An old proverb goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” A nice lesson, but why not encourage our kids to fish for those in need around them?
Just about anything we want to teach our children – from core values to good manners to a perfect baseball throw or a special recipe – can be best taught by modeling the behavior. Now is the time to start instilling a sense of giving in our children.
Our Mansfield Mothers' Club regularly offers opportunities to help those around us. We make meals for new parents or folks experiencing a hardship, we bake for Our Daily Bread and we walk to raise money for American Cancer Society through Relay For Life.
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Very soon we will host Shop Til You Drop (Friday, Nov. 8, 7 – 10 p.m., at the Mansfield Elks Lodge, 140 N. Main St.) to raise money and non-perishables for Our Daily Bread, our town’s food pantry. Located downtown, Our Daily Bread weekly serves on average 100 households, each with families of varying sizes, all of them our neighbors.
Instead of hurrying through these to-do’s, show your children what you are doing. Talk to them about these and other efforts, perhaps encouraging them to help you with recipes or assembling care packages, raffles items or donations. You don’t have to go into details that might be too complicated, or emotional, for them to consider. Instead, focus simply on, “We’re helping people who have less than us,” or “We’re supporting people who are sick.”
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Join forces with the newly formed Neighborhood Brigade, a network of volunteers founded to help neighbors beset by serious illness, catastrophic injury, or any tragic event. Services include nonmedical day-to-day tasks such as delivering meals, driving patients to and from local appointments, running errands and more. To join this network of volunteers or to find out how we can help you or someone you know, go to: www.neighborbrigade.org/chapters/MansfieldMA or email us at MansfieldMA@neighborbrigade.org.
Or, hook up with your churches, scouting troops, sports teams or schools for other volunteer efforts. MESA regularly collects food for Our Daily Bread as well. If your kids are old enough, check out Keep Mansfield Beautiful to help make our community cleaner and greener.
Check our public library or Amazon for books that focus on kids and service. One notable one, “The Giving Box,” is written by Fred Rogers (yes, that Mr. Rogers!). It comes packaged with a small painted tin bank in which children can save coins to donate to the needy. The book contains fables from around the world that convey a tradition of giving.
Or, hop online to learn about Make A Difference Day on Oct. 26. Check out Yes Kidz Can, which helps families fit giving experiences into their busy lives. Check out its huge list of kids’ volunteerism sites segmented by ages and other online resources. Read out how this Needham family volunteered at Cradles to Crayons’ Giving Factory.
Lay the foundation in the early years, and soon your children will practice what you preach.