A couple of months ago, my friend, Marissa, clued our family in to a terrific way that children as young as two can help give back to the community. We call it "family bagging night" at the local food bank, and last night, we finally were able to participate.
If your community food bank doesn't have one, maybe you could be the first to suggest it. Ours is run by the Arlington Food Assistance Center ("AFAC") on the second Monday of each month.
Their system is simple but ingenious:
First, they gather large paper grocery bags and count them out.
Next, they set up 3 food stations with 5 crates of canned food each. The food-filled crates are set on top of empty overturned crates, at just the right height for a child to reach in and grab a can. The crates each hold a different type of food: tonight, it was two kinds of beans, a starchy vegetable, two kinds of green vegetables, and chicken broth.
Then they turn the kids loose. Even toddlers--there were some young threes in the bunch--can take one can from each crate, place it in the bag, and move on down the row until the bag has the right number of food cans. Then (heavy though the bags are) they carefully walk the bags over to high shelves where grownups quickly line them up in neat rows until the shelves can hold no more.
We filled 400 bags last night, and the kids did about 90% of the bagging work. Within two days, the bags will have been given away to local families in need, and the process will start over with a different group of baggers.
I've been on the lookout, as I'm sure many parents are, for ways that our small children can give back to the community, beyond watching the grownups do it. To the brilliant minds that came up with this idea first, wherever you are, our family thanks you for giving us this opportunity to share.