Kids Giving Back – creating the next generation of generosity

| June 17, 2016

Kids Giving Back provides volunteering opportunities for young people to give back, grow community and develop a strong sense of self. Co-founder Ruth Tofler-Riesel urges us all to help nurture tomorrow’s change-makers and empower them to make a difference.

We live in times where many school age children and teens have little sense of purpose and feel increasingly alienated, and where wellbeing is a rising challenge. Volunteering has been proven to empower young people as they engage with communities around them, making a difference to all involved.

Kids Giving Back offers hands-on, age appropriate, meaningful volunteering opportunities for kids, teens, schools and families. Our mission, quite simply, is to create the next generation of generosity.

Kids Giving Back creates opportunities for young people to embrace real life experiences, young people walking hand-in-hand with other communities, each inspiring and empowering one another. An example of this is our Urban Walk that we offer in collaboration with one of our charity partners, Rough Edges. Following the cooking and delivery of meals for the homeless community, young people explore the streets of Kings Cross through the eyes of someone who was previously homeless; they meet Andrew, one of our amazing guides who shares his story, what led him to life on the streets and how he survived. Andrew puts a face to homelessness and changes the way kids think of homeless people forever.

Kids volunteering at a Special Olympics swimming carnival – assisting in time keeping, handing out ribbons, supporting and encouraging the athletes – forges connections with people of all abilities while making a tangible difference, away from the virtual world.

Our GROW program for Youth at Risk empowers and turns these troubled youth from receivers into givers. It’s the very act of helping others who are also doing it tough that enables these young people to recognise and feel proud of their own value and contribution to community.

These are just a handful of the 52 communities with whom we work. Through these experiences we aim to cultivate empathy in young people by providing age appropriate, meaningful experiences at a critical time in their development, making them think about WE, and not just ME.

Through hands-on and face-to-face engagement our children discover their own strengths and qualities and use these to help others. These experiences inspire young people to work together and learn about cooperation and inclusion while building resilience, empathy and self-esteem. These are just some of the significant mental health benefits for young people derived from engaging in volunteering.

Earlier this year we offered kids the opportunity to assemble Back to School backpacks for kids living in shelters with their mums as a result of domestic violence. My son, 14, was amongst the group of 15 young volunteers. As we left, after a solid morning of work, he asked me how long we’d been there. I could see the look of disbelief in his eyes when I told him that what felt to him like one hour, had in fact been 4 hours. During that time he had become immersed in thinking, organising, sorting, and packing – collaboratively, with other kids – and in doing so he tasted the beauty of giving fully to something that was far greater than just the task at hand. My son experienced the strength of teamwork, and he also discovered some of his own skills in organising and logistics. He felt satisfied and proud, because he knew that 150 children and teens living in shelters would have a good start to the school year with far reaching ripples, because of the hard work of the team he was a part of that morning. He heard first hand from a representative of the shelters and gained an understanding of other children’s lives, many who once upon a time had led better lives, maybe not so different to any of the children volunteering that morning.

The challenges and pressures facing kids and all of us today are enormous: the impact of screen time and social media, poor body image, low self esteem, increasing mental health issues and substance abuse to name just a few. The world today’s adults grew up in has radically changed – and we have long been witnessing and experiencing the breakdown of the village. While the proliferation of technology gives the impression that our kids are super connected, they are in fact more isolated than ever before.

In our highly competitive and materialistic society, our children need time, not stuff.

Each school holidays we offer families with children as young as 6 years the opportunity to make lunches for clients at the Asylum Seekers Centre. Apsara, 13, volunteered with her mum and wrote of her experience. “I hadn’t cooked a meal for 40 people before and even this was a new experience for me. I think it would be for most kids. I also think it’s important for anyone to realise that spending time giving, is actually even better than spending time getting. This would be a powerful way for kids to appreciate the difference they can make to someone, just by giving time.”

These are just a handful of the stories from over 5,500 young people who’ve volunteered with Kids Giving Back. Each volunteering experience exemplifies the two way street that is the essence of Kids Giving Back – benefitting those in need, as well as the young person volunteering.

Four years ago when we first started Kids Giving Back we would sometimes get the response ‘that’s nice’. What we are doing has proven to be far more than just ‘nice’. Connecting our youth, tangibly, to communities that include homeless, disabilities, indigenous, refugees and asylum seekers, the elderly, and animals is critical to engaging our children and enabling them to understand their role in our world and their ability to make a difference.

By providing fulfilling opportunities for community engagement and inspiring positive youth development and the development of empathy, we are nurturing tomorrow’s change-makers and empowering them to make a difference. Please join us in creating the next generation of generosity.

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