community service

How to Teach Your Kids to Volunteer for the Right Reasons - Star Tribune

Developing a “service heart” in your child can start small but develop into bigger and better things over a lifetime.

"Bigger Push Needed to 'Grow' Caring Kids" - Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Bigger Push Needed to 'Grow' Caring Kids" - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Eleven years ago, Jenny Friedman crafted a vision for a new kind of volunteering.

Parents and other caring adults wouldn’t leave their kids at home when they performed acts of kindness. They’d bring the kids along, tapping into youngsters’ innate desire to help others.

Instilling the spirit of giving in our children requires more than an occasional project, Friedman has learned. It must become our family’s day-in, day-out philosophy, our way of life.

And it’s never too soon to start.

"10 Fun Community Giving Ideas" - Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine - 2013

“A lot of parents feel overwhelmed by the idea of community service,” says Jenny Friedman, Ph.D., executive director of Doing Good Together, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that helps families find ways to volunteer together. ... But projects like Marin’s prove that it doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. The best way to get kids excited about taking on a new project? Start with something they already know and love. 
 

"Volunteering with Kids in Boston" - MommyPoppins Boston

Doing Good Together encourages family volunteerism and reflection on social issues. The website has a page of ‘Kitchen Table Activities” – things you can do together as a family at home to improve people’s lives, heal the Earth, fight poverty and take social action. 

"Twin Cities schools' family service nights bring students, parents together to volunteer" - St. Paul Pioneer Press

The concept of a school family service night was developed by Jenny Friedman of Minneapolis, founder of an organization called Doing Good Together. Six years ago, Friedman worked with parents at Cornelia Elementary School in Edina to come up with the model: stations where parents and kids complete easy activities to benefit local nonprofit organizations.

"6 Ways to Teach Your Kids the Thrill of Giving Back" - Redbook Mag.com

"6 Ways to Teach Your Kids the Thrill of Giving Back" - Redbook Mag.com

Help others from your kitchen table. A good possibility for young kids: "Use Saturday mornings to do something beneficial at home, like decorating the lunch bags that Meals On Wheels uses to distribute food to the elderly," suggests Jenny Friedman, founder of the nonprofit Doing Good Together.