Making a difference in your community doesn’t have to require a big event. Sometimes, all it takes is a box of supplies, a little time, and a desire to help.
Royal Neighbors chapter leaders recently experienced that firsthand during the Chapter Leader Summit, where attendees worked together on a series of simple service projects designed to meet real community needs.
Each group received a “project in a box” with everything they needed to get started. In a short amount of time, members assembled care packages and other items that would later be shared with local nonprofit organizations.
The projects were simple by design, and that’s exactly what made them powerful.
An Idea You Can Take Home
You don’t have to attend a Summit or be an active chapter to create a similar project. Any Royal Neighbors member can use the same approach to make an impact in their own community.
Start by identifying a local organization and asking a simple question: What is something your organization regularly needs that volunteers could help provide?
The answer might lead to a project like:
- Veteran coffee kits with coffee, snacks, puzzle books, playing cards, or movie-night treats for a local veterans organization.
- Senior connection kits with crossword or word-search books, cards, snacks, pens, and other items that encourage activity and connection.
- Children’s activity kits with coloring books, crayons, puzzles, books, or simple activities for organizations serving children and families.
Before purchasing supplies, always contact the organization. They can tell you what would be most useful, what they already have plenty of, and whether there are items they cannot accept.
Make It Your Own
A care-kit project can be as small or as large as you want it to be.
Create one or five or more kits! Ask your family to assemble them together. Invite friends over and ask each person to bring one item. Organize a collection at work.
You can even make it a “project in a box”: gather all the supplies ahead of time, add simple instructions, and challenge a group to complete the project together.