Gardens for Good volunteers posing at the farm stand at the Silver Spring FreshFarm Market. They raised $600 to benefit friends at Shepherd’s Table.

School will be out in just a few weeks. Between swim team, summer camps and sleepovers, summer is filled with opportunities for kids to lay back and relax. It’s also a great time for kids to get out and give back! That’s where Silver Spring Cares comes in. We offer a one-stop shop for great volunteer ideas for all ages, experience, and, time commitment available.

You might consider teaming up with another family, inviting one of your child’s friends to help out, or stopping for a picnic in the park or ice cream on the way home. What initially may seem like another task on your to-do list can become a wonderful bonding experience for your family. Have fun volunteering and your kids might even ask to do it again and again.

Get Out and Help

There are lots of ways to help close to home. Below is a short list of options you and your family may consider. Regardless of which one (or ones) you choose, your efforts will be appreciated.

  1. Donate food to Shepherd’s Table. Have your child pick out one item each time you go to the store. When you get a bagful, it’s time to deliver.
  2. Visit Sunrise Senior Living Center. Your family can be matched with one person to call on regularly.
  3. Clean up. Sweep the Creek with Friends of Sligo Creek. Pick up litter at a local park or while you take a walk in the neighborhood.
  4. Help a mentally disabled adult through Housing Unlimited, Inc. From mulching and weeding to scraping and painting to office work and fundraising, they can help identify a meaningful volunteer job for you.
  5. Deliver or prepare meals. Bring both hot food and companionship to homebound people through Colesville Meals on Wheels or Meals on Wheels Takoma Park.
  6. Be kind to animals. Volunteer to care for abandoned dogs or cats at Humane Rescue Alliance or Montgomery County Humane Society. Have a budding reader? Animals love to be read to!

Volunteer from Home

We appreciate not everyone can get out and about but still want to be active volunteers in their community. There are numerous ways you and your family can help right from home.

  1. Grow food for Shepherd’s Table through Gardens for Good, a locally run volunteer program that encourages families to grow together to feed our community. No green thumb required. Email hbrfoley@gmail.com to get involved.
  2. Become an Ambassador! A DC Diaper Bank Ambassador, that is! As a DCDB Ambassador, you will help secure much needed diapers by serving as a drop off location in your neighborhood. Thanks to your support, families in your neighborhood will have an easy way to donate their unused, clean diapers. In addition, DCDB Ambassadors help spread the word of this important work by sharing DCDB’s mission with local mom groups, list serves, schools, etc.
  3. Kick it old school! What is cuter than a bunch of neighborhood kids setting up shop in the front yard. Collect donations for popcorn, lemonade or baked goods and raise funds for Create Arts Center’s smARTkids program. CREATE’s smARTkids program is a free after-school program that aims to positively impact learning and success of students who face circumstances or other learning-related factors that could adversely affect their abilities to succeed in school.

These are really just a few ideas! Keep checking back with us for the latest volunteer opportunities. Do you have a nonprofit that could use some SSC love? Let’s connect! Email heather@springspringcares.org today.