Teaching Your Kids to Give Back

Community service teaches concern for others, for our society, heritage, environment and for the earth as a whole. It reminds us that change begins with small steps—steps that almost all of us can take. Projects such as those described in this Qwik Book can be easy and unstructured: an hour of weeding at the fire station or an evening making cookies for a bake sale. Or they involve a significant commitment: a weekend cleanup at a summer camp, Spring Vacation building a mission school, a semester of tutoring an immigrant child.

However simple or involved, community service activities give kids the opportunity to identify problems, brainstorm solutions and determine how to implement a plan. They allow children to pursue passions, to meet others who share their passions, get a sneak peek of the adult world, meet school or youth group activities for community service and to start building resumes.