Volunteering as a family is a great way to serve the community while teaching your children about generosity, charity, and servant leadership. To help, we’ve put together this list of ideas and organizations where little kids can volunteer in Spartanburg, SC. Take a look, and let us know where you decide to serve together as a family!
Volunteering together as a family, especially around the holidays, is a rewarding and meaningful experience. Both parents and children are beautifully reminded not to take their gifts for granted, but to use them for the benefit of others. Meanwhile, the entire community benefits as friends and neighbors lift each other up through service and lovingkindness.
When kids are little, though, it can be a challenge to find ways to volunteer all together as a family. Most organizations have minimum age requirements to volunteer, either for safety reasons or just due to the demands of the role. We did not want our kids miss out on volunteering, even during their youngest years, so we did some research to find several places where volunteers are welcome at any age.
We were excited to find that there are many things even our littlest family members can do in and around Spartanburg and the Upstate to help our communities.
Deliver Meals Together
Delivering meals is probably the single most frequent way that we serve together as a family. There are several different ways to do it, from cooking a homemade meal together, picking up something easy from a local restaurant, or even just plugging in with a local organization’s delivery network.
Substitute Deliveries for Mobile Meals
One of our family’s absolute favorite traditions is to volunteer with Mobile Meals over the holidays. Mobile Meals is Spartanburg County’s leading meal delivery service for our homebound neighbors, lovingly preparing and delivering meals at no charge to anyone in need, regardless of age or income. They rely on over 100 volunteers every week to prepare and deliver these meals.
Our family volunteers to serve as a substitute delivery driver every year around Christmas to give their regular volunteers a well-deserved break. Our entire family, even the baby, rides in the car together to pick up the meals and then drive the delivery route, usually taking about 1-2 hours all together. Our kids love knocking on the doors and talking with the residents as we deliver each meal.
This volunteer role is available year-round on most weekdays and some holidays. Meal pickup is typically between 9 and 11am at the Mobile Meals Office, and you can bring your own insulated bag for the meals or receive one free at the office. We got one from Mobile Meals our first year and then just reuse it every following year. When you call to sign up, their team will talk you through available dates and routes, so you can decide what works best for your family.
Phone Number: 864.573.7684
Business Address: 419 East Main Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302
Organize a Meal Train for Another Family
Do you know someone who just gave birth, adopted, or accepted a new foster or kinship child into their home? What about someone grieving the loss of a loved one? When families welcome a new member, or lose one they’ve loved for a long time, the core rhythm of their lives is utterly disrupted. Creating a Meal Train is an easy way to wrap around a family in transition during this difficult time.
When I organize a meal train, I usually try to find at least one or two other families to go into it with us, and then ask the intended recipient to confirm they would like us to do this. You’ll need to ask whether they have any dietary restrictions, what days and times are best for meal delivery, and how long they would be willing to accept meals. Then, you can input all this information on the Meal Train website to create the official sign-up portal for everyone to participate.
After the meal train is set up, you’ll want to share the link with as many people as you can who might be interested in supporting the family using social media, text, or email, and I always encourage the meal train recipient to do the same. Then, sign up for a time to deliver your own meal!
Our family usually just buys food from a local restaurant and delivers it together, but you can also make something homemade as a family and invite your kids to help with sharing the meal train if they are old enough for social media or a cell phone.
Free Meal Train Website: https://www.mealtrain.com/
Surprise a Neighbor with Homemade Food
Odds are, you have thrown away leftovers, probably many times. What if the home cooking didn’t have to go to waste? Next time you’re cooking a meal or baking desserts in your kitchen, think about anyone who might appreciate a serving. You can even bake an extra loaf or special batch just for someone you know.
Our family is passionate about wrapping around orphans and widows as a result of our faith, and this is one of the easiest ways we’ve found to wrap around someone in those circumstances. When people lose their parents or spouse, their organic support system is dramatically undermined. Very often, in addition to the immediate loss, they might also lose that critical connection to extended family, in-laws, or even friends.
We try to avoid anything temperature-sensitive, because we love just dropping things off on doorsteps or in mailboxes and then texting our friend to let them know it’s there. Whether kids are old enough to prepare food in the kitchen with you, or just want to ride along or make a special card to go with your delivery, this is a great way to show them that everyday kindness is both possible and important.
Kids just love being outdoors, and finding a way to clean up your community is such an easy way to get outside together, teach your kids about responsibility and stewardship, and make an impact on countless other families.
Volunteer in an Organized Cleanup
There are several great organizations in Spartanburg County that lead regular community cleanups, and it’s easy to plug in and volunteer with any of them. Two of our personal favorites are PAL: Play Advocate Live Well and Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE). These organizations provide all necessary supplies and training, and they welcome volunteers of any age with a responsible parent or guardian.
Groups like these often have regular organized cleanups, weekly or monthly, so it is easy to find a date and time that works with your family or group’s calendar. They typically prioritize high-traffic community spaces, so you know your work will have an impact on countless friends and neighbors.
If your kids are too young to safely pick up trash and debris, they can still help you by serving as a “trash spotter” or holding the trash bag open for others. You can even wear your baby while cleaning up in some settings! Another great bonus of these opportunities is that you just might discover a new outdoor space to enjoy, too.
Organize Your Own Cleanup
Once you’ve attended a few organized cleanups, you’ll realize that there are some standard best practices to follow and supplies to bring. After that, it will be easy to organize your own cleanup with extended family, church or community groups, neighbors, and more.
I found a great organization called Keep OneSpartanburg Beautiful that tracks independent cleanups across the county every year, and they are often even willing to provide the supplies so you can avoid spending your own money! They can give you leads on areas which may be in most need of the help, or you can just let them know when and where you plan to work.
Just be very mindful about the ages of children when selecting a location: You’ll want to avoid busy roads with fast-moving traffic whenever you have young children with you.
Go For a Cleanup Walk
The easiest and most spontaneous way to clean up your community as a family is to just bring a few supplies with you and take a walk together. You can bring as little as a few grocery bags to put trash in, or go all-out with trash bags, trash grabbers, and gloves. I do recommend hand sanitizer, either in your pocket or in the car, in case any trash is handled without gloves.
Dress appropriately for the weather, and then walk and look for trash around your neighborhood or a favorite local trail. To make it more fun for my kids, sometimes I will make it a contest to see who can either spot or pick up the most trash by the end of the walk. You’ll enjoy getting fresh air and together, and leave one of your favorite places looking better than before!
You can also get in the habit of bringing a plastic grocery bag in your pocket or purse on family walks, and teach your kids to make it a standard practice to always leave places better than they found them. I keep a large bottle of hand sanitizer in my car, so we can always use it after picking up trash we find while out and about.
Donate Goods as a Family
Collecting donations as a family is one of the best ways to help your children start thinking selflessly and living generously. We all know that kids love to shop for themselves, but there are several great ways you can get them thinking about providing materially for others, too.
Sponsor a Child for the Holidays
As parents, we are well aware that the holidays are not about getting but giving. As kids, that can be harder to understand. They are rightfully excited about all the gifts they receive at this time of year, and it can change their entire understanding of the holidays once they’ve joined you in bringing that excitement to another child.
Our absolute favorite way to do this is through PS I Love You Ministries, the strongest local support organization for children in foster care in Spartanburg County. Every year, they partner with the Department of Social Services to make sure every foster child in Spartanburg County receives a sack packed with Christmas presents carefully chosen just for them.
Whether you sponsor a child through PS I Love You Ministries, Operation Christmas Child, Angel Tree, Soldiers Angels, or another local organization, you typically have several ways you can serve as a family. Most often, this will involve shopping together and letting your children pick out gifts directly for your sponsored child. It could also involve wrapping and packing the presents for delivery.
You can also fundraise to give financially to these organizations. Kids very often love making lemonade stands, having bake sales, or hosting yard sales to raise money for projects like this.
Trick-or-Treat for a Cause
Halloween is one of the easiest times of year to flip the script and collect needed items for the community instead of candy. You can either ask for donations for a specific cause as you go door to door, notify your neighbors about a collection you’ll be doing at your own home on Halloween night, or even just invite your kids to consider sharing their candy by giving some away.
Our favorite Halloween service project is to collect leftover candy from our neighbors for Spartanburg Soup Kitchen. We just put a collection bin or bag on our front porch and make a post in our neighborhood group on social media letting our neighbors know that they can drop off any candy they did not give away for us to donate. We usually check the collection twice a day to bring donations inside, and then deliver everything to the Soup Kitchen after about one week. They accept donations 7:30am to 2pm on weekdays.
The easiest thing to do is just ask your kids to think about how they can trick-or-treat for a cause: Most households have spare change on-hand that they might be willing to give for an organization of your choosing, or you could bring a wagon and ask whether families might have one or more canned goods to spare for a local food pantry.
Collect Donations for a Meaningful Charity
Many organizations rely on donations year-round, and you can meet these needs with a simple shopping trip as a family. Involve your kids even further by teaching them to fundraise and then shopping from that budget, or get your church, business, or child’s school involved with a donation drive. I even collect donations on our front porch sometimes, inviting friends and neighbors to drop things off for our family to deliver!
Food drives meet a universal need, and we’ve compiled a list of 100+ food banks in Spartanburg County to help you find convenient places to donate. I recommend making contact with a particular food bank before you start collecting items, as they can let you know what’s most needed and how to donate. Meeting this need can be as simple as going through your pantry, and it’s easy to involve the kids.
Your kids can help other kids anytime of year through organizations like PS I Love You Ministries, Hope Center for Children, and Ronald McDonald House. These organizations provide supplies and support for kids who are displaced from their homes, and depending on the organization, your children can shop with you in-person or online, or even donate some of their gently used toys or clothing items.
Children love animals, and there are several animal shelters and rescues in the Upstate that need donations all year long. Contact Spartanburg Humane Society (serving City of Spartanburg) or Greenville County Animal Care serving the rest of Spartanburg County and Greenville County) to find out their needs. Pet food, especially wet food, is almost always in demand, but they might also need dry food, chew toys, bedding, or more pet supplies.
Other multi-faceted service organizations to consider supporting include The Bridge at Green Street, Greater Spartanburg Ministries, Greer Community Ministries, Miracle Hill Rescue Mission, and TOTAL Ministries.
Spread Joy with Crafts and Cards
This is one of the absolute easiest ways to help kids practice kindness, compassion, and generosity. Making crafts and cards with your kids can get them involved at any age for any occasion.
Consider making colorful decorations for retirement communities, hospital wings, children’s homes, animal shelters, or fire stations. Colorful paper chains, garlands, origami, or even hand-drawn pictures can go a long way to brighten up these spaces for different holidays throughout the year. Be sure to call before delivering any decorations to confirm a location’s ability to receive it.
All the same places typically welcome visitors to drop off cards for clients, workers, or volunteers. Your kids can make thank-you cards for staff and volunteers at any time of year, get-well-soon or thinking-of-you cards for hospital or hospice patients, and general cards of hope and encouragement for anyone anytime.
To support our military and first responders, consider volunteering with Operation Gratitude to make a card or craft. They facilitate grassroots care package creation and delivery to active duty service members, veterans, and first responders. There are also several organizations that mail cards to military personnel, and Wounded Warrior Project has put together a great list of options with tips for making your card.
Other Ways to Spread Cheer
At the end of the day, all these ways to volunteer are just building a character of kindness into the very foundation of your family. Eventually, your children will realize that every act of kindness, big or small, makes a difference for the people around them, and that a culture of kindness will make their own whole world significantly brighter.
Here are even more ways your kids can be kind every day:
- Write a card or draw a picture for your mail carrier, trash pickup service, teacher, pastor, or other regular service provider in your life.
- Get a large sheet of stickers and hand them out to people you meet throughout the day, like cashiers, librarians, and friends you visit.
- Make bird feeders to hang in your yard through the winter.
- Challenge each other to see who can find more people to thank throughout the day.
- Go through a room in your home to see what you’re no longer using that someone else might appreciate, and then clean it and deliver it to them.
- Pray for people you love or send them a nice message to let them know you’re thinking about them.
What ways have you found to volunteer with your kids?
