Volunteering with Young Children in Westchester County

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volunteer with young kidsAs unfortunate as it sounds, when my kindergartener volunteers to help me with small tasks like dusting the coffee table or cleaning the windows, I know not to get too excited. More likely than not, my daughter’s attention will quickly get diverted to finding a snack or fighting with her younger brother. And in the off chance that she remains on task for a solid period of time, I anticipate finding an oily mess smeared on the coffee table from the overuse of product.

It comes as no surprise then that it can be difficult to find ways for younger children (approximately 4-6) to be involved in volunteering in a meaningful way that contributes to creating a better world. But that doesn’t make it any less important. No matter how much product my daughter uses, or how easily distracted she gets, what doesn’t change is the fact that my daughter feels good about her efforts.

When it comes to volunteering outside of the house, her contributions not only help the community around her, but they also help her understand her role as a global citizen.

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With volunteering opportunities for young children minimal, how can a child of this age participate? 

Local Opportunities

Because of liability issues (and, frankly, ability issues), it can often be difficult to find locations or organizations willing to accept children of such a young age (always with a parent or guardian, of course). Those opportunities are often not ongoing but single time occurrences (think holidays or back to school events). That being said, if there is a favorite organization, it’s important to continually check the event calendar or check-in with the volunteer coordinator to see what may be coming up. Some local organizations with programs for young children on an ongoing basis are:

Ronald McDonald House of Greater Hudson Valley 

The Ronald McDonald House has one program suited for ages four and up where children actually get to volunteer their time outside of their own home. The program is called Meals that Heal, where groups and families (up to 10 participants) can volunteer to donate food and time to come to one of the Ronald McDonald House kitchens and cook food for those families staying there (typically 25 people). 

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The Town of Greenburgh

This volunteer opportunity takes a bit of musical skill, but honestly, what young child doesn’t have a beautiful voice for belting out a tune or two? For children aged five and up, the town of Greenburgh is looking for musically talented volunteers to provide concerts to homebound residents and seniors. (If interested, sign up through www.volunteernewyork.org).

Groundwork Hudson Valley

Check the events schedule here for opportunities to help with keeping the environment clean and healthy such as clean-ups and invasive vine cutting that happens throughout the year.

The Foodbank for Westchester 

The Foodbank for Westchester invites children to its facilities to help organize, create bags, box, etc. They welcome children on weekdays only for short periods of time with prior approval and arrangement as not all activities at the organization are appropriate for young children.

National Organizations

Beyond just our local places to volunteer, there are national organizations that offer some opportunities to shape and mold into your own special experiences at home.volunteering

Operation Gratitude 

This organization collects cards to deliver to deployed service members. They also send out care packages that kids can take part in putting together through organizing drives (they have specific wish lists that apply year-round, but also have seasonal lists – think Halloween Candy). Beyond just showing gratitude to troops, they’ve also begun to create First Responder Care Kits.

Holidays for Heroes

This program is run through the Red Cross. The program was formerly known as Holiday Mail for Heroes but was recently changed to reflect each community’s changing needs. To see how young children can get involved with this program, contact the local Red Cross office.

Cards for Hospitalized Kids 

If you’re having difficulty finding a local hospital to accept cards your children have made, consider this organization. They can help you find a card making event, create a card making event, or just give you the information needed to make them on your own and submit them.

National Disease Organizations

Search for a local office of the cause you are most interested in and search their events page. There are many ways children can help these larger charities by raising money and awareness or participating in walks.

DIY Opportunities

There are plenty of ways in which children can get involved beyond finding local organizations to volunteer time. These opportunities can often be designed so that a solid foundation and love of volunteering can be established through centering activities around children’s own interests. Below are a few ideas to get started (or started thinking of your own)!

Drives

Drives are a great way children can actually get connected to an organization that doesn’t allow them to come to the facility. There are a variety of local organizations and national organizations that children can collect items for. Some ideas are food, blankets, toys, and litter for animal shelters. Children can collect clothing for homeless shelters or toys and food for women’s shelters. They can collect food for food banks. The Ronald McDonald House of Greater Hudson Valley has a Pull Tab Program where children collect pull tabs and donate them to the organization, which, in turn, recycles the aluminum for money to run their programs. There is no limit to what types of drives children can do. They can be timely, in response to a national or international disaster, for instance, or for small local organizations that distribute medical supplies. There are endless organizations in need of items. Just reach out, and they will help you get started.

Donations

In addition to sponsoring a drive, kids can find out what is needed by particular organizations and donate independently. For example, during the holidays, children can adopt a family and shop for food and gifts. They can help create birthdays for other children by donating party supplies to organizations like The Birthday Box. Children can also create activity boxes filled with arts and craft supplies, games, reading materials, etc., for children at local hospitals. Another great way for children to collect donations is to create Everything Bags filled with essential items (think granola bars, grocery gift cards, water, warm socks, scarves, mittens, hats, travel-sized toiletries, toothbrush, tampons/pads, quarters for vending machines, etc.) that they can then distribute to people in need.

Donate a Birthday

There are so many ways for children to donate a birthday. They can directly donate their birthday to national and local causes by setting up a donation page and having party-goers donate to the organization in lieu of gifts. Many organizations have their own direct way to donate birthdays (like the Children’s National Health System). You can simply use Share Your Wish, which will connect your little one to charities (they also even send invitations out for you). Beyond asking for monetary donations, kids can ask that items be brought to their parties instead of presents. They can basically turn their birthdays into mini-drives for whatever cause they choose. Additionally, children can donate their birthdays through the activities they choose to do. They can have a card making party where all their cards are donated to troops or children in hospitals. They can spend the party creating Everything Bags or performing a service like cleaning a park or singing to the elderly.

Surprise Packages

One aspect of volunteering that I like to emphasize with my children is that we try to share whatever we have to give, whether it’s time, food, or just gratitude. A simple way for children to share their gratitude is to spend time drawing pictures and handing them out to those they encounter throughout the day who help them or seem to need some acknowledgment of their own value. Beyond just handing a picture out and running, I like to explain to my kids the importance of expressing gratitude towards those people by actually saying, “Thank you.” “Thank you for bagging my groceries.” “Thank you for giving me a pretzel.” “I hope you have a good day.” While the impact is small, sometimes it’s these small lessons of helping and appreciating other people that go the farthest.

Taking Care of Those Who Care for Them

Along the same vein of expressing gratitude, children can handout water on hot days to those people who help their community run smoothly: sanitation workers, construction workers, mailmen and women, and crossing guards are just a few.

Treats

My kids love to bake. Oddly, they don’t actually love to eat all they bake (well, one does). But a great way for kids to volunteer in their community is to make treats and deliver them to local Fire and Police Stations.

Walks

Kids love to get outside and spend some time running around. Why not sign them up for a walk that actually raises money to fight a disease, especially if there is one that is near and dear to them. There are always a number of them throughout the area sponsored by national organizations, and it’s a great way to get some exercise and volunteer some time. 

Be Neighborly

Children can help their community by taking in the mail, shoveling snow, weeding gardens, and raking leaves for the elderly, the sick, or new parents in the neighborhood.

Living in such proximity to NYC provides us with so many opportunities to reach out and help. It can be difficult to navigate those opportunities, especially when dealing with the youngest of volunteers. Hopefully, the information above can make it a bit easier to get out and get involved.

Are there any other ways for young children to volunteer? Share in the comments below!

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Jen
Jen is three-year resident of Westchester County and a five-year resident of Mommyhood. She enjoys writing, reading, coffee, wine, Disney World, and traveling with her husband, five year old daughter, two year old son, and 13 month old tiny son. She used to teach high school English in the city, but she decided to give up that stress for the stress of being a SAHM. Her least favorite things to do are laundry and dishes, but those seem to be the two things she puts the most energy into, hoping that one day, someone will create a Roomba-like device that will gather, sort, pretreat, wash, dry, fold, and put away the now clean clothes that her children shed like snakeskin around the house. Aside from dishes and laundry, Jen also occupies her free moments traveling and writing for her blog Three Kids and A Car where she provides travel tips and stories she’s collected since she first started bringing her daughter with her while she traveled the world.