{"id":14829,"date":"2017-10-31T15:03:06","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T20:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/?p=14829"},"modified":"2017-12-08T12:59:30","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T17:59:30","slug":"mark-your-calendars-family-volunteer-day-is-november-18-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/mark-your-calendars-family-volunteer-day-is-november-18-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark your calendars! Family Volunteer Day is November 18, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><a href=\"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Family-Volunteer-Day.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-14833\" src=\"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Family-Volunteer-Day.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Family-Volunteer-Day.jpg 266w, https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Family-Volunteer-Day-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px\" \/><\/a>Family Volunteer Day will take place on\u00a0Saturday, November 18,\u00a0and helps kick off the holiday season. It&#8217;s the perfect opportunity for families to experience the true spirit of giving to others.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Family Volunteer Day is a <em>global<\/em> day of service and provides opportunities for families around the world to come together, create deeper bonds with each other and their community. Volunteering is a great way for kids and adults to make new friends, develop compassion for their neighbors, and even pick up a new skill or two!.<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>It doesn\u2019t take a lot of time to make\u00a0<em>a big difference.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are lots of easy and fun ways\u00a0to get involved no matter how much time you have.\u00a0\u00a0From small acts of kindness like donating books or toys to enlisting your family to take part in a community service project, doing good with your family is easy and the list of possible activities is endless.<\/p>\n<p>According to author\u00a0 Karen Bantuveris of VolunteerSpot in a recent\u00a0<em>Parenting Magazine<\/em>\u00a0article entitled\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.parenting.com\/blogs\/mom-congress\/simple-ways-volunteer-your-family-holiday-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Simple Ways to Volunteer with your Family this Holiday Season<\/a>:\u00a0<\/em><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Here are some ideas for service activities for kids of all ages:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Younger kids can:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Decorate reusable grocery bags and fill them with their favorite non-perishable food items. \u00a0Feeding America offers a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/feedingamerica.org\/foodbank-results.aspx\" target=\"_self\">Food Bank locator<\/a>, searchable by zip code.<\/li>\n<li>Stuff new, warm socks with water bottles and granola bars to give to homeless men and women you pass on street corners.<\/li>\n<li>Decorate holiday cards for soldiers overseas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Older kids can:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Donate their gently used books and DVDs to a local children\u2019s hospital.<\/li>\n<li>Make holiday decorations and sing songs for nursing home residents. Call ahead to schedule a visit.<\/li>\n<li>Rake Leaves or shovel snow for an elderly neighbor.<\/li>\n<li>Collect used towels and pet toys for the local animal shelter.<\/li>\n<li>Host a hot chocolate or cider stand and donate the proceeds to a charity of their choosing.<\/li>\n<li>Adopt a family for the Holidays through a local business or faith group, and have your kids help with the shopping for that family.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How parents can make volunteerism \u201cstick\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Volunteering as a family while kids are young cultivates a positive service habit that sticks long into adulthood. Here are a few tips to help ensure your kids understand the impact of their good work.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If donating goods or money to a local charity, deliver the items in person with your kids so they can better visualize how they made a difference.<\/li>\n<li>Be sure to talk about your family\u2019s service experience. Discuss what you did, why you did it, how it felt, and what you learned.<\/li>\n<li>Celebrate your service!<\/li>\n<li>Build on your kids\u2019 enthusiasm and choose your next service project together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Family volunteering resources<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.volunteerspot.com\/ebooks\/FamilyVolunteering\" target=\"_self\">Family Friendly Volunteering: Ideas from A-Z<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a free eBook by VolunteerSpot<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.generationon.org\/\" target=\"_self\">generationOn<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 resources for kids, teens, parents and teachers.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.doinggoodtogether.org\/index.php\/give-and-serve\/find-a-family-service-project\/\" target=\"_self\">Doing Good Together<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 project ideas for home and out in the community.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>In Nationwide, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.volunteerdelaware.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Volunteer Nationwide<\/a>\u00a0for volunteer opportunities throughout the state and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>To learn more, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/fvd.generationon.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Family Volunteer Day.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><em>Please note: Back to Basics Learning Dynamics is not a sponsor of, or partner of, Family Volunteer Day. This post is simply to alert students and families about a volunteer opportunity.\u00a0 To learn more, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/fvd.generationon.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Family Volunteer Day<\/a>.<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Photo by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.freedigitalphotos.net\/images\/view_photog.php?photogid=2125\">photostock<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/freedigitalphotos.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a>.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Family Volunteer Day will take place on\u00a0Saturday, November 18,\u00a0and helps kick off the holiday season. It&#8217;s the perfect opportunity for families to experience the true spirit of giving to others. Family Volunteer Day is a global day of service and provides opportunities for families around the world to come together, create deeper bonds with each [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":30078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-parents","category-for-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14829"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14834,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14829\/revisions\/14834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtobasicslearning.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}