What are some good community service activities that can be done by teenagers linking to Catholic social teaching?

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What are some good community service activities that can be done by teenagers linking to Catholic social teaching? This is to provide my students in catechism class some ideas for their assignment.
 
Round up your students and teach them how to knit and sew clothes so y’all can make warm clothes for the poor and homeless for the upcomming winter. It teaches them a useful skill and teaches them to sacrifice their time and labor out of charity.
 
I think it really depends from your area and from the personality of the teens you are dealing with. Maybe you should involve them in doing a search to find non-profits and volunteer groups operating in your area. They can even ‘interview’ people at their target non-profits organizations to find out from them what is needed the most and come out together with a project idea. Very popular are service projects for food banks, public libraries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, elderly homes, community gardens, nature centers, small improvement projects for elderly homes or preschools (decorations, gardening, minor fixes).
 
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Knitting and sewing are very useful skills but you need a lot of time before you are skilled enough to produce clothes and accessories that are ok to wear.
 
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Well fall just started so you got an entire season before winter starts. I guess I substitute if you really are pressed for time would be like a coat or a sock Drive.

Set up some sort of activity that the entire School would enjoy doing together as a school ( Bingo or a movie night for example) and tell people that the only entrance fee is that they need to bring a new pair of socks ( or a package of socks , or a coat) as an entrance fee. This way you’re able to get more people to donate the necessary materials for the poor and then you have your students, who you’re teaching catechism, officiate and run the actual event. Teaching them planning, organization, and Leadership skills as well as helping them cultivate the virtue of charity
 
Your local chapter/conference of the Society of St. Vincent du Paul.
 
Habitat for the Homeless volunteer

Visit nursing homes or hospital volunteers

Volunteer with a humane society or other pet rescue

Mow your neighbors grass, take out their trash.

Be kind to the outcasts at school, sit with them at lunch, invite the unpopular kid to your party.
 
How about asking your students to give their own ideas or examples of things they might do in their community?

I’d say the odds are good that many of them are already doing a service activity, even if it’s just once in a while. Like cutting a lawn or running an errand for an elderly neighbor, or volunteering someplace.

Also, I think the “being kind to others who are getting outcast or bullied at school” is a really good point to make. Virtually every kid goes to school (unless homeschooled) and virtually every kid runs into this situation where someone is being bullied, excluded or whatever.
 
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btechsyd said:
What are some good community service activities that can be done by teenagers linking to Catholic social teaching? This is to provide my students in catechism class some ideas for their assignment.
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Virtually any activity directed at the local community fits perfectly with Church teachings on Subsidiarity. The activity itself doesn’t have to be “Wow”, just use it to teach the concept of subsidiarity.

What’s not included is doing a climate march telling China, India, and the developed world to reform their economies. It’s not directed locally and they won’t thus see the impact they can make.
 
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What are the greatest needs in your community? Do under-performing or low-income children need after-school tutors? Do the elderly live in isolation and crave human connection? Is there a dire need to clean up litter or collect recycling? I like the idea of brainstorming with them. Youth can have some great ideas and are often more in touch with issue affecting the community than us grown-ups.
 
CarmeliteKnight said:
Set up some sort of activity that the entire School would enjoy doing together as a school ( Bingo or a movie night for example) and tell people that the only entrance fee is that they need to bring a new pair of socks ( or a package of socks , or a coat) as an entrance fee
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WOW, that’s a great ides…

I would ask the kids themselves, you’d be amazed at the ideas a kid can come up with. It would also help you get to know them better as well as understand where their mindset is.
 
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