Volunteering together has always been important to my family. Over the years, we’ve found different ways to give back to our community through big and small projects. We’ve joined our neighbors in community-wide campaigns and we’ve also discovered easy ways to volunteer together without ever leaving the convenience of our own home. While we try to implement volunteer projects in our lives at least quarterly, this time of year with the holidays approaching we like to try to do more. You see, in addition to this being the holiday season when spreading joy is extra important, November 18th is also Family Volunteer Day, a day sponsored by Disney and generationOn where families around the world are encouraged to come together and volunteer in support of their neighborhoods and communities. This year, we decided that we wanted to make our volunteer project about giving back to first responders. With all that is going on in the world, we wanted to find a simple way to show them that they are appreciated and so we spent an afternoon as a family putting together First Responder Appreciation Bags!
Now, I know that people so often think that to volunteer you must go out in the community and in a way that is right. However, there are a variety of ways to volunteer and bring joy not just on Family Volunteer Day but throughout the holiday season and really every day during the year! For us, simply spending an afternoon together stuffing bags with goodies for First Responders was a perfect family activity and we’ll be heading out on November 18th to our local fire and police departments to give out our appreciation bags. So, how did our family put together these easy First Responder Appreciation Bags? Well, it’s was actually crazy simple! Knowing that first responders are often out and about and in need of the little things, we stocked up on some everyday items! Here are some easy ideas of what to put in your First Responder Appreciation Bags:
- Gum
- Protein Bars
- Candy
- Chocolates
- Mints
- Hand Sanitizer
- Gift Cards
- Small Notebooks
- Handwritten Notes
Once we had laid all our our items out on the table, I quickly printed out some labels thanking first responders for their service. Then we all sat down and passed around our bags, filling them with the goodies. Not only was this a perfect way for our family to spend time together but we felt great knowing that we had come up with an easy way to give back to those who give so much to our community.
With our bags stuffed to the brim with everyday items that were sure to bring a smile to first responders faces, we folded over the top of our bags and used the sticker I had created to seal them shut.
After repeating the process over and over again, we filled boxes with these simple to make bags so that they can easily be transported to our local fire and police stations. We also decided to keep a few in the car so that anytime we run into first responders during the holiday season, we have the perfect way on hand to bring a smile to their face and let them know that we really do appreciate them!
This easy service project was perfect for my family and we so enjoyed spending time together doing it. For us, it’s the first of many service projects we’ll be participating in over the holiday season and was the perfect way to celebrate Family Volunteer Day in an easy and fun way!
Now it’s your turn! Each November, Family Volunteer Day takes place the Saturday before Thanksgiving (that’s November 18th this year). This awesome day of coming together with your family and community and giving back that is sponsored by Disney and generationON provides families everywhere with volunteer opportunities to experience the benefits of service to others. To get started, search the Family Volunteer Day page and browse through local service projects in your own community as well as more than 100 DIY voluteer projects that you can do at home! From easy projects like our First Responder Appreciation Bags to hands on ways to volunteer in your community, you’ll find endless ways to give back at www.generationOn.org/fvd that are perfect for Family Volunteer Day or really any day of the year!
So what are you waiting for? To find out more about Family Volunteer Day and how you can get involved with this global day of service, please visit the generationOn website or check them out on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Youtube. Then tell me, how will your family give back through a fun service project this Family Volunteer Day?
That is such a lovely gesture. My husband was a first responder for many years and I know he always appreciated tokens of gratitude like this.
What a great way to give back to the community. I’m going to check out local service projects in my community because it’s so important to teach our kids to give back.
I just love this idea! First responders do so much for us. I might have to make these bags for the ones in our area.
Great project! I’m so happy my children inherited my love of volunteering. They’ve worked on several service projects since elementary and are now very active in creating projects of their own and recruiting their friends to help out.
Kids absolutely should be taught to get involved in the community and volunteer. It’s great you recognized the first resonders, they put their lives on the line every day.
I’m all about giving back to the community. I love these appreciation bags. They are so cute and the label is perfect.
What a wonderful way to give back to all those first responders. Plus teaching your children to give and serve is priceless.
What a wonderful project. I have never heard of this before today but I love it and will look for things we can do.
I am loving this campaign. It is so important to try and do our best to say thank you to those who put their life on the line everyday!
This sounds like a great project to do!! I love that your family gives back!!
I think that was an awesome idea for a family project! I’m sure so many first responders will feel appreciated by what all of you did together as a family. It’s such a great lesson for kids to volunteer also!
This is such a sweet way to say “thanks!” together with your family. I like what you included in the bags!
This is such a great project to do with the family. Showing appreciation to people who put their lives on the line to protect, save and help us in any kind of emergency is a great example for our kids. Thanks for being so kind to share your blessings with our first responders.
These are wonderful tokens of appreciate for our heroes. I think it is wonderful your boys are getting in on giving back.
This is so thoughtful! I love that you and your family did this together. I would love to get my kids to help with something like this in our community.
I love that your family did this together. We love giving back.
This is a fantastic way to help teach kids how to give back. I will have to get the supplies I need to make up some First Responder Appreciation Bags.
My heart just melted. This is such a great idea. We are needing our first responders more than ever these days and its nice to show how much we appreciate them!
This is such a great idea. I love being able to give back as well. Something like this is exactly what I should do.
This is awesome! My son is a first responder. I’m going to make these up for his unit. Thanks for the inspiration!
This is such a good idea. I love the items that you chose. These jobs often go way under appreciated.
What a great idea to make these care packages for first responders to recognize them and show your appreciation for all they do for the community. Equally cool to see you getting your kids involved with community service projects like this.
This is such a great way to give back and I love that you involved your kids!
Such a great way to thank the first responders. Their jobs are incredible
This is so thoughtful! I know it’s super appreciated as well. Those first responders sure do deserve it!
This is a great idea! Would love to add this to our list of kindness for the holidays!
This is a very cute and lovely gesture. Also getting the kids involved in this kind of work is so good for them as they become more compassionate and understanding too.
This is a really thoughtful idea. So glad to see parents getting their kids into being appreciative of those who put their lives on the line every day for us.
Wow, even the fur baby is involve in doing this volunteer day. I volunteer at my school every now and then, it feels good to do it.
This is such a cool idea! I might just have to do this at my next Girl Scout troop meeting. I love projects that get kids thinking about how they can help others.
What an awesome idea. I think my kids would love doing this with me.
October was a challenging month with it seeming like the entire state was on fire. So thankful for our firefighters who risked their lives to save residents and properties. Definitely need to make these appreciation bags to let them know we appreciate it.