Social capital, our contact and interaction with one another is declining. We are not as involved with each other as we used to be, formally or informally. Without this interaction and contact, we don’t have the opportunity to talk about problems or opportunities in our communities and therefore are less able to organize to take any action. Following are simple, civic-minded and just plain polite things we can do to improve the level of social capital.
(List edited from Better Together, an initiative of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, a project of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government - http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/saguaro/index.htm)
1. Organize a social gathering to welcome a new neighbor
2. Attend town meetings
3. Register to vote and vote
4. Support local merchants
5. Volunteer your special skills to an organization
6. Donate blood (and take a friend!)
7. Mentor someone of a different ethnic or religious group
8. Avoid gossip
9. Organize or participate in a sports league
10. Join a gardening club or start a community garden
11. Attend home parties when invited
12. Become an organ or blood marrow donor.
13. Attend your children's athletic contests, plays and recitals
14. Get to know your children's teachers
15. Join a local service club
16. Get involved with Boy or Girl Scouts
17. Speak at or host a monthly brown bag lunch series at your local library
18. Sing in a choir
19. Get to know the clerks at your local stores
20. Attend Parent-Teacher organization meetings
21. Audition or volunteer for community theater
22. Play cards with friends or neighbors
23. Walk or bike to support a cause and invite other to participate
24. Employers: encourage volunteer/community groups to hold meetings on your site
25. Volunteer in your child's classroom or chaperone a field trip
26. Join or start a babysitting cooperative
27. Answer surveys when asked
28. Businesses: invite local government officials to speak at your workplace
29. Attend Memorial Day parades and other local events… it shows appreciation for others
30. Form a local outdoor activity group
31. Participate in political campaigns
32. Attend a local budget committee meeting
33. Form a computer group to assist local senior citizens
34. Help coach or officiate Little League or other youth sports
35. Form a tool lending library with neighbors and share ladders, snow blowers, etc.
36. Start a lunch gathering or a discussion group with co-workers
37. Offer to rake a neighbor's yard or shovel a walk
38. Start or join a carpool
39. Employers: give employees time off to work on civic projects
40. Plan a "Walking Tour" of a local historic area
41. Eat breakfast at a local gathering spot on Saturdays
42. Have family dinners and read to your children
43. Run for public office
44. Stop and make sure the person on the side of the highway is OK
45. Host a block party or a holiday open house
46. Start a fix-it group – friends willing to help each other clean, paint, garden, etc.
47. Offer to serve on a community committee
48. Join the volunteer fire department
49. If you grow vegetables, plant extra for an lonely elder neighbor
50. Ask a single diner to share your table for lunch
51. Persuade a local restaurant to designate a “meet people” table
52. Say "thanks" to your public servants – police, firefighters, town clerk…
53. Join a nonprofit board of directors
54. Gather a group to clean up a local park or cemetery
55. When somebody says "government stinks," suggest they help fix it
56. Hold a neighborhood barbecue
57. Plant tree seedlings along your street
58. Volunteer at the library
59. Form or join a bowling or golf team
60. Return a lost wallet or appointment book
61. Ask neighbors for help and reciprocate
62. Go to a local folk or crafts festival
63. Sign up for a class and meet your classmates
64. Talk to your kids or parents about their day
65. Say hello to strangers
66. Log off and go to the park
67. Ask a new person to join a group for a dinner or an evening out
68. Participate in pot luck meals, and if there are none, host one
69. Volunteer to drive someone
70. Say hello when you spot an acquaintance in a store
71. Exercise together or take walks with friends or family
72. Assist with or create a neighborhood newsletter
73. Collect oral histories from older town residents
74. Join a book club discussion or get the group to discuss local issues
75. Volunteer to deliver Meals-on-Wheels in your neighborhood
76. Start a children’s story hour at your local library
77. Be real. Be humble. Acknowledge others' self-worth
78. Tell friends and family about social capital and why it matters
79. Plan a reunion of family, friends, or those with whom you had a special connection
80. Take in the programs at your local library
81. Read the local news faithfully
82. Fix it even if you didn’t break it
83. Pick it up even if you didn’t drop it
84. Go with friends to a local ball game
85. Hire young people for odd jobs
86. Start a tradition
87. Join a project that includes people from all walks of life
88. Be nice when you drive
89. Make gifts of time
90. Volunteer at your local neighborhood school
91. Offer to help out at your local recycling center
92. Send a “thank you” letter to the Editor about a person or event that helped your community
93. Raise funds for a new town clock or new town library
94. When inspired, write personal notes to friends and neighbors
95. Attend gallery openings
96. Organize a community-wide yard sale
97. Invite friends or colleagues to help with a home renovation or home building project
98. Join or start a local walking group and have coffee together afterwards
99. Build a neighborhood playground
100. Become a story-reader or baby-rocker at a childcare center or neighborhood pre-school
101. Help kids on your street with a lemonade stand
102. Open the door for someone who needs help
103. Invite friends to go snowshoeing, hiking, or cross-country skiing
104. Offer to watch your neighbor’s home while they are away
105. Organize a fitness/health group with your friends or co-workers
106. See if your neighbor needs anything when you run to the store
107. Join groups (e.g., arts, sports, religion) likely to lead to making new friends of different race or ethnicity, different social class or bridging across other dimensions
108. _____________________________________
109. ___________________________________ …
(List edited from Better Together, an initiative of the Saguaro Seminar: Civic Engagement in America, a project of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government - http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/saguaro/index.htm)
1. Organize a social gathering to welcome a new neighbor
2. Attend town meetings
3. Register to vote and vote
4. Support local merchants
5. Volunteer your special skills to an organization
6. Donate blood (and take a friend!)
7. Mentor someone of a different ethnic or religious group
8. Avoid gossip
9. Organize or participate in a sports league
10. Join a gardening club or start a community garden
11. Attend home parties when invited
12. Become an organ or blood marrow donor.
13. Attend your children's athletic contests, plays and recitals
14. Get to know your children's teachers
15. Join a local service club
16. Get involved with Boy or Girl Scouts
17. Speak at or host a monthly brown bag lunch series at your local library
18. Sing in a choir
19. Get to know the clerks at your local stores
20. Attend Parent-Teacher organization meetings
21. Audition or volunteer for community theater
22. Play cards with friends or neighbors
23. Walk or bike to support a cause and invite other to participate
24. Employers: encourage volunteer/community groups to hold meetings on your site
25. Volunteer in your child's classroom or chaperone a field trip
26. Join or start a babysitting cooperative
27. Answer surveys when asked
28. Businesses: invite local government officials to speak at your workplace
29. Attend Memorial Day parades and other local events… it shows appreciation for others
30. Form a local outdoor activity group
31. Participate in political campaigns
32. Attend a local budget committee meeting
33. Form a computer group to assist local senior citizens
34. Help coach or officiate Little League or other youth sports
35. Form a tool lending library with neighbors and share ladders, snow blowers, etc.
36. Start a lunch gathering or a discussion group with co-workers
37. Offer to rake a neighbor's yard or shovel a walk
38. Start or join a carpool
39. Employers: give employees time off to work on civic projects
40. Plan a "Walking Tour" of a local historic area
41. Eat breakfast at a local gathering spot on Saturdays
42. Have family dinners and read to your children
43. Run for public office
44. Stop and make sure the person on the side of the highway is OK
45. Host a block party or a holiday open house
46. Start a fix-it group – friends willing to help each other clean, paint, garden, etc.
47. Offer to serve on a community committee
48. Join the volunteer fire department
49. If you grow vegetables, plant extra for an lonely elder neighbor
50. Ask a single diner to share your table for lunch
51. Persuade a local restaurant to designate a “meet people” table
52. Say "thanks" to your public servants – police, firefighters, town clerk…
53. Join a nonprofit board of directors
54. Gather a group to clean up a local park or cemetery
55. When somebody says "government stinks," suggest they help fix it
56. Hold a neighborhood barbecue
57. Plant tree seedlings along your street
58. Volunteer at the library
59. Form or join a bowling or golf team
60. Return a lost wallet or appointment book
61. Ask neighbors for help and reciprocate
62. Go to a local folk or crafts festival
63. Sign up for a class and meet your classmates
64. Talk to your kids or parents about their day
65. Say hello to strangers
66. Log off and go to the park
67. Ask a new person to join a group for a dinner or an evening out
68. Participate in pot luck meals, and if there are none, host one
69. Volunteer to drive someone
70. Say hello when you spot an acquaintance in a store
71. Exercise together or take walks with friends or family
72. Assist with or create a neighborhood newsletter
73. Collect oral histories from older town residents
74. Join a book club discussion or get the group to discuss local issues
75. Volunteer to deliver Meals-on-Wheels in your neighborhood
76. Start a children’s story hour at your local library
77. Be real. Be humble. Acknowledge others' self-worth
78. Tell friends and family about social capital and why it matters
79. Plan a reunion of family, friends, or those with whom you had a special connection
80. Take in the programs at your local library
81. Read the local news faithfully
82. Fix it even if you didn’t break it
83. Pick it up even if you didn’t drop it
84. Go with friends to a local ball game
85. Hire young people for odd jobs
86. Start a tradition
87. Join a project that includes people from all walks of life
88. Be nice when you drive
89. Make gifts of time
90. Volunteer at your local neighborhood school
91. Offer to help out at your local recycling center
92. Send a “thank you” letter to the Editor about a person or event that helped your community
93. Raise funds for a new town clock or new town library
94. When inspired, write personal notes to friends and neighbors
95. Attend gallery openings
96. Organize a community-wide yard sale
97. Invite friends or colleagues to help with a home renovation or home building project
98. Join or start a local walking group and have coffee together afterwards
99. Build a neighborhood playground
100. Become a story-reader or baby-rocker at a childcare center or neighborhood pre-school
101. Help kids on your street with a lemonade stand
102. Open the door for someone who needs help
103. Invite friends to go snowshoeing, hiking, or cross-country skiing
104. Offer to watch your neighbor’s home while they are away
105. Organize a fitness/health group with your friends or co-workers
106. See if your neighbor needs anything when you run to the store
107. Join groups (e.g., arts, sports, religion) likely to lead to making new friends of different race or ethnicity, different social class or bridging across other dimensions
108. _____________________________________
109. ___________________________________ …
hi kim, how are you?
ReplyDeletehi there Mr. Super Balentong :)) I'm doing good at the moment. Chill. Relax. Hahaha
ReplyDelete