Service Ideas: 10 Ways to Help Prevent Disease

by Mom It Forward on February 13th, 2012 | No Comments »

This week's Season of Service challenge is to do simple things to help prevent bad things, like diseases. There are many ways you can make a difference.

10 Ways to Prevent Disease

Have your kids create a hot chocolate stand which is a twist on a summer lemonade stand. Your kids can then donate some or all of the money raised to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to help fund research that will prevent future cases of the disease.
Pick a chronic disease, like fibromyalgia, and read about it with your kids and what it's like to live with it. Discuss with them what's being done to help prevent it.
Take your mom to get a mammogram. Or, go with a group of girlfriends to get a mammogram.
Help design brochures and other printed materials for a child abuse prevention agency. This opportunity is only available for two more days through Sparked.com.
Offer two hours of respite care to a friend who takes care of someone with a chronic illness, to help prevent that friend's physical or mental fatigue due to constant work.
Read about the signs of domestic abuse so that you can recognize it if it happens to a friend or loved one.
Inquire at your local library about any local book clubs or the possibility of you starting one, if the library offers book club kits, and promoting it through the library. Or, if that's too complicated, start up a chat about one of your favorite books in our Chat Room, to prevent boredom or isolation.
Cut out one soda per week for one month, to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
Prevent the gradual loss of your intelligence by reading one book each week for a month.
Read this article about biologist Rachel Carson's efforts to prevent the extinction of a pelican bird species, and be inspired.

How Will You Give to Others This Week?

Have you ever done any of these things? How did it go?
What other acts of service have inspired you?
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?

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.

Featured photo courtesy of Flickr.