Socially Distant Ways to Give Back

Author: one tough job

The winter holiday season is a popular time to get into the community and give back. With a sense of cheer in the air, it’s easy to get excited about bringing a smile to someone else’s face too. This winter, giving back looks different. Maybe it’s not a gift drive this year, but a safe meal-delivery from neighbors to their elderly counterparts or a clothing drive. Everyone’s economic conditions have shifted this year, and right now we are our own communities’ best supports. Here are a few ways for you and your children to participate in the spirit of giving during this strange winter!

Note: these suggestions are for families who already have food, shelter, and clothing for everyone in their household. No one who’s struggling with basic needs at this time should be expected to help out (even as we’ve seen community members be incredibly generous beyond their means!), and if you or your family are facing food insecurity, please consult Feeding America to locate the resource closest to you.

Check-in on your neighbors.

This is a great one, regardless of how “close” your neighborhood feels. Maybe you’ve lived there your whole life and know your neighbors well and are already supporting them. If you’re new to the neighborhood or a longstanding tenant and your neighbors are new – the holidays are a great excuse to be friendly. Even if you’re shy, the winter holidays are when people expect outreach, so that it won’t be confusing.

Since physical distancing guidelines are in place, try things like sending holiday mail with your children, contributing drawings, words, or coloring in paper to use. If you have access to a car, you can offer to help ferry groceries and other supplies, which can be hard to carry when it gets cold and snowy. Remember always to use low-contact drop off options: wash your hands or use sanitizer, wear a good mask, leave any items in bags on a front stoop or similar, and walk 6+ feet away before they come out to retrieve the bags. You can always smile and wave from your car!

Walking clean up

With many other ways of exercise closed, more and more families are going for walks and hikes. Going outside is wonderful! A trickier side effect is that there is plenty of new litter on walkways, hiking trails, etc.

A simple way to give back is to get involved in cleaning up your local community outdoors. This is a good one to involve older children, age 12+. Rather than seeing it as a chore, they can learn about conservation, environmental stewardship, and/or keeping our urban areas enjoyable for our neighbors. Take it as an opportunity to get curious together about who has access to clean and maintained outdoor space and why that might be. What are your child’s reactions to noticing the disparities?

For a neighborhood or trail cleanup, bring regular-sized trash bags for collection, doggie bags for any small items you might need help picking up and wear disposable gloves. Make sure to dispose of the finished trash bags in appropriate trashcans, and have everyone wash their hands thoroughly when home.

Decorate your window(s)

Especially if you or anyone in your family is immunocompromised, we encourage you to spread the holiday cheer in ways that are safe for you and your whole family.

What better way than to send encouraging messages via your front window(s) or front steps if your front stoop or a porch is available to you. You might even try writing out a longer holiday message with one letter per sheet of paper (they can decorate) and show them how it’ll look in the window. Especially since your child may be used to drawing on a single sheet at a time, you can help them make the conceptual leap to new spatial awareness. For younger children, encourage them to “test” how the drawing will show up; they can go outside and try different things to see how the drawing looks when taped in a window. Encourage them to be curious about what will work best—darker lines, bigger drawings, etc.

What kinds of ways are you and your family engaging in your community and giving back, all in safe ways? We’d love to know!

Further resources: if you’d like to take on a heftier commitment to volunteering and giving back, you can visit VolunteerMatch and browse their listings based on your skillset.

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