The recipe tabs above take you to one of my own nonprofit projects, sharing
low-cost food mixes with neighbors online & through food pantries.
Use your creativity to do some good I'm often asked for help in developing group fund raisers or community service projects, so I created this website to publish some of the projects I've produced or heard about in my area.
Take a look at some of the ideas below and use them to kickstart your own project. Have fun!
Cookie Party
A great excuse for a party is to help out your local community kitchen. You can even schedule it during the holidays and bake extras for everyone to share. A terrific location for a large group is a church kitchen; usually a member can sponsor a group to use the facilities. Or, host a more intimate party with a few of your best friends.
Variations: Stone Soup Party-have everyone bring an ingredient and fix soup or casseroles to freeze and donate to the community kitchen. Great activity for a cold winter evening.
Real world example: A highschool civics teacher required, in addition to a research paper, that her students volunteer five hours for a nonprofit related to their topic. Regulations at the community kitchen limited youth involvement, so we created a cookie party. The students then delivered their creations to the shelter kitchen and took a tour of the facilities, meeting a few of the guests. The guests/residents are always very appreciative of homebaked treats.
Bike Repair Marathon
This is a great way to help others and save needed materials from being thrown away. Put up notices that used bikes and parts are needed. Offer to pick them up, too, if you can. If you have funding, you can also assign a group to comb neighborhood thrift stores and yard sales. Also try to involve the community by getting donations of food to serve to your volunteers. Then, have an all-day party to which you invite your handiest friends and associates (remind them to bring their tools). The best part is giving the bikes away when you get to see a lot of grateful smiles.
Variations: Clothing repair, holiday decoration renewal or bowmaking, small appliance repair, photo sorting and scrapbooking.
Real world example: In their basement, Mark and Ned started refurbishing computers for economically challenged but smart kids, and now they have expanded operations into an organization with over 400 geeky volunteers (they call themselves geeks, so we can, too).
Niche Business
Open a business and donate proceeds or services to charity. Specialty businesses are really hot right now, and if you have a unique talent, why not test the market and help out your community at the same time? Interesting reading: book and website, The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson. DTCC offers inexpensive small business workshops in Durham and Orange County, including one on opening a small business in your spare time.
Real world example: Ariana is a teenager, a developing artist, and a self-described "manga junkie." She used her unique knowledge of this very popular hobby, a type of japanese comic book art, and her drawing skills to help a nonprofit develop marketing materials targeting her age group.
Craft Workshops
How many doilie angels do your friends and family really need? If you and your friends like to make crafts, then have a crafting party and donate the goods. Some churches offer "alternative markets" where you can sell the products you've made, benefiting charity. If you are an expert, then offer a workshop and charge admission. You could also offer to host kids parties where you introduce children to the fun and good feelings of contributing.
Real world example: In order to draw attention to the need of the food pantry for pasta and sauces and to celebrate Independence Day, we challenged the community of Carrboro to build their favorite American Landmark - out of spaghetti! We also made a giant pasta flag out of lasagna and let the kids build their own smaller versions out of spaghetti and star pasta. Recipe Mixes
I've added recipes
to the site. These recipes make delicious homemade meals and side dishes at terrific
prices. Gather some friends, a few ingredients, cups and measuring
spoons, and in no time you'll have bunches of gifts to deliver to your
local food pantry. If you have leftover jars or ribbons, consider
adding a few creative touches to make them extra special, and don't
forget to include instructions for the recipient.
Real world example: I package the mixes I give to community food pantries under the name merimouth mixes. We are currently distributing rice, soup, pasta and bread mixes such as cranberry scones and vegi garden rice to community pantries within the NC Food Bank system.
|
