For the time-less.

I decided to switch it up a little this time. I talked before about how a lack of time is a big issue for some when it comes to getting involved. If you’re one of those people, I have a challenge for you.

For the next 25 days, perform one random act of kindness per day.

 It can be anything you choose, big or small. I read another person’s blog on here who took the challenge from Dec. 1-25 and got some good ideas for it. This blog shows some examples. It’s a good alternative for people with limited time. Even the smallest gesture of kindness counts. Not only will you make someone else feel good, but you’ll make yourself feel good and in turn, it may create a domino effect. Once you do something nice for someone, they may consciously or subconsciously do the same for someone else.

If you choose, keep track of your acts in a journal. I’ll be updating you all on my random acts and I hope you do the same.

Can you remember the last time someone (even a stranger) did something nice for you?

Mop for Hope

Girls Hope takes in academically capable girls-in-need and provides them a better chance of success. I discovered Girl's Hope about a year ago when I was planning some community service projects for my basketball team to do and I must say, it's an amazing program.

Just by reading their mission statements and information on their website, you can't really understand what an impact this organization has on the girls involved. When I sat down and had a conversation with an employee of Girls Hope, her explanation of what the program does impacted me way more than their mission statement.

Hypothetically speaking, Girls Hope would take in a child who shows much academic promise but has a bad home life. Some children will miss school for days at a time because they have a parent who is an addict and have to take care of younger siblings. Some don't have as harsh of a scenario, but still are doing poorly in school because of their home lives. Girls Hope believes that with a strong support system, the children can accomplish great things.

The program gives the girls a value-center, family-like home and provides them with support all the way through college. While reading Girls Hope's success stories, I can't help but think where these girls would have ended up if it weren't for the love and care they received throughout the years. Click here to read some of the success stories.

If you want to get involved, there are plenty of ways to do so. My teammates and I, being poor college students, didn't really have much money to donate to the program. We wanted to be involved in a more hands-on way. They gave us a couple of options, and we decided to go in and clean one of the houses for them. It might seem like an odd request for community service, but I just kept in mind that although it might not be a big project, we were members of the community and we were showing support. By helping out, we were telling Girls Hope that we think what they do is wonderful, and they are appreciated.

We swept, mopped, scrubbed, dusted and wiped every surface of the first two floors of the house. Here's a picture of us on the front porch after our couple hours of cleaning:

Other volunteer opportunities are listed here. Be sure to take a look. There are a lot of different ways to give back to the program! Girl's Hope is also on Facebook and give updates on upcoming events. Type in Girls Hope in your searchbar and "like" them!