Keep Folks Interested by Doing Service Projects.
Membership and service should be at the forefront for all of our clubs at all times- if we want our clubs to still exist years from now, we need to bring in new members from multiple generations and keeping them engaged. But how do we do that? Well, one idea is to keep folks interested by doing service projects.
Now that the highs of the holidays have passed, we’re entering into the winter months where the days are short and the nights are long. A lot of clubs have just finished amazing holiday projects but are now struggling to find the energy or motivation to do activities for the next few months. Here are a few ideas that won’t take a lot of time or effort but could have a huge impact on your community and attract new members. Remember, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel when there are thousands of clubs doing fun and exciting things, so Google is your best friend!
Adopting a school (or retirement home, group home, etc): Collect and provide winter essentials such as hand sanitizer, tissues, socks, etc. It might be possible to work with your local dollar store to gather donations.
Making scarves: use the no-sew method to keep this easy by buying yardage of polar fleece, cutting it into long strips and then fringing the ends by cutting into smaller strips and then knotting those ends to dress up the scarf a little bit. This is a great project for a winter club meeting and be sure to bring sharp scissors!
A food drive: collect food items to restock the local food pantry.
Clothing drive: collect new or gently used coats, clothes, shoes, gloves, hats, etc. Every community has a need, especially for the homeless population. Seniors and foster kids also need support so contact your local social service organization to see where the needs are.
Luggage drive: Collect gently used luggage for children in foster care so if they move from home to home, they can have some dignity and luggage to put their belongings in. Few things are sadder than seeing a child haul all his or her worldly possessions around in a garbage bag.
Boxes of love: small shoe box size boxes with hygiene and other items. These could be for the homeless, seniors or foster kids. For a wonderful program that does this for foster youth, check out: https://www.boxesofloveproject.org/
Host a Laundry Day: gather up your quarters and work with a local laundry mat to help low-income folks do loads of laundry. https://laundrylove.org/
Host a seed exchange: invite community members to bring their leftover seeds and exchange with others. Seeds could be labeled and divided into smaller packets so more can be shared. This could also be an activity to help low-income community members learn how to grow their own food.
Host a book drive to support local libraries, little libraries and schools. Addiction recovery centers, jails and prisons can also use books.
Coordinate a phone tree to check-in and talk to lonely community members.
Kindness rocks: this could be a community wide service projects to engage families with children. All you need are some river rocks and paint supplies to decorate the rocks. This is a great resource: https://www.thekindnessrocksproject.com/
These are just a few ideas for winter projects, I hope you find some inspiration!
DG Carrie Bartley