Service Projects

• Organize an Eyeglasses Collection Drive
  Give visually impaired children the gift of sight by donating glasses or organizing an eyeglasses collection drive for New Eyes for the Needy or Lion's Club
• Support African-American Entrepreneurs: Buy from Black-Owned Business
  Support African-American Entrepreneurs and black-owned businesses: Encourage your company to mandate supplier diversity in centralized and decentralized purchasing.
• Promote Adult Literacy by Teaching Reading Skills
  Adult Literacy: Tutor an illiterate neighbor, coworker, or recent immigrant in reading skills to improve their prospects. Reading skills guides are available from Project Read and ProLiteracy.org
• Volunteer at a Nursing Home: Create Memories to Treasure
  Nursing home volunteer opportunities: Life in a nursing home, even the best of nursing homes, is often lonely for its residents. Find out how to volunteer at a nursing home.
• Fire Drills: Practice Fire Safety
  Practicing fire drills is a key to fire safety and fire protection. Find out how to conduct fire drills, choose fire escape routes, assign fire captains, and make fire safety preparations
• Knit Chemotherapy Hats for Cancer Patients
  Chemotherapy hats - How to knit chemo hats for cancer patients undergoing chemotheraphy treatment. Find chemotherapy hat patterns, chemo cap tags, and mail-in instructions for Head Huggers.
• Get an HIV Test
  HIV AIDS tests save lives. Find out how to get a free AIDS test, with results in as few as 20 minutes, at a confidential clinic, or how to get a home AIDS test with anonymous results.
• Go Grocery Shopping for a Malnourished Neighbor
  Prevent malnourishment by going grocery shopping for elderly and disabled neighbors with mobility problems, visual impairment, poor balance, difficulty in checkout lines, and physical strength limitations.
• Get CPR Training: Save a Heart Attack Victim
  CPR training can help you prevent cardiac arrest from a heart attack. CPR classes and certification are now convenient. Faster still, CPR training has gone video.
• Shovel Snow for Elderly Neighbors
  Snow shoveling safety guidelines: Helpful tips on how to shovel snow, intended for senior citizens, and the volunteers that might help them. Healthy precautions for snow removal safety.
• Pet Therapy: Volunteer with Your Pet
  Pet therapy programs help to meet the specific needs of the elderly and physical infirmed who often experience long and frustrating periods of loneliness in socially isolating conditions.
• Cook with a Solar Oven
  Solar oven guide: Find tips on solar cooking, free solar oven plans, and solar cooking catalogs. Learn how to organize a group solar oven building event or cookout. Find out more from the Solar Oven Society.
• Encourage Better Use of Paper and Supplies at the Office
  Find out how to make a difference by making simple changes to reduce, re-use, and recycle paper, containers, and office supplies. Plus: Recycling Tips for a Greener Office, for your office manager.
• Recycle (and Buy Recycled Products)
  Recycling Tips: Time-saving instructions to reduce, re-use, recycle, and re-sell! Plus: how to reduce solid waste by using items (e.g. paper, cans, packaging materials) with post consumer content.
• Recirculate Old Books
  Don't let old books waste away. The only thing worse than an unloved old book in your home is a discarded old book in a landfill.
• Improve Indoor Air Quality
  Indoor air quality can be 2 to 100 times worse than outside air. Learn how to improve the quality of indoor air.
• Master the Basics of Plastics Recycling
  Plastic Recycling Tips: Learn how to recycle, reduce, and reuse plastics such as PETE, polyethylene terephthalate, HDPE, high density polyethylene, Vinyl, LDPE, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene.
• Recycle Your Computers and Peripherals
  Computer Recycling: How to recycle computers and other obsolete technology to maximize tax advantages from gifts-in-kind tax deductions, by donating used office equipment to non-profit organizations.
• Compost to Reduce Landfills
  Composting: How to compost food waste and organic yard debris to reduce the serious landfill challenges. Advice on compost materials, composting scraps, and making compost from yard waste.
• Used Tires: Reuse, Recycle, Retread
  Keep used tires out of the landfills: Delay your need to replace your tires, and make sure your old tires are recycled properly when you do buy new tires. Tire recycling tips and reclamation information.
• Alleviate Hunger with a Food Drive
  Alleviate Hunger: Start a food drive for America's Second Harvest or a local food bank, to combat food insecurity and childhood hunger. Find hunger-fighting tips, an online directory of local food banks, and insight on how to run a successful food drive.
• Host a Neighborhood House Party
  Host a house party for your neighborhood to increase the safety of your community. Strong, safe neighborhoods depend on community awareness.
• Give Used Bicycles a Home Among Homeless People
  Used Bicycles: How to donate used bikes, or organize an old bicycle drive, to give the old bikes to homeless people, who can use them as their their ticket to independence and a chance for a better life
• Carpool to School or Rideshare to the Office
  Get car pool and ride sharing instructions from erideshare.com, carpoolworld.com and roadbuddies.net
• Reduce Graffiti Tagging and Defacement
  Reduce graffiti tagging and defacement with these graffiti abatement tips, including references to: Adopt-a-Wall programs, No Graffiti, Graffiti Hurts, and Keep American Beautiful
• Assist Domestic Violence Shelters: Send Care Packages
  Domestic violence shelters provide temporary refuge to battered women and children. Find out how you can help victims of domestic violence, by delivering care packages to domestic violence shelters.
• Preserve Life Stories of the Elderly
  Life Stories Preservation: Find out how to preserve and publish the life story of an elderly relative or senior citizen in a nursing home. With your help, an historical record of a precious life story can be saved, before it gets lost forever.
• Reduce the Toxicity of Your Garbage
  How to deal with toxic, household hazardous waste, including: paints, pesticides, solvents, cleaners, motor oil, and batteries (nickel cadium, mercuric oxide, and lead-acid). Find hazardous waste collection pick-up days and drop-off locations.
• Support Military Wives
  Military wives don't get parades. Instead, while their husbands defend our freedom, military wives fend for their families. You can support our troops overseas by supporting military spouses at home.
• Military Care Packages: Support Our Troops
  Military care packages bring the comforts of home to support our troops. While the military provides the basics of food, shelter and gear, find out how to support the troops with army care packages.
• Start a Neighborhood Welcoming Committee
  Neighborhood Welcoming Committees help new residents get acquainted. Find out how to start a Neighborhood Welcoming Committee to welcome your new neighbors and create a sense of community.
• Create Emergency Contact Cards for Your Extended Family
  Emergency contact cards can prevent a bad situation from getting worse. By creating wallet-sized emergency contact cards, you and your loved ones will be more prepared if a sudden crisis strikes.
• Promote Teen Activism
  Encourage teen activism at school. Coach teen activists to "do something" for a cause. Tips from DoSomething.org, YouthNOISE, Youth Venture, and Youth Services America's ServeNET
• Make Baby Supply Kits for Newborns in Need
  Baby supply kits are needed to keep infants healthy. Help a newborn have a brighter future with a baby supply kit.
• Promote Environmental Education for Children
  Environmental education for children is critically important and should start before school begins. Early environmental education experiences help shape children's values, perspectives, and understanding of environmental protection.
• Donate Coloring Books to Hospital Emergency Rooms
  Donating coloring books to the emergency room of your local hospital is a wonderful way to brighten a few dark hours in the lives of frightened, hurting children.
• Collect Suitcases for Foster Care Children
  Foster care children deserve to move their belongings with dignity and self-confidence. You can help by starting a local suitcase collection drive to benefit foster care children.
• Guide "Aged-Out" Foster Care Teens to Become Productive Adults
  Help aged-out foster care teens via mentoring, providing transportation, establishing scholarship funds, offering services, or donating supplies. Foster care kids that age-out need your friendship and guidance.
• Mentor a Youth Group to Help Homeless Teens
  This youth group activity can inspire a strong commitment to service. Youth groups closely identify with homeless teens. Coaching can provide the catalyst for youth groups to positively influence the plight of homeless children.
• Donate School Supplies to a Classroom in Need
  Kids deserve the school supplies needed to learn. Donate school supplies such as good books and classroom materials necessary to conduct projects and experiments.
• Prevent Drunk Driving
  Guidelines for preventing drunk driving accidents among teenagers: Tips from Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), and the Contract For Life
• Security Blankets: Make Homemade Baby Blankets
  Security blankets comfort babies in Intensive Care Units. These homemade baby blankets, or binkies, reduce the stress of long hospital stays. Without homemade security blankets, hospitals can lack emotional comfort for seriously ill children.
• Knit or Crochet a Teddy Bear for an Orphan
  Teddies for Tragedies: Knit or Crochet a Teddy Bear for an Orphan. A ball of wool, a few hours spent on a craft you love, and your creation could make a big difference to a sad and lonely child.
• Bake a Birthday Cake for an Underprivileged Child
  Birthday cakes offer children the gift of self-esteem. To help you donate a birthday cake to a youth group, this article offers: birthday cake recipes, cake decorating tips, and birthday party ideas.
• Donate Cord Blood
  How to Donate Cord Blood: Step-by-step instructions for donating cord blood to a public cord blood bank, plus a directory of hospitals that participate in cord blood donation programs.
• Child Abduction: Protect Children from Kidnapping
  Child Abduction: Find out how to protect children from kidnapping and stranger danger. You can stop child abduction and kidnapping before it happens.
• Prevent Teen Suicide: Distribute Yellow Ribbon Cards
  Prevent Teen Suicide by distributing Yellow Ribbon Cards. These Yellow ribbon cards can help prevent teen suicide by giving young people a tangible way to ask for support.
• Baby Cuddlers: Volunteer to Cuddle Babies
  Baby cuddlers are needed in orphanages, neonatal hospital units, and nurseries. Find out how to volunteer to cuddle babies who may not have adequate human contact early in life.
• Become a Block Parent
  A block parent can provide a McGruff Safe House and Safe Place Services to offer a safe haven for children who face frightening situations.
• Make a Lifebook for a Child in Foster Care
  Lifebooks can help foster care kids recognize their individual worth. A lifebook is a scrapbook-like creation that records a child's life, how he entered foster care, her experiences with different families, and her feelings along the way.
• Help Factory Farm Animals: Support Humane Farms
  Factory Farm Animals: Humane living tips for people concerned about the impact of factory farm techniques (intensive-confinement, genetic alteration) on farm animals. Also covers treatment of livestock
• Plant a Native Tree
  How to plant native trees and native plants to support local biodiversity, regional ecosystems, and indigenous wildlife. Avoid monoculture gardening. Plant native gardens instead.
• Reduce Global Warming
  Find out how to reduce global warming, ozone depletion, melting polar ice, and rising ocean levels. Help stop global warming with simple alternatives such as using shade-grown coffee, green hotels, electric lawnmowers, solar ovens.
• Avoid Real Fur When You Shop
  By avoiding real fur when you shop for gifts and clothes, you can save as many as 40 animals required to make a single fur coat. You also take a stand against the suffering inflicted upon animals kept in fur farms or trapped in the wild for their fur.
• Wildlife Rehab: Rescue, Rehabilitate and Release Injured Wildlife
  Wildlife Rehab: As a wildlife rehabilitation volunteer, find out how to care for and treat injured, ill, or orphaned wildlife until they can be returned to their native habitat. Learn how to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife.
• Make Pet Blankets and Toys for Animal Shelters
  Animal Shelters Compassion Action: Save homeless animals with homemade pet blankets and pet toys that make the shelter animals more comfortable and adoptable. Learn about the Cage Comforter Program.
• Dog Walkers: Volunteer to Walk Dogs at Animal Shelters
  Volunteering as a dog walker at your local animal shelter or humane society is a meaningful way to make a difference in the lives of homeless dogs in your community. Find out how to volunteer as a dog walker.
• Adopt a Dog from an Animal Shelter
  Dog adoption tips and resources: Find out how to adopt a dog that's right for you. Consider adopting your dog from an animal shelter rather than from puppy mills and dog breeders which contribute to the pet overpopulation crisis.
• Adopt a Cat from an Animal Shelter
  Cat Adoption: How to adopt a cat from animal shelters rather than backyard breeders, kitten mills or pet stores. Find tips for adopting a cat and bring hit home.
• Trap, Neuter, and Return Feral Cats
  How to help feral cats and stray cats: Trap, Neuter, and Return programs improve the lives of feral cats while reducing their colonies.
• Teach Children to be Kind to Animals
  Humane education: By teaching a child to be kind to animals, you reduce animal abuse, animal cruelty and even domestic violence. Find out how to teach kindness to animals.
• Disaster Preparedness: Protect Animals when Disaster Strikes
  Disaster Preparedness: How to protect animals ahead of time, and get ready to help rescue them the next time disaster strikes.
• Help Lost Dogs and Lost Cats Get Back Home
  Lost dogs and stray cats: Learn how to recognize when pets are lost. Find out how to rescue lost dogs and lost cats safely. Tips for getting lost pets back to their anxious and grateful owners.
• Prevent Mercury Poisoning
  Reduce mercury poisoning by eliminating mercury thermometers and usage and by learning how to safely dispose of used or spilled mercury.
• Foster Newborn Kittens
  Newborn kitten care: By volunteering as a foster parent for newborn kittens, you can help give newborn kittens the best start on a happy and healthy life.
• Rescue Greyhound Racing Dogs
  Greyhound rescue is needed for racing dogs who are left homeless after a few years of racing; many are euthanized. Volunteer in a grayhound rescue effort.
• Save Bluebirds by Hosting Bluebird Houses
  Learn how to save bluebirds by hosting bluebird houses and bluebird boxes. Find bluebird house plans for eastern bluebirds and mountain bluebirds. Birding tips provided for attracting cavity nesting songbirds.
• Spay or Neuter Your Pet
  Spay or neuter your dog or cat to prevent pet overpopulation. Learn more about spay/neuter program. Spaying or neutering your pet prevents the suffering and tragic death of thousands of animals.
• Create a Backyard Habitat
  How to create backyard habitat to invite back to your yard native plant and wildlife species. Find back yard habitat step-by-step instructions to create a healthy backyard ecosystem.
• Organize a Blood Donation Drive
  Organize a blood drive at your work, school, or community group. Features a blood drive planning checklist, blood donor recruitment videos, and a blood donation fact sheet.
• Hire an Adult with a Developmental Disability
  By hiring an adult with a developmental disability, you'll do more than just give someone a job. You'll also help strengthen a family, as parents see their developmentally-disabled offspring as a functioning adult.
• Help Food Banks Stay Stocked
  Help a food bank or food rescue center to provide emergency food assistance to the homeless. Links provided to America's Second Harvest and Meals on Wheels.
• Join the National Bone Marrow Registry
  The National Bone Marrow Registry is a source of hope to people fighting leukemia and other blood diseases. Bone marrow donation saves lives. Join online to become a bone marrow donor.
• Discourage Steroid Use among Student Athletes
  How to reduce Steroid use among student athletes: step-by-step instructions for preventing students from taking steroids and performance-enhancing drugs
• Rehabilitate Rescued Exotic Birds
  Exotic birds are being mistreated. Avian rescue groups need volunteers like you to help rescue and rehabilitate these beautiful tropical birds
• Help Boys Get More Out of Elementary Education
  Improve elementary education for boys, who receive as many as 70% of Ds and Fs given in schools, create up to 90% of classroom discipline problems, and constitute 80% of high school dropouts.
• Reduce Street Violence
  Street violence and violent crime are equal opportunity destroyers: Join programs to reduce street and gun violence and promote safe neighborhoods.
• Plan A Volunteer Project for Your Child's Birthday Party
  Your child's birthday party, featuring a volunteer service project, can be the first step in creating good birthday party ideas in your neighborhood.
• Organize a Used Clothing Donation Drive
  Find out how to donate used clothing or organize a clothes donation drive. Links provided to pick-up instructions and drop-off collection locations for The Salvation Army and Goodwill.
• Child Safety: Organize a "Walking School Bus"
  Improve child safety by organizing a Walking School Bus, as part of the Safe Routes to School Program. Find walking safety checklists and Walking School Bus start-up tips.
• Help Migratory Birds Reach Their Destinations
  Migratory birds are an awe-inspiring sight when they flock high above us on their way to distant lands. But their numbers are dwindling, largely because of the sweeping effects human beings are having on the planet - By making a few changes in your garden
• Plant a Green Roof
  Green Roofs, also known as living roofs or eco-roofs, support beneficial insects, birds, bees and butterflies while also extending roof life and reducing the urban heat island effect
• Be Carbon Neutral
  Carbon neutral how-to guide, including carbon offsets options, carbon calculators, and background on greenhouse emissions, carbon dioxide, and conservation approaches.
• Mentor At-Risk Youth
  Mentoring: Find out how to mentor or tutor to at-risk youth. Mentoring and tutoring links provided to the National Mentoring Partnership directory.
• Make Hygiene Kits for Homeless People
  Hygiene Kits for homeless people: How to assemble hygiene kits for distribution at homeless shelters. Proper hygiene helps homeless people overcome homelessness, with improved self-esteem and job prospects.