Young volunteers with Kids Giving Back.
KIDS GIVING BACK (KGB) is a non-profit organization that provides kids, families, schools and corporations with volunteering experiences. Based in Australia, they are committed to creating the “next generation of generosity” by creating opportunities for kids and their families to give back. Recently, we had a chance to interview Ruth Tofler-Riesel, Kids Giving Back. Here is part 2 of her interview. (Part 1 was posted on Nov. 30.)
What types of projects have you done?
Overseas Alexander and I have volunteered with the programs teaching English and working with elephants in Thailand through Starfish Volunteers, and we have also volunteered in Guatemala working at a childcare center with children living in desperate circumstances as well as at an indigenous women’s weaving cooperative. We are about to travel to Cambodia and Laos where we’ll be teaching English as well as working at a center that offers street children alternatives to a life of drugs.
Volunteering with elephants in Thailand.
Locally (in Sydney, Australia) Kids Giving Back has involved kids in more volunteering activities than I have space to mention here. We run Cook for Good at a local community kitchen where 15 kids and an equal number of adults cook up a storm, making meals that they then deliver to homeless shelters as well as individuals in need. Each session turns out around 250 two-course meals, no mean feat. To date over 1500 homeless have enjoyed these meals made by kids and parents.
Cook for Good program.
We run similar programs for kids at risk, and it’s particularly powerful and poignant when these young adults tell us that volunteering has made them realize there are others worse off than themselves.
Other local programs include making meals for asylum seekers who often have only one meal a day; sharing tea parties and games with the elderly in aged care homes – many residents rarely receive visitors and this brings them great joy; playing with kids from refugee communities at community days, participating in bush regeneration programs, tutoring students from indigenous communities to meet their literacy and numeracy needs, and connecting students to volunteer with programs that assist children with special needs. The list goes on, this is only a snapshot.
Young volunteer with Kids Giving Back.
How does volunteering benefit kids, in particular?
Volunteering is incredibly enriching – it immerses our children in real life, helping others, and interacting with people from all walks of life. It gives our children an opportunity to discover their own strengths and qualities, and use these to help others. I also believe it helps balance our children from the materialistic consumer world we live in.
Volunteering helps our kids to understand that everything they do, no matter how small, can make a difference to someone else. Kids love being part of a team, and volunteering gives them this opportunity, with its instant immersion in a new community and another culture. There is something about being part of a group of people, all working toward a common goal that is incredibly rewarding and makes kids and adults alike feel good.
Volunteering, be it at home or abroad, opens our kids’ eyes to just how much they can actually learn from those they are helping – it’s very much a two way street. When children become involved in volunteering with other communities, our world in effect becomes smaller as they become engaged with and build links with communities beyond their own.
Young English teacher in Thailand.
What is your hope for the future of your organization?
Volunteering opportunities for kids are often hard to come by, and our hope is to continue to expand the opportunities we can offer to kids, families and schools. Our tag lines are in fact also our hopes: “Creating the next generation of generosity” and “Connecting people, bridging communities”. The more volunteering becomes an integral part of the lives of kids, families, school and community groups, the more long-term, meaningful relationships can be formed between communities and volunteers as they both give and receive and grow together.