Plan Service Into Your Life

by Mom It Forward on March 14th, 2011 | No Comments »

This week's Season of Service challenge focuses on planning. Think of ways that you can serve your family, your neighbors, your community, your countrymen, and your fellow humans across the globe by planning. This can mean preparing an event, helping someone prepare for the accomplishment of a goal, or just planning a particular activity with your family. Here are 10 bite-sized, manageable ideas:

10 Ways to Plan Service

Plan a week's worth of dinners to be brought in to a friend who has recently had a baby or lost a loved one. Call six other friends and ask them to contribute a dinner, along with yourself. Specify a date for them to either deliver their meal to your house or the recipient's, with the recipient's permission.
Plan a family night activity aimed toward teaching fairness and acceptance of others, maybe using some of the resources provided at Tolerance.org.
Plan a menu and shopping list for the whole week or even two weeks out. Planning and doing as much as possible ahead of time may leave you less stressed each day when dinner time rolls around. If you're less stressed, then your family will be less stressed.
Plan to make a little bigger dinner each night, and take that extra portion to someone who has difficulty cooking.
Plan to attend, or attend with a friend, a local weight-loss support group.
Plan a girls' night out at your house or at a local restaurant and put together Easter baskets for children at your local children's hospital. See this week's post on Kelly Loubet, who plans MIF events like these monthly in Arizona, or this site for Primary Children's Medical Center, for sample requirements and basket content ideas.
Plan to pay $1 extra at the register next time you go grocery shopping at one of these retailers to contribute to Food For All, who distributes your contributions and others to food banks for the relief of hunger and the promotion of health.
Plan a party to celebrate the birthday of someone who ordinarily wouldn't get that much attention.
Plan some questions to ask that will guide the conversation at your next dinner party towards involving everyone. Sandy Coughlin's Reluctant Entertainer site has some suggestions.
Plan to donate an hour or two of your expertise or talent either directly to a charity of your choice or to an online auction for charity like BiddingForGood.com.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

What other ideas do you have for giving to others by planning?
How has planning made a meaningful difference for you this week?
How have others given to you this week and what difference has that made in your life?

How Else Can You Make a Difference This Season?

Make a meaningful difference this season by taking the Season of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here's how you can participate:

Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week's challenge.
Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week's challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
Enter to win each week's giveaway. Check out this week's prizes from Genovive by clicking here.
Join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.