City Volunteering Starter Guide
Say where you live, how much time you've got, from five minutes to a whole weekend, and whether you're going alone or bringing the kids. You'll get five specific ways to serve nearby.
Five ways to serve
“When you quietly serve a person in need, you are being shaped into the image of Jesus.”
Finding people near you who could use a hand…
Something went wrong reaching the suggestions engine. Try again, or browse the Service Library below.
Or pull something off the shelf
Hand-curated actions from the books that built this site. Each one is small, specific, and doable today.
Groups God Wants All of Us to Love
The ten groups Scripture names specifically — the hungry, the orphan, the widow, the poor, the addicted, the exploited, the prisoner, the vulnerable, the unreached, and the nation of Israel.
environmentClean Up a Park on Your Walk
Bring a trash bag and a pair of gardening gloves on your usual walk. Fill the bag on the way out, drop it in the dumpster on the way back.
neighborsDrop Soup at a Sick Friend's Door
A quart of soup, a sleeve of crackers, a note. Leave on the porch. Text once it's there.
homelessBuild a Homeless Care Kit
Pack a gallon ziplock with food, hygiene, a gift card, and a handwritten note. Keep it in your trunk for the next person you pass at an intersection.
neighborsMow an Elderly Neighbor's Lawn
When you mow yours, mow theirs too. Don't ask. Don't leave a note. Just do it.
Why this exists
Most people want to love their neighbors. We get stuck at the threshold — we don't know who, how, or what's appropriate. This is scaffolding for the first step. The hope is that you stop needing it: that one day you notice the woman crying in the parking lot, the neighbor with the foreclosure sign, the kid alone at the lunch table — and just go.