Kids who start volunteering at a young age are much more likely to continue the practice into adulthood, helping them to become kind and caring adults.
How to Teach Your Kids to Volunteer for the Right Reasons - Star Tribune
"Bigger Push Needed to 'Grow' Caring Kids" - Minneapolis Star Tribune
Eleven years ago, Jenny Friedman crafted a vision for a new kind of volunteering.
Parents and other caring adults wouldn’t leave their kids at home when they performed acts of kindness. They’d bring the kids along, tapping into youngsters’ innate desire to help others.
Instilling the spirit of giving in our children requires more than an occasional project, Friedman has learned. It must become our family’s day-in, day-out philosophy, our way of life.
And it’s never too soon to start.
"10 Fun Community Giving Ideas" - Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine - 2013
“A lot of parents feel overwhelmed by the idea of community service,” says Jenny Friedman, Ph.D., executive director of Doing Good Together, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that helps families find ways to volunteer together. ... But projects like Marin’s prove that it doesn’t take a lot to make a big difference. The best way to get kids excited about taking on a new project? Start with something they already know and love.
"Volunteering with Kids in Boston" - MommyPoppins Boston
Doing Good Together encourages family volunteerism and reflection on social issues. The website has a page of ‘Kitchen Table Activities” – things you can do together as a family at home to improve people’s lives, heal the Earth, fight poverty and take social action.
"Twin Cities schools' family service nights bring students, parents together to volunteer" - St. Paul Pioneer Press
The concept of a school family service night was developed by Jenny Friedman of Minneapolis, founder of an organization called Doing Good Together. Six years ago, Friedman worked with parents at Cornelia Elementary School in Edina to come up with the model: stations where parents and kids complete easy activities to benefit local nonprofit organizations.
