Beyond donating significant amounts of money, some people think that there are not many ways to help give back. In fact, there are plenty of methods one individual can make an impact on the community. Best of all, you don’t need to spend money.

Here are some ways you can help your community without investing a large amount of cash.

Donate Gently Used Items

One of the easiest ways you can help make someone’s life better is by donating any gently used items you no longer need. Not only does this help you get rid of things that are just taking up space, it can give a struggling family something that they desperately need.

You can find out how to donate items such as baby clothes, winter coats, shoes, school supplies, furniture, or even cars by investigating some of your local area’s charities.

Give Away Books

Another popular and easy method of helping out is to specifically give away books. While high tech versions such as e-books are becoming more popular, physical books are still needed in places around the country where literacy is low.

You can try to pass on your family’s old books to schools, daycares, after school clubs, doctor’s offices, or other settings where children may spend time.

Help the Homeless

Knowing how to help a rising homeless population is something that many people think about, especially when they see those who are down on their luck at traffic lights begging for contributions. If you’re not sure about donating money in those situations, one thing you can do that does support this group of people is to help out at a local homeless shelter.

While money is always appreciated in these settings, you can support the shelter by working an hour or two in the food pantry or in the kitchen making meals for shelter residents.

Spend Time at Nursing Homes

Another population that is increasing in this country is the elderly. After being deemed unable to live on their own, seniors are often placed in nursing homes with full-time care. While some of the elderly may struggle with physical ailments, in many cases, their minds are still fully functioning.

Living in a nursing home can get monotonous and lonely. Offering your time at a senior care center can help give some of the residents some much-needed conversation and opportunities to develop new friendships.

Volunteer to Walk Shelter Animals

If you are an animal lover, there is one big job that you can take on in order to help support some of the many homeless animals in the nation. While it may be unrealistic to provide homes for some of the dozens of pets that may be found in a typical animal shelter, what you can do is to help take care of the pets.

Some local humane societies offer volunteers opportunities to help feed, clean, or walk resident animals in order to give them some important human contact during their stay.

Choose Sustainable Food Products

If you’re trying to think of ways to help the environment, then listen up. One meaningful action you can take is to choose sustainable food products. Items that are based on plants instead of animal products are more beneficial to the environment.

Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo is an example of a typical product, which is usually made with eggs, that has been reformulated into a sustainable item that is better for the environment.

Support Local Businesses

A great way to help your local neighborhood is to make it a point to choose locally owned businesses instead of the usual giant corporation.

It’s important to help small companies stay alive and offer your support when you’re needing to purchase items for your home or business. Not only does this keep money in your own town’s economy and supports healthy local commerce, it also helps avoid additional resources spent on the fuel for shipping items to your area that a national corporation must incur.

If you have limited financial resources, there are many ways you can make a contribution that supports a better world. Your time, your old items, and your business can be used in order to help make a person’s experience in life a little bit better.

Meaningful Ways to Give Back to Your Community That Cost Nothing is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.