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What is your home life like? If you're like most kids, you live with one or more of your parents and your brothers and sisters. That's it. But what about your grandparents? Where are they? At one time families were multigenerational. There'd be one or more grandparent living with the family in the same house.
Today many families are split apart by geography. The grandparents live in another town, another state, maybe even another country. They don't have family members nearby to help them. It gets harder and harder to do things around the house. They can't do simple things that younger people take for granted. They may not be able to change light bulbs that go out in ceiling light fixtures. It may be too hard to drag a hose around and water their flowers and yards.
Do you think they can do something as simple as changing drapes in a bedroom? Many cannot. It's not easy for an older person to stand on a step stool, keep their balance, and reach high to unscrew a curtain rod from the wall and replace it with a new drapery fixture. Even taking the old drapes down and replacing them with new ones may require too much effort. Something as simple as rolling a trash can to the end of the street might be too much for someone who has a heart condition or some other type of health problem.
If you're looking for a service-based idea for school or simply want to do something for someone else, then why not consider a "random act of kindness." Project R.A.K.E. began with those four simple words. This community effort began as a home repair outreach of the Ground Zero Youth Ministry in New London, PA. Today more than 200 young people have offered their free help to senior citizens, low-income in-need families, and the disabled.
Project R.A.K.E. began when one teen who had participated in the church's missionary work in other countries asked a simple question: Why can't we do the same thing here--where we live?
And so they did.
These senior high and college students form teams to do all types of home repairs for their neighbors. They build wheelchair ramps, repair easy plumbing repairs, repair roofs, paint houses inside and out, and many other small home repairs.
Do you have to find 200 friends to make a difference? No. Simply open your front door and walk outside. Look around the neighborhood and see who might need help in the yard or taking the trash out. Ask your neighbors if they know someone in the neighborhood who is sick or elderly. A random act of kindness begins with one person.
Why not make it you?
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