Children for Children

Volunteering and giving back to our communities, locally and globally, are things that we should all be doing in order to enrich both our own lives and to improve the world around us. The earlier in life the importance of giving back is learned, the better. Through Children for Children, I recently learned that the main reason children do not engage in volunteerism is because no one asks them to or gives them an opportunity to volunteer. Children for Children seeks to use hands-on volunteering to teach children the value of community involvement and civic engagement. Last Thursday, I spent a day with CFC at an elementary school in Brooklyn at a service fair, during which we helped the children participate in activities such as potting plants for the residents at a local nursery home and making healthy cookbooks for a local food bank.

For this weeks 15 minutes, I ask you to speak to a child (brother, sister, niece or nephew, etc.) and explain the meaning of volunteering. Explain why it is important to give back to our communities and ask them what they think they can do to help their neighbors, community, or the world.