CREATE YOUR OWN PROJECT

Create your own project using one of these project ideas listed below and use the project planner to plan your project. http://boomerangfoundation.org/project/planner. Click on the topic area and see a list of really fun ideas magically appear that you can try by yourself or with a group. Got another idea, send it to us at boomerangfoundation@gmail.com and we’ll add it to the list.

Arts and Education

  1. Form a band with your friends and give free concerts.
  2. If you play an instrument, help a friend learn to play.
  3. Get your martial arts or dance class to give a demonstration at a youth center, nursing home or school.
  4. Write and produce a play about a current issue.
  5. Serve as a coach for a youth sports team.
  6. Organize a skateboard rally get pledges from.
  7. Start a collection drive for old sports equipment and donate it to needy families.
  8. Get friends to assist at a sporting event.
  9. Provide refreshments at a local race or sporting event.

Children and Elderly

  1. Adopt a "grandfriend".
  2. Visit a nursing home.
  3. Rake leaves, shovel snow, clean gutter or wash windows for a senior citizen.
  4. Pick up medicine for an elderly person.
  5. During bad weather, visit seniors to make sure they have everything they need.
  6. Pick up the morning paper for a senior neighbor on your way to school.
  7. Form a Mall Patrol with your friends to help seniors with their shopping.
  8. Form a kids carwash squad to clean and wash seniors' cars.
  9. Write your "grandfriend" a letter, or write letters for an elderly person.
  10. Go for a walk with a senior citizen in your community.
  11. Hold an afternoon dance for your local nursing home.
  12. With the help of family and friends, hold a summertime play or songfest at a nursing home.
  13. Teach them your dances and ask them to teach you theirs.
  14. Deliver meals to homebound individuals.
  15. Offer to pick up groceries with/for a senior citizen.
  16. Help senior citizens in your neighborhood obtain and install locks or smoke alarms.
  17. Teach a senior friend how to use a computer or the Internet.
  18. Get a group together to sing or present a play at a nursing home.
  19. Do something creative on the holidays for the Senior Citizens (cook a meal, bake cookies, dress up in costumes, etc.)
  20. Take a pet to a nursing home.
  21. Do art projects with people in nursing homes.
  22. Organize a sing-a-long.
  23. Offer to read to people in a nursing home.
  24. Write letters to people in a nursing home, if you can't go and visit.
  25. Teach an elderly neighbor a new card game.
  26. Call up elderly people who live on their own to see if they need anything.
  27. Teach your senior friends how to use computers.
  28. Get with friends and form a Clean Up Club to help elderly with their house cleaning.
  29. Be a friend to the senior citizens.
  30. Organize a pet show for a local nursing home.

General: Very Fun, Spot-On, Project Ideas

  1. Set up a Compassion-O-Meter at your school to keep track of the number of hours youth volunteer in the community and add your group’s total to the iSpot Compassion Dollars and Hours.
  2. Host an iSpot Compassion Week at your school and practice intentional acts of kindness. (click here for guide).
  3. 
Conduct a community service project by doing a Help-a-Thon in a local elementary school. (click here for a detailed guide).
  4. Organize a recognition program for the volunteers or staff who lead nonprofit organizations.
  5. Take photos and videos during an event and donate them to the event organizers. Be sure to upload them to your profile and offer to upload them to your Spot profile.
  6. Work in a concession stand to raise money for an organization that supports a cause you believe in.
  7. Host a “Sweet Bake Sale” for an awesome nonprofit (click here to download a detailed guide).
  8. Get a teen Boom Boom! deck of cards and get your friends to do 5 cards each.  Examples:  Card #1 says to burn a CD for somebody, Card 17 says to find a charitable cause to raise money for, Card # 25 says to meet a new person every day for a week.  There are tons more.  Have fun and pass on the cards to friends.
  9. Sell something (art, yard sale, candy) and donate the money to your cause.
  10. Stage an event or party, sell tickets and donate the profits to your cause
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  11. Use your talents to entertain those in need (play an instrument, magic, card tricks at a senior center or children's hospital).
  12. 
Make a gift or get a thank you card for the secretary of a non-profit organization or at your school.
  13. Spot 10 acts of compassion in your city or at your school and post them on hot on the spot!
  14. Share an idea on your Facebook profile and see how many acts of compassion you can generate.
  15. Volunteer to be a museum, park, or hospital guide.
  16. Plan an “Awareness Day” for a cause you believe in
  17. Design a campaign to promote tolerance and understanding of differences.
  18. Volunteer as a counselor at local summer camp.
  19. Volunteer to do office work at a non-profit agency in your area.
  20. Set up a Facebook cause or group page for a non-profit agency.
  21. Nominate a nonprofit to be included on the iSpot Compassion website by sending them this link to apply. Call them, interview them and make your case as to why they should apply to be included.
  22. Volunteer to lead a service club at your school. Interact or Key Club.
  23. Share a talent through teaching a class to elementary school kids. (Teen Boom Boom! Card)

  24. Make birthday cards for the elderly.
  25. Run or walk in a charity race with friends.
  26. 
Stage a carnival to promote community spirit.
  27. Ask your mayor to sign a proclamation for an important community event or for a great nonprofit in your community.
     

Health

  1. Get books donated to make a library at the children’s hospital.
  2. Give valentines and other cards to individuals who are in the local hospital.
  3. Raise money to get Braille printed books and donate them to organizations that help blind people. Learn how to write Braille yourself and send a message to a blind person.
  4. Send cards to kids with cancer and raise funds so that their families get support.
  5. Help out a person in a wheel chair by building a ramp so they can get in and out of their house easily.
  6. Volunteer at a camp that works with children with disabilities or raise funds to support scholarships to camp for kids to go to camp.
  7. Volunteer to help as a candy striper at a local hospital. Most have age limitations so make sure to check your local hospital to see if you’re eligible.
  8. Read books or newspapers for blind or visually impaired people.
  9. Make gifts or cards for people in the hospital.
  10. Make sack lunches and give them out to the homeless.
  11. Create an art project with physically challenged kids.

Helping Animals

  1. Volunteer at an animal shelter. Help clean up, play with the animals, or do whatever's needed to make the shelter a nicer "temporary" home for the animals.
  2. Become a foster parent. Some shelters have temporary foster care programs. You take care of a pet until they can find a permanent home for it.
  3. Control animal populations.
  4. Find out about raising a dog for persons with disabilities.
  5. Raise money for pet causes by organizing a pet photo session.
  6. Organize a pet show for a local nursing home.
  7. With the support of a vet clinic, organize a neuter and spay campaign to get animals neutered and spayed at a reduced rate.
  8. Set up donation centers for animal products to be donated to needy.
  9. Learn about pet therapy and do pet therapy with your animal at nursing homes and day care centers.
  10. Form a "we love animals" club and volunteer to care for animals at a children's zoo.
  11. Plan a special awareness event during Be Kind to Animals Week in May.
  12. Organize a community dog wash.
  13. Volunteer to clean out animal shelters at homeless shelter.
  14. Collect and sort newspapers to donate to a local animal shelter.
  15. Collect food and supplies needed for a local zoo, animal shelter or food bank.
  16. Adopt a Zoo Animal.
  17. Learn about pet therapy and do pet therapy at local nursing homes or child care centers.
  18. Find homes in shelters for abandoned pets.
  19. Talk to a Wildlife Conservationist or Game and Parks official. Check out their volunteer opportunities.
  20. Clean wooden duck house before each nesting season.
  21. Care for a neighbor's pet.
  22. Find out about volunteer opportunities at a local wildlife sanctuary or survival center.

Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty

  1. Help cook and/or serve a meal at homeless shelter.
  2. During National Nutrition month in March, organize a nutrition awareness campaign.
  3. Organize a food scavenger hunt to collect food for the needy.
  4. Alter and repair clothes for the needy, elderly and homeless.
  5. Gather clothing from your neighbor and donate it to a local shelter.
  6. Make "I Care" kits with combs, toothbrushes, shampoo, etc. for homeless people.
  7. Bake bread on National Bread Day in November and deliver to the hungry, homeless or just your neighbors.
  8. Help with repairs at a local homeless shelter.
  9. Donate art supplies to kids in a homeless shelter.
  10. Make a care package with mittens, socks, T-shirts, etc. for a child at a homeless shelter.
  11. Collect grocery coupons to give a local food bank.
  12. If your community doesn't have a food bank, work with local officials to start one.
  13. Clip coupons and give them at your local food pantry or homeless shelter.
  14. Pack and hand out food at a food bank.
  15. Organize a neighborhood group to plant, tend and harvest a vegetable garden.
  16. Donate the produce to a food bank.
  17. Sponsor a food drive at your school or parent's workplace or business.
  18. Prepare a home-cooked meal for the residents of a nearby homeless shelter.
  19. Bake a batch of cookies and deliver them to a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
  20. Raid your closet and attic to find toys and clothes to donate to a homeless shelter.
  21. Assist with sorting and organizing items donated to a homeless shelter.
  22. Food drive - set up collection bins in stores, banks, movie theaters, and schools.
  23. Start a program to help poor people build their own houses.
  24. Assist in a shelter day-care room, taking care of children while parents look for jobs.
  25. Help raise money for Reading Is Fundamental Open Book Program - Have a Read-a-Thon or Book Auction.
  26. Take homeless children on outings.
  27. Make first aid kits for homeless shelters.
  28. Contact a homeless shelter in your community and see if they already have a reading center and need help to keep the project going.
  29. Set up a Saturday Reading Hour where you visit a homeless shelter once a month, bringing books to share and leave behind.
  30. Collect items to deliver to homeless shelters (blankets, sheets, towels, toys, books, disposable diapers.)
  31. Become a Big Buddy for one or more of the children at the homeless shelter.
  32. Find out about low-cost housing in your area for the homeless people.
  33. Contact job training and placement centers in your community.

The Environment

  1. Plant a garden or tree where the whole neighborhood can enjoy it.
  2. Set up a recycling system for your home and participate in your neighborhood curbside recycling pick-up.
  3. Organize a car pooling campaign in your neighborhood to cut down on air pollution.
  4. Set up a seed or a plant exchange in your neighborhood.
  5. Grow fresh flowers and deliver them to someone to brighten their day.
  6. Pick up a trail during National Trail Day in June.
  7. Make bird feeders for public places.
  8. Collect Old phone books in your neighborhood for recycling.
  9. Adopt an acre of a park or a mile of roadside to keep clean. More Information.
  10. Elect a family "energy watchdog" to shut off lights, radios, and TV's when not in use.
  11. Help everyone in your family conserve water.
  12. Clean up trash along a river or in a park.
  13. Create a habitat for wildlife.
  14. Create a campaign to encourage biking and walking.
  15. Test the health of the water in your local lakes, rivers or streams.
  16. Got places to be? Burn energy on your bike instead of taking the family car.
  17. Start a butterfly garden at home, at a community center, senior home or school.
  18. Sponsor an environmental slogan contest in school.
  19. Build a bluebird trail.
  20. Collect aluminum cans and donate the money to a favorite charity.
  21. Get together with friends and make conservation posters for the community center.
  22. Encourage your parents to buy products made from recycled materials.
  23. Conduct an energy audit at your school.
  24. Monitor the indoor air quality.
  25. Organize an asbestos check.
  26. Test the drinking water for lead.
  27. Adopt an acre of rainforest.
  28. Plant a commemorative tree to honor someone.
  29. Create a children's nature garden, labeling plants and trees and scheduling guided tours.
  30. Replace trees that have died.
  31. Take household toxic waste to a proper disposal facility.
  32. Check indoor radon levels.
  33. Adopt highways and clean up clutter.
  34. Volunteer to separate recyclables.
  35. Organize a hazardous waste collection.
  36. Start a recycling center at school.
  37. Host a recycling fair.
  38. Hold an invention contest with entries made out of recycled goods.
  39. Form a volunteer lawn mowing service with your friends.
  40. If you see a tree that's in trouble, try to save it. Pamper it, water it, or don't water it as the case may be. Find our what's wrong with it and how to make it better.
  41. Pick up litter.
  42. Use a lunch box instead of throwaway bags.
  43. Practice the 3 R's in your house: Reduce, recycle, reuse.
  44. Bring a backpack when you shop or reuse those little plastic sacks.
  45. Clean up a beach or riverbed.
  46. Start a compost pile and encourage your family to use it!
  47. Plant trees.
  48. Plant a commemorative tree to honor someone.
  49. Ask your school to use recycled paper.
  50. Repair homes or abandoned buildings.
  51. Start an Environmental Club.
  52. Hold a recycling contest.
  53. Check homes and public buildings for lead based paint.
  54. Clear a new trail at a nature center or park.

References and suggested resources:
Kid's Guide to Service Projects by Barbara Luis
366 Community Service Ideas were compiled by Janet Fox, 4-H Extension Specialist
The Kids Can Help Book by Susan Logan
Youth Service Project Ideas