As parents, we are always concerned with doing good. Be it for our children, our families, or even the world as a whole. For those of us in the twin city area, luckily we have a great place to start.
At Twin Cities Kids Club, our goal is to support you in raising aware, thoughtful, and helpful kids. Join the club today for the most up to date information.
If you ask any of the people at Doing Good Together, they will gladly tell you that doing good is not only a priority, it’s:
Who They Are
“We work hard to make the world a kinder place for every generation.”
–https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/who-we-are
Doing Good Together is a Minnesota-based nonprofit with service and community at its core. This organization gives parents the tools to incorporate kindness and service into their children’s core value system. They also empower families to raise children who grow into caring and giving contributors to society.
They aim to make “giving back” an essential part of the lives of the children they shape. The list of resources and activities they have cultivated is extensive and all-encompassing.
Let’s go over a few of them now:
Fight Poverty
Poverty is an issue that affects far too many people. No matter where you are, you can find poverty and hunger in your backyard.
Doing Good Together lists many resources and activities that you can use to teach your child about poverty and some ways to help combat it.
Check out a few of those options here, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/fight-poverty.
Advocate: Peace, Justice, Social Action
The most significant and essential concepts can often be the hardest ones for your child to grasp. Trying to teach your child about the meaning of peace, justice, or death and disease can be next to impossible.
The first hurdle is finding the right words. Doing Good Together can help you with that.
They can also help you find ways to get you and your child involved in the solution. They offer many recommendations on how to best get involved. Check out a few of them here, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/advocate-peace-justice-social-action.
Care For Animals
A healthy respect for mother nature is essential for a thoughtful, well-rounded person. It is crucial to instill this ideal early in our children.
Animals will be a part of their daily life in one way or another. Whether they choose a career that deals with animals or decide to have a pet one day, teaching your child to care for animals can help to set them up for success.
Check out some more info here, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/care-for-animals
Heal the Earth
Our children are forced to inherit the problems of previous generations. In no other way is this more clear than in the question of the environment. We need to teach our children the importance of caring for our mother earth.
In many ways, we have left the planet in a worse place than our parents left for us. It is vital to try to teach our children to care for the environment so that they can leave this earth a better place for their children.
For more on this topic, visit, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/heal-the-earth
Why They Matter
Kindness and compassion, like any skill, requires practice to become a steady habit. Children are often told to be caring and to help others. But if they never face the opportunity to internalize those concepts, they will never become ingrained as part of who they are.
According to Doing Good Together, most kids will tell you that good grades are more relevant to their parents than practicing kindness or service.
Our ability to empathize is like a muscle. We need to exercise it regularly to make it stronger. As parents, it is our job to make sure our kids are getting enough exercise, both physically and emotionally.
Some of the many benefits of robust emotional health are:
- Lower stress levels
- Stronger family bonds
- Less alcohol and drug abuse
- Better overall health
- Higher academic achievement
- Higher self-esteem
- A greater feeling of empowerment
We need to provide our children with a strong foundation to combat the often negative values espoused by the prevalent culture of the day.
Our children are told so often nowadays that materialism and greed are the most important values. What you have and how much you can get seem to be the dominant desires of the world. We need to teach our children to define themselves by what they can give the world and not what they can take from it.
How Can I Get Involved?
You may be saying to yourself, ‘All this sounds great, but how can I get involved?’
Let’s go through some options:
- Volunteer Together
Doing Good Together would like to help connect you and your child with the right nonprofit for you. They understand that there are many paths you can take when you want to volunteer. They want to help you find your way.
Go to https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/volunteer-together-local for more information.
2. Read with Empathy
We cannot overstate the benefits of reading with your child. For one thing, the bonding time will be something that will be cherished by all for years to come.
Another significant benefit is the vocabulary and comprehension expansion that your child will gain from reading diverse and varied texts. Help your child grow in both knowledge and imagination. Suggest books that espouse ethical values as well as complicated prose.
Learn more here, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/read-together.
3. Start Kind Conversations
Kindness is an essential tool that your child must have in his or her toolbox. Without it, he or she will have a much harder time in a world that can often be cold and cruel.
Use the info you find here, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/teach-kindness-projects to assist you.
4. Become a Member
Doing Good Together encourages you to become a part of their ‘Big-Hearted Families’ membership circle.
For information on everything we have discussed, and so much more, visit, https://www.doinggoodtogether.org/bhf/membershipcircle.
Let’s Do Good Together! Join Twin Cities Kids Club today for more information and support raising kids in the Twin Cities.
