Service Suggestions

A suggestion is given in each month for involving young people in a service event that connects with that month in some way. Consider building one of these ideas to your calendar of events and programs.

January

Service Suggestion: Prepare for Souper Bowl Sunday and Service Blitz

This simple-yet-effective activity involves collecting money and food in empty soup cans, pots, and boxes on the weekend of the Super Bowl. In addition to collecting the food, each group is encouraged to participate in the “Service Blitz” on the Saturday prior to the Super Bowl. Many groups choose to do this service at the agency to which they designate the proceeds of the collection. A Presbyterian youth group in South Carolina in 1990 began this ecumenical effort. The group tracks annually how much is raised by state as well by religious denomination in the U.S. and beyond. Each parish group decides where the money and food collected should be donated and then calls 800-358-SOUP to report the results or report online at http://www.souperbowl.org where there is additional information as well as request forms for promotional flyers and posters.

February

Service Suggestion: A Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfast

Schedule this activity for the Sunday before the beginning of Lent. Invite local merchants to donate all the supplies as well as various door prizes. Hold the breakfast after or between Sunday morning liturgies and advertise it as a free event open to all. Collect free-will donations at the door or place a festively decorated donation basket in the middle of the room or at each table. Select an organization to benefit form the money collected. In advertising for the breakfast, include information about who will benefit from the proceeds. Consider asking a representative of the selected organization to be present during the breakfast with information about what the agency does whom it serves and so on. You may wish to print 11 x 17 place mats with some of the information and statistics about the agency or other facts about hunger, homelessness, etc. and place these at each of the settings so people can read information about the needs and services while they eat.

March

Service Suggestion: A March for Peace

Select a symbolic site or area in the community where the need for peace is great. It may be the site of a recent act of violence or racial conflict or a school where violence has been on the increase. Create a prayerful and organized march to the site or prayer vigil at the site. Try to involve the parishes, schools, or other civic groups from within the targeted area, especially if your parish is not located in the selected area. Invite people who live in the area or who go to the school to speak at the vigil regarding the hope they have for peace.

Create a banner or signs calling for peace or for an end to violence, citing Scripture passages or quotes from famous people. Plan a brief prayer experience at the site and think of a symbolic gesture that could be done to mark the moment, such as planting a tree or flowers, observing a minute of silence or signing pledge cards that call for Christian resistance to violence. Contact the local police to see what permits are needed to hold such a march or prayer vigil and be sure to invite civic leaders and officials to be present for the service.

April

Service Suggestion: Earth Day Event

In connection with Earth Day, plan a group activity that creates an awareness of the environment, such as picking up trash along a river, beach, or other public area. Turn the day into a “scavenger hunt” activity by scoring points for various items found (five for cigarette butts, ten for drink cans, 15 for magazines, 20 for car parts, 25 for fast food bags, etc.). Give prizes to the group that earns the most “Garbage Points” or who finds the oddest piece of trash. Also consider planting trees, shrubs, seeds and flowers in an area that could use some beautification (check with greenhouses for donations and secure proper permission of landowners).

May

Service Suggestion: Mother’s Day Cards for the Imprisoned

Purchase or make Mother’s Day cards and bring or send them, along with a stamped envelope, to people incarcerated in juvenile detention centers or prisons, so that they may send them to their mothers. Attach a letter of support or a prayer with each card, letting the person know that she or he is being held in prayer. Contact the volunteer coordinator or the chaplain at the local institution you are targeting and work through this person so that the proper rules and procedures are followed and be sure to have the youth use only their first names.

June

Service Suggestion: A Rummage Sale

Sponsor a spring rummage sale at the parish. Give the proceeds to a targeted community agency or service organization. Announce a donation drop-off the week of the sale, and then hold the sale on Friday and Saturday at the parish so that everything is gone before the weekend Masses. Consider combining the sale with an overnight retreat or lock-in, using one or more sessions from this Resource Manual.

July

Service Suggestion: Christmas in July

Sponsor a Christmas-in-July event to collect food and clothing for food pantries or shelters in your community. These agencies are usually running low on these items during the summer months, as donations and involvement tend to slack off. One way to get parishioner’s attention is to set up a Christmas Tree near an entryway and have the young people decorate it with paper ornaments that serve as gift tags of items needed by the different agencies. Ask that all gifts be returned by the last weekend of July along with the gift tag attached so that they can be distributed that week to the agencies needing them.

August

Service Suggestion: A Back-to-School Party

Connect with a local community center or ministry that serves an impoverished area and plan a back-to-school party for the young children of the area. Before the event invite parishioners and merchants to donate various school supplies, and then use these as prizes for games and activities that the youth run during the party. Prepare back-to-school gift bags to give to each child as she or he leaves the party. If possible, invite the teachers and principals from the local school to attend and involve them in some of the games as well.

September

Service Suggestion: Winter Wraps

Prepare for the coming winter by holding a clothing drive for area homeless shelters and service agencies. Collect items such as socks, boots and shoes, gloves, coats, hats, long underwear, blankets, scarves, sleeping bags, etc. One possibility is to use donated sleeping bags, opened at one end, as the collection receptacles for the winter clothes to be stuffed into. Label each sleeping bag with the name of the agency to which the clothing will be donated.

October

Service Suggestion: Adopt-a-Life

Celebrate Respect Life Month by “adopting” a pregnant teen or young adult through your local Birthright or Crisis Pregnancy organization. With the agency’s help, prepare a list of items the mother needs now and will need in the near future and discuss ways to get those items purchased or donated. See if the mother would be comfortable meeting with the group and sharing her story so that the group can put a personal face on the issue of teen pregnancy. If not, ask someone from the agency to come and talk with the group to share the person’s story so that the gifts and cards can be personalized. Then hold a baby shower for the mother and include notes of support and prayers with each gift as well as a plan to follow up with the mother on a regular basis and sponsoring a birthday party each year for the child.

November

Service Suggestion: Rake and Run

Obtain a list of elderly or sick parishioners or neighbors in the church community who might benefit from having their lawns raked. Organize raking crews and give each a list of houses to rake, but tell them that they must do this quickly and quietly, trying to keep it a surprise to the resident if possible. After raking the yard, the crew leaves a note or card telling the owner that the raking is a gift from the youth of the parish. This note gets left on the front doorstep (perhaps pinned to a pumpkin). Then the crew rings the doorbell and runs! If the owner spots the raking crew before the job is done, then the note can be handed to the resident at that time.

December

Service Suggestion: A St. Nicholas Party

Hold a St. Nicholas party for children by contacting a local agency that serves children or the children’s unit at a local hospital. Ask each of the youth to purchase or make a gift that can be given out at the party. Schedule the party at or near St. Nicholas Day and invite someone to dress up as St. Nicholas to distribute the presents. Before giving away the gifts, St. Nicholas should talk to the children about the true meaning of giving and what Christmas is all about.