Do a Good Deed on World Humanitarian Day

By Linda Meyers

October 3, 2019

Last Updated: August 18, 2012

Once a week we will be featuring a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. Tomorrow, August 19, is World Humanitarian Day, a global celebration of people helping people. Today's activity involves several ideas to help people tomorrow and beyond.

Shop for a neighbor. You can offer to make a trip to the store for a neighbor who may find it hard to get around. Or a parent who is tied up watching the kids.

Make a sandwich for a homeless person. Or, you can donate food to your local food pantry.

Stand up for someone being picked on. This can be hard to do at times, but it can make a huge difference for the person who is a usual target for bullying or teasing.

Visit an elderly person. Just a short time can light up the day of someone who doesn't always have company.

Give away something you no longer use. We all value our stuff, but if we no longer use it, what good is it? Give it to someone else who will enjoy using it.

Read to a younger child. Do you have a neighbor with little kids? Ask the parents if you can read to them. It will give a very welcome break to a parent, and will enrich the little kids as well.

Clean up a local park, or your neighborhood, or simply your street. A less-polluted area makes life more enjoyable for everyone, not to mention the help you are giving Mother Nature.

You can see from these activities that being a humanitarian can be relatively simple. A little good can go a long way, and it is possible for you to be a part of it. So pick one of these activities, or make up one on your own, and try it out tomorrow. We'd love it if you shared the activity you choose by writing about it in our comments section.

Go to www.whd-iwashere.org, devoted to World Humanitarian Day 2012, for more ideas or to "add your voice" to the social campaign.

For educational activities relating to Heifer International and our work, go to www.heifer.org.