Although many of us would love nothing more than to help our respective communities, busy work schedules and a plethora of personal obligations often prevents us from doing so. As such, a fair number of people have come to believe that charitable endeavors are strictly the domain of individuals with an abundance of leisure time. Fortunately, there are numerous ways you can give back to your community without throwing a packed schedule into disarray.
Get Your Employer Involved
When it comes to the root causes of schedule constraints, work is among the most prevalent. However, if you were able to find a way to combine work with charitable giving, you’d be able to do right by your community without placing a strain on your leisure time. Additionally, there are a large number of charitable endeavors in which employers can become involved.
To start with, organizing a food drive through your employer can be a fantastic way to help stamp out hunger in your community. Even though the U.S. is among the wealthiest nations in the world, food security is a huge problem, and in all likelihood, it’s more common in your community than you may think. By the same token, you may even suggest that your employer organize clothing and/or toy drives, both of which are particularly popular during the holiday season.
Not only can giving back facilitate massive improvements in the lives of others, it also stands to help your employer in a number of ways. For one thing, charitable acts can serve to make businesses of all sizes staples of their respective communities. Secondly, if other local businesses become inspired by your employer’s efforts, they may opt to start charitable endeavors of their own – or approach your employer about combining their efforts. Furthermore, if you’re truly passionate about kicking hunger to the curb, consider getting involved with a nationally-focused food charity, especially one with such corporate partners as Hershey’s ice cream.
Donate Unneeded Electronics
These days, many of us have more devices than we can keep track of. Between smartphones, tablets, computers and televisions, it seems like we spend the majority of our time staring at a collection of screens. Furthermore, given the frequency with which we upgrade the aforementioned devices, it’s hardly unusual for households to have closets full of unneeded – but perfectly usable – electronics.
Rather than allow these devices to sit around collecting dust, why not donate them to people who will actually use them? For example, many donation centers, shelters, schools and places of worship are always happy to accept unneeded electronics. In addition, there are a number of charities that are devoted to finding new homes for wayward devices.
Donating unneeded electronics is another charitable endeavor your employer may be interested in taking part in. Since many businesses upgrade their computer equipment on a regular basis, there’s no sense in allowing slightly-outdated PCs to go unused. Re-homing old computers and other devices can be a great way for your employer to free up space, cut back on e-waste and put various electronics in the hands of people who are happy to have them.
Foster Pets
Animal lovers who are looking for ways to help furry friends in need should consider opening their homes to foster pets. In case you’re unfamiliar, fostering entails allowing animals who are being prepared for adoption to reside in your home for varying lengths of time. Not only does this help the animals themselves, it can offer relief to overburdened shelters.
Additionally, since many shelters are happy to reimburse volunteers for food and veterinary costs, you needn’t worry about fostering placing a strain on your finances. Furthermore, should you find yourself becoming particularly attached to any of the animals you foster, you may want to consider turning your residence into their forever home.
Having a genuine desire to give back to the community and having sufficient time in which to do so are two very different things. Despite wanting to do right by our respective communities, many of us simply lack the personal bandwidth to throw ourselves into charitable endeavors. Fortunately, there are a number of effective ways you can help facilitate positive change, regardless of how packed your schedule is. Time-pressed individuals who are looking to help their communities would do well to consider the options discussed above.
