What can you do about helping families in need? There are plenty of things you can do to help out those in need, from donating your time to making charity donations, to sending your clothes to organizations that help military families. Here are some ideas for how you can get involved in helping families in need.

Donate Your Services

We all have something that we can do. There are plenty of services that families and individuals need in order to keep them going. You could cut someone’s hair, help to fix plumbing or electrical issues, give someone’s children a ride to school, or even provide meals to those who don’t have the resources to take care of all of life’s needs for themselves. You don’t always have to give money. Sometimes giving is as simple as a ride in the car.

Give Goods

We all have goods lying around that could be helping families in need. There are plenty of places where you can make charitable clothing donations or donate household items. Your old suit could help someone get a job. The clothes that your children have grown out of could help someone else’s child feel confident about going to school. Find charities that pick up donations or make a donation drop-off on your own.

Give to Needs

Not only can you give your skills and give of your goods, but you can give other meaningful gifts as well. It’s not always a matter of simply handing over cash. You could buy gift cards for groceries, pay for a cable or Internet subscription so a family’s children can do their homework or the family can relax in the evenings, or help someone host a birthday party for their children. These sorts of gifts are especially meaningful when they target a real need in a family’s life and show that you care enough to find out what those needs are.

Give of Yourself

We all need friends, and sometimes helping families in need means being a friend to them. Young mothers could use someone to help them look after the kids on occasion. Children can use mentors and friends to be like an older sibling or uncle or aunt to them. The elderly are in need of friends to help them get around and accomplish chores. You could be the sort of person helping families in need by giving of yourself.

Why Help?

There are lots of good reasons to reach out and help others. Naturally, the first reasons that come to mind are concerned with the needs of those you are helping. But that’s not all there is to it. You’ll also be helping yourself and your own family when you reach out to help others.

Fight Depression

If you’ve ever struggled with depression you know how difficult the struggle can be. What you might not know is that few things are more helpful in this situation than feeling valuable and useful. There are few things that will help you feel more valuable or more useful than helping families in need.

Get Out of Yourself

Conversely, few things promote depression more than a constant laser focus on ourselves, our feelings, and our needs. This doesn’t mean you should neglect yourself, your feelings, or your needs. It just means that you need to take a break from self and look outward on a regular basis.

Teach Your Kids

We can tell our children all day long that they should be generous and share. But kids are much more concerned with our example than they are with our words. They will know your words are empty and meaningless if you don’t practice what you preach. Show your children how important it is to be generous by helping families in need.

There are plenty of good reasons to help others and just as many ways to do it. Whether you give things, give time, give gifts, or give of yourself, do others a favor by reaching out and helping families in need. In the process, you’ll find that you’re helping yourself in setting a great example for your children, too.