You might wonder what you can do in your spare time and what activities might be available. Maybe you want to do something to help you stay away from negative and depressing thoughts. After school and on the weekends, you find yourself free to the many intrusive thoughts that go through your mind. An idea that you can do is volunteer work or some kind of community service.
Here Are Some Ideas For You
Nursing Homes
Go to your local nursing home and speak with the people there. Many elderly people have no family or family that simply do not visit them. Seeing anyone, even an unfamiliar face will brighten their day. Sit down and hear their stories out or even read a book to them.
Clean up the Masjid
Gather a few friend, grab a trash bag and some gloves. Walk around your local Masjid and pick up any trash you find. Not only will you make the Masjid look even more beautiful, but you will be getting a lot of good deeds for beautifying Allah's house. We work hard in making our homes look decent and Allah's house should be a bigger priority.
Tutor Younger Kids
A lot of kids in the community need extra help with their homework. Some families can't afford to pay for tutors. You putting some time and helping out these kids will go a long way for these families.
You could even do this in your local schools by participating in their after school programs for younger kids. Ask around and see what opportunities are available in this area.
Start a Youth Sports Team
If you are good in any sport or even just good at coaching, think about starting a sports team for the younger kids. Similar to tutoring, some of the organized teams are expensive and parents simply can't afford them. Having a safe place for kids to have fun and not cost the parents anything would be great. You'll learn a lot of skills from leadership, problem solving, time and stress management.
Food Pantry or Homeless Center
Go to your local food pantry or homeless center and ask them how you can help. They are always in need of volunteers to help on a regular basis.
There are many more ideas for volunteering and community service. Think outside the box and come up with ways to use your time wisely by helping others. You will feel a great reward when you help someone else.
What other volunteering ideas do you have? Let us know in the comments below.