The Plymouth Fire Department (in Minnesota) has invited families to adopt a fire hydrant this winter. Families who keep the hydrants clear of snow and ice, qualify for free dinners at local restaurants. Families that don’t live near a hydrant might consider shoveling the walk and driveway of an elderly family. Other ways your family can volunteer together include:
- Go grocery shopping as a family, purchase groceries and deliver them to your local food shelf
- Arrange to make and deliver dinner for an elderly neighbor or sick friend.
- Help someone who “can’t” by raking their lawn, decorating for the holidays, doing their errands, etc.
- Walk the neighbors dog
- Offer to baby-sit for a young family that needs a night out
- Organize a community “closet cleaning” day/week and donate to a homeless shelter or other organization
- Partner with other families to clean up the neighborhood or park
- Bake cookies for Interfaith Outreach holiday party
National Family Volunteer Day is Saturday, November 20.
Posted by Susan at 11/18/2004 01:25:00 PM | Link
The importance of family meals makes headlines again. On November 11, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, featured
Family Dinners Improve Kids’ Health, Grades; How Not to Dread Them. In the 1970’s, family meals were on the decline. According to a recent study, “Sixty-one percent of youths ages 12 through 17 said they ate dinner with their families at least five nights a week in 2003, up from 47% in 1998”
Communities everywhere are convinced that sharing meals builds healthier families. Putting Family First has been promoting it for several years. Two other local groups from Minnesota are asking families to pledge to eat dinner together at least four times each week. Major companies are also supporting the trend. General Mills and “Dinner Made Easy” helped sponsor
Family Day. Even TV Land and Nick at Nite have joined forces behind “”
The Family Table-Share More than Meals, a pro-social initiative designed to celebrate all of our unique families, and to encourage loved ones to reconnect.
The holiday season is approaching with a varied list of dinner rituals; this is a great time to be reminded how beneficial the family meal can be.
Posted by Susan at 11/15/2004 01:51:39 PM | Link
Children live better lives when their families are strong. Families are strong when they live in communities that connect them to networks of support. In the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bob Fisher, a local businessman, wanted to raise awareness about local housing issues, community involvement and volun-teerism. He pledged to sleep outside in the cold, until he met his goal. In 1996, he raised over $7,000 which provided Thansgiving dinners for over 100 families.
Today,
Bob's Sleep-Out involves the entire community, joining with local churches, the surrounding cities, youth groups, civic organizations, and schools. This year Bob and the community, will sleep outside until he raises $1,250,000 to meet the emergency and long-term housing needs in our community. The kick-off celebration for Bob's Sleep-Out will be held Saturday, November 13 at 6:30 pm
Everyone has a role in making families successful.
Posted by Susan at 11/07/2004 10:34:37 AM | Link
