United we Serve D.I.Y. Community Service

June 22, 2009

Today the Whitehouse kicked off the new United we Serve organization. The goal is to get people involved in their communities via community service of any and many kinds. Sure you could volunteer at a soup kitchen if that’s what you want to do. But, in addition to getting people serving their communities, United We Serve’s purpose is to get people thinking more about DIY community service. Michelle Obama has a great speech about it all on the White House blog. And if you need some ideas about what things you can do, log onto serve.gov for ideas, inspiration and connection to all kinds of community service in your own area.

So get a few friends, or just work within your own family, and get going on some community service in your neck of the woods.You can join in an existing project or come up with a project on your own. Look around. Look within yourself. What’s needed? What have you got?

Here are some ideas we came up with…

• organize a book drive for the waiting room at a free clinic
• collect crayons and drop them off at the Health and Human Services offices or at a children’s hospital waiting room
• collect shoes and clothes for refugees
• collect baby clothes for a women’s shelter
• hold a clothes swap in your community
• collect books for inmates
• help an elderly neighbor take care of her yard
• make some cards for a lonely neighbor
• plant a garden and give away free produce
• teach someone to sew
• make an art box for a local housing project complete with materials and ideas for what to make

And if you try something else, especially something art related, let us know your ideas!

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