5 Things You Can do To Make a Difference in your Community

Humans yearn to make a difference and leave their mark in the world and other people’s lives. Besides the benefit to others, giving back impacts the individual positively as well. It makes us much happier, gives us a greater sense of purpose and more balance. 

Photo by Dani Hart from Pexels

However, the daily grind can, at times, make it difficult to think about others. If you would genuinely want to make a difference in your community but don’t know where to start, here are some suggestions. 

1. Volunteer

Volunteering your time, skills, and energy to local organizations is an excellent way to give back to society. Foodbanks, hospitals, seniors’ homes, animal shelters, and youth groups are among the top organizations to consider. These institutions do great work for society but are often short on funds. This often leaves them short-staffed, making them a great choice of places you can contribute your skills. 

2. Get into Community Work Formally

While you can do significant work for and in your community without being a community worker, becoming one can only help you scale the heights and do more. To become a certified community development worker, you would need to go through the necessary training. This not only equips you with the knowledge and skills you need but also exposes you to the wide array of roles you could possibly pick up once in the field. 

3. Donate Blood

A single blood donation can save several lives. Other times, one patient requires multiple donations. Heart surgery requires five. Leukemia patients need about eight donations a week. Emergency care for car accident victim’s use up to 50 donations. 

What these numbers tell us is that every donation counts in an immeasurable way. To get started, find out if you meet the requirements to be a blood donor before registering yourself as one. According to the Red Cross, you can donate whole blood once every 56 days and 112 days for red blood cells. You can donate platelets once every seven days, and plasma has a waiting period of 28 days. 

4. Buy Local

There are numerous benefits to buying local. For example, every time you buy goods that have to be shipped from other regions, you contribute to the carbon footprint, which negatively impacts the environment. Buying locally is, therefore, friendlier to the environment. 

The other plus for buying local is that it supports local businesses, essentially owned by your neighbors. Keeping money within the community means it can be reinvested, which then grows the neighborhood. When businesses are doing well, they are more likely to support local charities and invest more in CSR activities-it’s a win-win for everyone!

5. Show Kindness to a Neighbor

You do not have to leave your neighborhood to make a difference every day. Small acts of kindness to individuals can make an unimaginable difference in their lives. There are always people around us that might be overwhelmed or just need a helping hand from time to time. Think about the elderly couple down the block that struggle to rake their leaves, mow their lawns, or scrape their snow. Or the young single mom or dad with a full-time job that would love an hour to themselves over the weekend. At times, it might not even matter what you do as long as you show that you care.

Start Today

Once you determine a few things you can incorporate into your life, the best time to start is today. Small as your efforts might seem, their impact might mean everything to someone in your community. 

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Scroll to Top