and caregivers of those living with mental illness. (Read more about NAMI here)

 

Supply List*:
• Balloons
• Rice
• Plastic sandwich bags
• Scissors
• Construction paper, scrapbook paper
• Markers, stamps, glitter, stickers, paint, etc.
• Glue

*DIY Volunteers are responsible for purchasing any of the materials needed for DIY volunteer opportunities.

How To:
1. Express Interest here in the project to HandsOn. We’ll send you all the instructions needed to complete the project.
2. Every person who plans to volunteer (including youth) must express interest. You can create a volunteer team to sign up your group or family members. Read about how to create and manage teams.
3. Once you’ve expressed interest, complete instructions will be sent to you. We ask that you create at least 5 stress balls, 5 “thank you” cards and 5 “thinking of you” cards. There is no maximum. Expect the total project to be done in about 3 hours depending on the number of items made and the number of people you have volunteering with you.

Confirmed participants will receive 3 hours for submitting materials prior to 4pm, Friday, June 13, 2014.

How do you teach your children to give back to the community?

Join the Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence and the Bon Secours Richmond Health Care Foundation for an evening with author and internationally-known speaker, Carol Weisman.  Carol will speak on the topic of her book, Raising Charitable Children.

This event is for families who want to leave more than a financial legacy for their children.  Carol’s talk will focus on how families can set priorities and share values while helping them plan for their financial future. Just as it is never too early to plan, it is never too early to start children in thinking of others and how to connect and deal with the world in a meaningful way.  Raising Charitable Children gives both parents and children techniques to share values and talk about how they would like to form and mold the future of not just their lives, but also the lives of others.  Copies of Raising Charitable Children will be available for sale at $10 each.

While adults interact with Carol, their children will work on a service project benefiting a local nonprofit organization.  The service project will be supervised by HandsOn Greater Richmond, a program of the Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence.

Calling All Youth!

Looking to make a positive impact on your community? Want to meet some like-minded friends? Have some community service hours you’d like to fulfill? Join us on the weekend of April 12-13th

for Global Youth Service Day(GYSD)! GYSD is the largest weekend of service for youth all across the world to come together and participate in service to make our community great. HandsOn Greater Richmond has partnered with Hanover Department of Community Resources and nonprofit partners across the region to offer volunteer projects specifically designed with youth in mind. Whether it’shelping with an Easter Egg Hunt, creating works of art to honor donors, participating in a community clean up, or any of the other amazing opportunities we have on our website, WE WANT YOU! Gather your friends, your family, your community and join us in making April 12-13th a weekend demonstrating the power and kindness of youth. Sign up for a project today!

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

-Theodore Roosevelt

If the word Philanthropy connotes an act of giving reserved only for the wealthiest or most privileged families, think again!

To be a Philanthropist simply means to DO GOOD by sharing your talents, interests, and resources of time, money, or voice. Acts of giving will look different for every family, but any effort, big or small, which blooms with intention to directly or indirectly improve the human condition now or for future generations, that’s Philanthropy!

How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.

-Anne Frank

Ready to get started? Here are a few ways you can cultivate a philanthropic spirit in your home:

Practice: The best way to begin to establish a new routine is to practice the desired behavior or skill. Integrate a tradition of giving, and communicate and nurture in your family life a value that says giving back is an important and worthwhile responsibility. Let the seasonal changes inspire your opportunities to give back, but don’t save all your love for the Holiday.

Lead by example: Invite your kids to observe and participate in your grown-up acts of philanthropy, whatever they may look like. Demonstrate your personal commitment to the causes your family chooses to support and work alongside your kids to accomplish shared goals. By working together you’ll foster a deeper connection with each other and develop a greater sense of purpose and belonging within the context of your community.

Identify or create an opportunity: Consider the shared interests of your family members, your combined availability, and the amount of time or money that you feel you can give. Let your child decide how he or she wants to get involved. Think big! Think small! Think local! Think International!  The opportunities you choose should encourage a sense of awareness, appreciation, curiosity, and compassion for others. Above all else keep it fun and age appropriate.

Document and celebrate your efforts: Keep track of the work your family does, the causes you contribute to, the events you volunteer for, or the small acts of kindness that you offer to others. Maybe you’ll take photos or video clips, keep a family journal, or create a wall hanging or poster to display in a common area of your home. However you choose to document your adventures, regularly review and celebrate all the ways your family works together to make your world a better place to live.

Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.

-Anthony Robbins

Now that you’ve considered your family’s capacity for giving back you are ready to choose an organization, cause, or activity to invest in!

• Check out the HandsOnNetwork to find a HandsOn Action Center near you and identify existing volunteer opportunities in your area. Richmond’s action center can be found here. Once you’ve typed in your zip code, you can refine your search by a number of variables including age of volunteer. Last I checked there were opportunities for kids as young as 1 year to participate in a range of activities from holiday food and clothing drives, meal delivery, adopting residents and families, the list goes on! There are so many ways to make a difference.

• Use an online database like Volunteer Match to find a worthy cause or to inspire a service project of your own.

• Consider the local organizations and nonprofits that you value in your community and contact them to learn more about ways your family can contribute to their cause. Visit GuideStar.org to learn more about an organization’s mission, legitimacy, impact, reputation, finances, programs, transparency, governance, and so much more. Search by name, keyword, or location to find organizations that specialize in the causes you care most about and to find those that serve your area.

Other Resources and Inspiration:

If you’re looking for simple, family friendly activities that you can carry out on your own, check out this eBook about Family Volunteering. It’s full of great ideas from A to Z.

Also visit GenerationOn for online resource guides that cover topics like how to engage your family in local volunteer opportunities, how to plan a community service project for your family, instructions for at-home family service projects and more!

And here are a few books to add to your library:

• How to be an EveryDay Philanthropist:330 Ways to Make a Difference in Your Home, Community, and World – at No Cost!
• Doing Good Together: 101 Easy, Meaningful Service Projects for Families, Schools, and Communities
• The Kids Guide to Service Projects: Over 500 Service Ideas for Young People Who Want to Make a Difference
  

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
-Dr. Seuss

What is HandsOn Day?

It’s a day when people come together to work for the good of others. Volunteers complete necessary work with more than 50 different projects available. They include projects with nonprofit, government, and community organizations – and even schools! There are projects in many different areas including projects working with animal rescue organizations, faith based projects, children’s programs, hospice, eldercare needs, healthcare, parks & recreation, and much more. Click here for a complete list.

Who Volunteers?

Everyone!

Volunteers receive supplies and no special skills are required – just a big heart! Volunteers can create teams with friends and family, or work with other people they’ve never met. There are plenty of places to volunteer. Registration closes 24 hours before the day. You can download more details here.

There are some projects that require minimum ages so check those out. Some projects require ‘minimum age with adult’ meaning that an adult can register and volunteer with a youth. It’s a great way to engage kids in giving back to the community and learning more about volunteering.

Learn More

Visit HandsOn Greater Richmond to learn more and to register. You’ll feel great about volunteering and you’ll help someone else live a better life! You will find a list of participating groups on the website too.