A Great Family Activity - Volunteering

Tis the season of giving, but if your family is like mine you are feeling the financial crunch.
No worries - giving of your time is especially important this year because volunteer organizations are feeling the pinch, too.
You can even work in a workout with some of the volunteer activities!
For example, you can get out, tromp around and become "frog watchers." That means you collect information about the frog and toad populations in your neighborhood for Frogwatch USA http://www.nwf.org/frogwatchUSA/ which uses the information to learn more about the diversity of frog and toad populations and to emphasize the importance of protecting wetland habitats.
There are, of course, other reasons to volunteer. Volunteering with your kids strengthens your bonds with them as well as your family's ties with the community.
I didn't know this until recently, but there are actually lots of ways you can volunteer from home.

Here are a couple of ideas:

1. Pick up litter at a park, shoreline, mountain, river, beach or wilderness area. Take a few digital photographs of what you've picked up. Have your family e-mail an essay about your experience along with your favorite digital photo, your names, age(s) and address to mail@wildernessproject.org. Your essay will be published on the Web site, your children's names will appear in the Registry of Apprentice Ecologists and you will get an official certificate. Go to http://www.wildernessproject.org/

2. Help animals by baking dog biscuits, making cat toys or donating blankets. Go to http://www.pets911.com/index.php.

3. Make cards for other children, their parents or their siblings who are going through a difficult period in their lives. Go to http://www.makeachildsmile.org/.

For more ideas, go to:

• http://www.familycares.org/

• http://www.thevolunteerfamily.org/

• http://www.doinggoodtogether.org/

For more info on the reasons to volunteer with your family, see my article in The Olympian newspaper, http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/668477.html