When I was growing up in a small town in Kansas, I hired out as an errand girl for those who were more or less homebound...mostly elderly women. I was doing this at the young age of ten or eleven. I was paid about a dime, but in the 1940s it was okay. There may have been one or two other kids that did this, too. Now that I am one of those "elderly", I could use a bit of help with simple errands exactly like those I did as a kid. I am not so naive as to not know we live in a whole different world then it was then. But, still, we have churches and schools who could implement programs to provide this service and what kid wouldn't love to get involved if it meant a little money in their piggy bank. As I remember, the errands were not big, just a run to the post office for a stamp or to the store for a loaf of bread. I would hope that little things still mean a lot, even in todays world. Kids are kids...nothing really changes there. Thanks for listening, anyway...……...I was just thinking of simpler times...…………….Marie
Filling a need and keeping these kids out of the legal system, it is really pretty effective.
I will be doing that locally because I know that the system is already there and in dire need of opportunities for kids to pay back to the community for putting others at risk because they made dumb choices.
It shows kids that you don't have to follow the path of a law breaker.
Helping others in need opens eyes and shows them that they don't have it so bad and it could be very difficult if choices are not improved. It also helps them have empathy for others.
Do an internet search for community services. This will help you find resources.
If I lived near you I would help you.
I hope you find a solution that works great for you and even gets you some new friends.
Hugs!
- Instacart - but kinda need to make sure grocer they use “fits”
- Waitr (or their sister co Bite Squad)
- Target red card - really this is the bomb as others have said
- Amazon Prime for streaming, shopping/delivery at home & for shopping @ WFoods and using secure delivery system at WF for some prime deliveries. WF app runs deals, like recent $10 back if you shopped & scanned code 3 times over 5 weeks. Nice!
- Chewy
- Costco.com
- Uber, although I do still use a old-school cab service which my city has
and
if you’re dealing with millennials..... Venmo.
I have been homeless myself for a short while and got to know some homeless folks in the community.
Whether I hire homeless folks or high school kids, good help is always short lived. They either just disappear or start being flaky after about 6 months.
Once I found my yard kids teen age brother with four other teens laying around my pool table in the garage. I had to tell him to leave several times before they’d go.
It was a little frightening because they were all bigger than me. A LOT bigger! The lawn boy was a good kid. We had to plan around his many sporting events and he was up for a scholarship for his achievements in sports.
I hear that local high schools give credits for community services but I have never had a kid ask me to document their work. They say call the schools vice principle to request help.
We have an organization call “Advancing Vibrant Solutions” that provide workers for needy folks at no or low cost fees. They are always backlogged as you can imagine, but I got a referral from them for a paid plumber that I talked to and am keeping for future reference.
I have been hospitalized and needed housekeeping help afterward that always bugs me to have to hire out. I feel I could do it better if only I was able... Maybe my standards are too high just because I’m paying out.
I only recently got a car and have been paying for rides to the grocery store, too. I think $20 a trip is more than fair but I have trouble finding takers and I hate to take advantage of my friends too often. I have a lot of groceries so it takes me a while to shop. $20 a trip adds to my grocery bill quite a bit.
My Great Grandmother-In-Law lived by herself and had a very small shopping list. She found a service to do her shopping for $12 fee. The woman’s husband even started doing small repairs around the house for free.
For all the money I loan my kids, you’d think I should never pay a dime out to outside help again but that doesn’t seem to work out so good. Oh well....
Good luck! Make sure you appreciate the jewels you may find!
I also do business for heavy items from stores like Sam's. My parent uses a lot of disposable pads - much easier for the UPS guy to bring to the front porch than for me to tote them out of store and up to the house. With the Plus account, shipping is always free. Been using Chewy for pet supplies and order $ amount is enough for free shipping on that, too. AND prices better than local stores. (I buy for dogs, cats, parrots)
If you aren't getting much help from family, quit being available as the family bank. Tell them you're keeping the coins to pay people to do errands and odd jobs for you. They'll either feel like heels or move on to do business at another bank.
Actually, when I was a kid if you did this sort of thing for someone, especially an elderly person, you didn't ask for pay at all. I would have NEVER EVER thought of discussing payment from a grandparent --- unlike kids today. Simpler times??? I think it was just more respectful times.
I have been thinking about what you wrote about helping elderly people when you were a kid. I respect and appreciate that you did the work and wouldn't accept payment for the work.
I can remember cleaning up pine cones in my grandmother's yard. I was paid a penny for each two pine cones. She knew that my work was valuable to her but she she got the "family discount." I felt a lot of pride for helping my grandmother and think that candy tasted even sweeter since I bought it with money that I earned.
On the other hand, it does make me think more long term...was the expectation that we should give away our time for free or undervalued make it harder to know our worth as we get older? Does it discount the value of our caregiving if/when we willingly give our time away for free? Is it harder for others to respect our efforts if there isn't a paycheck attached?
I don't know that there is a correlation but would like to hear other's thoughts.
Certainly there are many ways to get items delivered, even stamps (easiest if one has some computer savvy.) However some people like the "personal" touch, or perhaps want to instill that same pride in work done for the young'uns.
But, for someone who needs other tasks done at their home (gardening, yard work, mowing, leaves, moving items, etc), you need someone to do the work!
Names of helpers could be listed in the church bulletin. A guest speaker would be helpful to help kids understand the situation. If they aren’t aware of issues they don’t realize how serious a situation is.
Some churches have ministries (ours does)to help families in need but it generally isn’t teens who help. It’s the adults. I cook meals sometimes to deliver to a family.
Teens do community service projects though to earn school credit. The youth groups do participate here.
My daughter goes with her friends in college and paints classrooms in schools that are in poor areas. My kid has a big heart. These schools are not in good neighborhoods. She grew up watching her dad and I volunteer so I think it came naturally to her.
My other daughter is involved in volunteering with the homeless. Again, they grew up volunteering either with me, church, scouts, school and other organizations in the community. We have church run ministries for the homeless, many of the homeless here are elderly. Yes, there are shelters. Some volunteers go and pick up donuts for breakfast from donut shops to help feed them. Otherwise, tons of donuts would just be thrown out daily.
I think it depends on life experiences too. My younger daughter ended an abusive relationship in college. She ended up having to get a restraining order on this guy. She and another friend who was being abused as well are volunteering at a crisis center for women. Statistics are pretty high for young women being abused.
I also volunteered with a shelter for women and children. I don’t speak about it usually because of painful memories but I was attacked in my youth and it effected me tremendously. So, I think sometimes our life experiences form us to have a heart to volunteer.
Because of this programme, when my mom was in NH there were several girls who came in & put nail polish on their nails as well as a chat .... my mom just loved it
Check out if there is a similar programme where you live by phoning guidance councillor at your local high school - otherwise see if a youngster can be recommended for your mini-job of errand running/shopping
Thanks for sharing those insights.
They may require more direction than your typical helper, sometimes they can work on a volunteer basis, it gets them social contact and they are paid through the Salvation Army, not by you.
My son helped care for my older sister. She was 77 and he was 29. I could not have asked for a more dedicated helper. But the downside: everyday, repeating the same instructions.
I am in my sixties and have helped my neighbors with many tasks like yard clean up, short shopping trips and rides to appointments. If you need food, medicine,stamps etc those can all be delivered. For larger jobs, do a search to see if "Task Rabbit" is in your area.
a “ nextdoor “ app on my phone which is an app all your neighbors join and ask for and give access and reviews to people they have used for different projects . The one thing I’ve learned is the only constant in our lives is change so as hard as it is I’ve really tried to change with the times. It is what it is , not it is what is was unfortunately . I know where you’re coming from believe me . As my mother used to say “ old age isn’t for sissies “ and boy was she right . As a child of the sixties I actually believed LOVE was all we needed and was the magic word . She told me the magic word was adjust and I now know what she was talking about . Wish I could tell her 😂
I am right there with you and agree wholeheartedly. There are many wonderful children out there that would be willing to help and would do a great service to us. Problem is finding them in the area where we live. I need flower bed help, Unable to find anyone willing to do the labor for $15-25 an hour, High but willing to pay someone who is dependable, honest and willing to work. Have a Blessed and Awesome day.
You make a good point. Both of my daughters volunteer. They grew up seeing me volunteering in the community. My kids made a fortune babysitting though. Some of my neighbors even bring babysitters on fabulous vacations with them! They play tennis, belong to social clubs, sad but they don’t spend a lot of time with their kids.
I think it’s a safety concern too. People are afraid of strangers too. We teach our kids to be cautious.
I am cautious around strangers. Once I was picking up several pizzas for a party that I was having. I couldn’t do delivery because it wasn’t a ‘chain’ restaurant. It was a local place with gourmet pizzas.
Here I was struggling with several boxes, my purse, keys, the phone out because my friend was calling, grrrr. I almost dropped the pizzas. A nice man that was in the parking lot ran over to help me manage. I got a little nervous around a stranger. He asked to give him the keys and he would open my car door.
Are you kidding? This is New Orleans, high crime, car jacking galore. No way was I going to hand him my keys. I politely thanked him, but told him that I could handle it and dumped the pizzas on the hood of my car and opened my own door.
It’s a shame that we are skeptical of others. This was a nice looking man in a business suit in a good neighborhood but that doesn’t mean anything here. Crimes happen all the time in good neighborhoods with people that don’t look like criminals.
Bottom line, better to be safe than sorry and we have to be street smart.
And whether parents are military or not is a factor as well, from what I've seen. This segues into the category not only of parental role models, but of orientation and disposition: some people are more oriented toward helping others; it's part of their persona.
I think this happens more often in working class families as well. They know what it's like to be in need of assistance.
Think of those in "helping" professions: law enforcement, first responders, medical, educational personnel, volunteers, and more. They're oriented toward public reach-out, as are tradesmen.
And from what I've observed from friends, acquaintances and cyber-friends, people coming from these kinds of backgrounds are more likely to be involved with volunteer organizations. I don't have any statistics or bonafide research on this though - it's merely an observation.