Things to do this weekend and beyond 12/14....

Well, with Hanukkah in full swing and Christmas around the corner, it can feel like there's not much time on hand to squeeze in community activities, but it seems important to me to keep the needs of others and the challenges in the world all around us present in the midst of our celebrations (without being the dour doomsayer in a room full of carolers).  Going to set an example by not prattling on about that but providing (I hope) some opportunities for this coming week.

• Sunday, we're going to volunteer to help with food preparation at the Masbia Soup Kitchen on Coney Island Ave., in an event organized by the social action committee at the Hannah Senesh Community Day School.  There is still room for more volunteers - if you're interested, send an email here.  I will post about the experience afterwards and get a sense of how well this works with kids.
• As I mentioned last week, Occupy Sandy is organizing a day of action on Saturday, with community rallies in the Rockaways and Staten Island at noon, and a citywide convergence on the Mayor's house on the Upper East Side at 5 (bring flashlights!).  You can get details here.  As with many Occupy events, you have to be a bit tolerant of some vagueness around the edges of the message, but the events themselves seem clearly defined.
• Last week I posted about an effort by queensmamas.com, called Family-to-Family which is looking to connect volunteer families with individual families in need, to provide support, help connect them with resources in the community and generally make the holidays a little easier, with the larger aim of bringing families from different parts of the city closer together.  If this is something you think your family might like to do, check out the information on the website - you can do as much as you're able, and it's a way of volunteering as a family that's very personal (which also may be why it scares some folks off, but different approaches appeal to different folks so....).
• If your time is limited and can't get somewhere to volunteer right now, New York Cares has started a Winter Wishes project which allows you to purchase items from Amazon in answer to wish registries for lots of different social service agencies serving kids, seniors and others.  What I like about this is that the range of options is large and for those of us with kids who still believe in Santa and don't understand why we need to buy gifts for other children ("Doesn't Santa bring them?"), buying lamps and canes and gift cards are easier to explain.  While it's not as active as going and doing something, having the kids help pick out gifts is a nice indoor, cold weather activity.
• On Saturday, there appears to be a work project at Added Value farm in Red Hook from 1 to 4pm.  It's not up on their calendar but there is sign up for it through New York Cares here.

Not a volunteer activity but a different kind of opportunity: Disney Friends for Change Grants are $1000 grants to kids ages 5 to 18 to support youth projects to help meet the needs of others.  Proposals are due February 10th.  If the child applying is under 13, an adult has to submit the application.

 Got any other ideas?  Share 'em!

Things to do, Weekend 12/7 and beyond

Oy, how quickly the weekend roles around again. There are some good opportunities coming up - as always, if you've got something to share, let me know.

For the upcoming holidays:

• Queensmamas.com is organizing a Family-to-Family program, matching a family in need (with a focus on those affected by the Hurricane) with a volunteer family that can help make this holiday season a better one, with the idea, too, that this will forge a more lasting bond between the families.  Queensmamas.com will provide support for the volunteer families in terms of identifying services and resources.  I love this idea, because it's a way to get to volunteer as a family without just sending money or wrapping a present anonymously.  Still, it may feel like a big lift for some.  The registration form, though, allows you indicate what days and how many days you're able to help.

• On Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 8 -9), the New York Food Bank will be in Bushwick (address available when you register) wrapping gifts to be donated.  You do have to register as a volunteer to sign up (but what a good idea), and they indicate that the minimum age is 14, but I expect there is wiggle room there, since kids can be great at helping to wrap gifts.  Check in advance. 

• Where to Turn is organizing a toy 'store' for Sandy victims in Staten Island, and is looking for volunteers to staff the store (and also looking for toys, btw), which will be at 3948 Amboy Rd. in Great Kills.  Where to Turn is an organization formed after the 9/11 attacks to help affected families on Staten Island, and have become a general crisis relief organization.

In addition, Occupy Sandy still needs volunteers for cooking and food distribution.  The kitchen is at 461 99th St. in Bay Ridge, at St. John's Episcopal Church.  They need volunteers from 9 to 5, generally.  The main volunteer clearinghouse and launch site is at 520 Clinton Ave.  There is a great list of locations for donation drop off and volunteering here.

By the way, I'm interested in this organization, Kids Helping Kids, and it's approach to kids and social action.  If anyone has any direct experience with them, can you let me know?  Thanks.

And please, please, please, take a minute to fill out the activity survey here.  You don't have to put your name down, it does not obligate you in any way.  Just trying to find out how this site can be most useful.

#Giving Tuesday, or Making the Most of a Hashtag Holiday

So last week's roundup of activities included mention of #Giving Tuesday, an attempt to at least parallel (if not shift) Black Friday's launch of the spending season leading up to the December holidays with the start of a giving season.  Idealistically, the campaign hopes not only to encourage people to give to charities but also to have them crow about it in social media, spreading the word and momentum about the need to give to organizations, causes, people that we care about and which enrich our community and depend on our support.  It's a fine idea, even if one may question (see, e.g. this critique) whether this will ultimately increase giving over all, or change our national pattern of giving to charity (in which giving clumps up in the month before the end of the tax year anyway), or whether it will be heard above the ca-ching ca-ching of spending at the mall.

It is also an opportunity to begin or continue a conversation with your kids about why you give to charitable organizations, and which ones you care about, or even why you think giving to charity is the wrong thing to do to improve your community and what you advocate instead.  I mentioned last week that this page includes some activities for families to do, and I think there are some good ideas there whether or not you link them to this event.  A number of them involve ways of creating a regular habit of giving small amounts -- seasonally, monthly, marking holidays -- throughout the year, and using that plan to foster a family discussion about how and where to give.  I haven't tried this yet, but it seems to make sense as an approach (and is echoed by other sites discussing how to introduce kids to charitable giving).  Kids tend to like rituals and routines and they may become bigger sticklers for keeping with it than you are, if you're lucky.  It also makes sense to really think through what you are likely to maintain, because, as with a lot of things involving children, consistency matters.  So, if you are unlikely to convince your kids without a struggle to skip meals or forego small treats periodically and give the money you'd spend on the meal to a charity of their choosing then pick something else.

Obviously, you can participate in the day (or not) by writing a check to an organization or in support of a cause important to you, but it's harder to involve children in that.  If you want to do something tomorrow and haven't planned ahead, here are a few ideas that you can accomplish on a work day that can involve kids - these are ideas, not endorsements:

• Ask your kids to help you pick out items from the Occupy Sandy Registry on Amazon.  Send blankets or diapers or hand warmers.
• Contribute to the "Virtual Food Drive" organized by the Food Bank for New York City and DoSomething.org; you can browse the food categories and put items in your shopping cart and then charge them.  This allows the food bank to buy the food wholesale rather than collecting cans from individual donors.
• Give a cow, a plant, or some honeybees at Heifer International.
• Go buy some warm breakfast treats and bring them to the crossing guard near your school - not a charity exactly, but a reminder to thank people who help you in small ways every day.

Your ideas?  Are you buying into this hashtag holiday?  Why or why not?

Things you can do THIS weekend and beyond

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, the kids are out of school Friday, the traditional holiday tsunami of consumerist frenzy is about to overtake the country, what can you do to staunch the flow just a bit? Funny you should ask.  Here are some opportunities in the coming week and beyond:

Hurricane Relief

 Although most power is now restored for those who have houses to return to, many people in the Rockaways, Coney Island, Staten Island and New Jersey are still homeless or trying to rebuild or salvage damaged homes.  There will be a lot of work to do in the near future, and kids can continue to help collect and sort donations of food and other items, food preparation, etc.

• Occupy is organizing Thanksgiving meals tomorrow, if you're looking to do some volunteering.  Go to 9818 Fort Hamilton Parkway, where they will be cooking in the morning.  520 Clinton Ave. will be closed on Thanksgiving.  The St. Jacobi Church (4th Ave. between 54th and 55th) will be taking in and dispatching volunteers until 2pm on Thanksgiving (no donations on that day).
• Coney Recovers no longer needs Thanksgiving volunteers, but still need donations of canned goods, diapers, paper goods, toilet paper, baby food and blankets.  You can take a trip out there with the kids and some stuff between 9:30 and 2:00.  Check the link for locations.

Black Friday

Across the country Walmart workers and supporters are demonstrating in front of Walmart stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving to call attention to efforts by Walmart to retaliate against employees who speak out on workers' rights.  For more info, look here.  There aren't any events in New York City proper, but if you're visiting family somewhere else, you can spend some time (and take a break from leftovers) out there lending your support.  Kids can talk to folks on the picket lines about why they're protesting and what it means for their families and their kids.  You can find an event near you here.

#Giving Tuesday

The basic idea behind #Giving Tuesday is to create a national day of charitable giving in the midst of the holidays, following on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two days devoted to shopping and spending on STUFF.  Okay, so maybe it's a bit hokey, but it could be a great opportunity to engage your kids in a discussion of why we think about giving to others and not just about getting the things we want, and to plot out ways to give back in the coming year.  There's a nice list of ideas for families here, developed by staff at the 92nd St. Y, which is the big nonprofit leading the effort.  I like this list because it includes ongoing activities that can be incorporated into your family rituals going forward, encouraging regular mindfulness without overtaxing busy lives.

We Belong Together Campaign

The We Belong Together Campaign is trying to gather 20,000 letters and pictures by the end of November from children asking legislators to stop deportations and detentions that tear families apart.  The campaign focuses in particular on immigrant families of mixed status, with some members having green cards and others living with documents, at risk of deportation.  The website, which also lists its sponsors here, has an activity guide for working with kids on the project.

Coming up in a few weeks.....

There are a couple of family volunteering activities coming up being organized by Hannah Senesh Country Day School.  On December 16th and February 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m, folks will be preparing and serving food at the Masbia Soup Kitchen at 4114 14th Ave. in Brooklyn.  Anyone interested should RSVP here.

Things to do THIS weekend

So, my goal is to make this a regular mid-week post, a list of things you might do on the weekend if you wanted to squeeze in a bit of community work with child in tow.  I am gradually building my list of  contacts, and hope that soon this list will be longer and more various, but as tell my daughter, more times than she would probably like, you have to start somewhere.  If you have ideas, either for this weekend, or for on-going or future activities post in the comments or shoot me an email.

The big thing we're looking at this weekend is....

Hurricane Relief

• When I last touched base with the Occupy Sandy folks, they (to the extent there is a 'they' there) confirmed that the two main distribution hubs, at 520 Clinton Ave. and 5406 4th Ave., will still be fully operational.  Kids are definitely welcome, they help sorting stuff, making sandwiches, moving stuff around, and even making art to be sent off with bag lunches.   It was suggested that if you haven't volunteered yet, you go to 520 Clinton Ave.  They are open from 9 a.m. on, every day.  
• On Saturday, you can help the Red Hook Community Farm, which has volunteer hours starting at 10 (and if you can get there then, that's helpful, I think for orientation).  Check their website or facebook page for any last minute updates.  I did this last Saturday (see Nov. 13 post) and thought it was a great, hands on activity to do with kids.
• You can sign up to volunteer through the Public Advocate's office.  It's not clear from their site what the activities are, and whether kids are welcome (you can't get the list of activities without filling out the form, still in process as I write this).  Will investigate some more and post more info when I get it.
• If you can get out to Coney Island, you can join Coney Recovers at 1904 Surf Ave, which is their "relief village".  Activities involve giving out food, clothes and supplies, generally kid-friendly activities.
• In New Jersey, Occupy has a list of relief sites taking donations and doing distribution here.  Check that page for regular updates.  The site is good about identifying which sites don't want children because they're doing demolition.

Currently, I'm also looking into opportunities, immediate and on-going with parks, and will post shortly about Thanksgiving.  It looks like there will be a big drive to prepare Thanksgiving meals to get out to people in the Rockaways, etc.  Would be a great activity to share with kids (assuming you like to have them in the kitchen with you) because you can do the work at home and bring it in.  More updates on this soon.

Please let me know if I've missed something, or if there something you want me to look into.