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Most people I know want to do great things.  They want to change the world and “make a difference”.  However, we rarely ever get past the “wanting to do something stage”.  Why is that?  Often, changing the world seems like a huge task.  I recently read a quote from Mother Theresa saying “If you don’t help the first person you will never get to the 35,000th.  With this in mind I’d like to recommend several ways that you can do great things that can be started today!  Some of them take money and some don’t.  All of them require a caring heart.

Easy Ways:

Loans for Poor Entrepreneurs: Go to http://www.kiva.org and donate enough money for an entrepreneur to start a business in an undeveloped country.  Right now for $425 you can loan enough money for Sayohat Aminova to purchase a sewing machine and expand her tailoring business in Tajikistan.  This will help her feed her family.  She will repay this loan in 12 months and the money will be used to provide a loan to a different person who needs help.  For $425 dollars you can change the lives of this woman and her family. If you don’t have $425 you can donate any amount and when the full amount is reached by pooling donations she will get the loan.

Neighborhood Cleanup and Repairs: In just about every neighborhood in America has people who need help with home repairs and yard work.  Many people who are elderly or disabled cannot do basic maintenance on their homes.  It is very easy to pick up a few tools and walk over to the house where you know an elderly person lives.  You may find a family where the parents don’t have the skills needed to do basic repairs.  If you have those skills you can relieve the stress that comes from living in a home that needs repairs.

Help for Single Moms and Fatherless Children: Every person reading this post knows at least one single mom who is making tremendous sacrifices to care for her children.  Offer to babysit for a single mom you know and pay for her to have a night out.  Men can help with the kids and show them a positive male role model that the children may not have.  Think about it.  For a small but consistent donation of your time you can change the lives of a mother and her children.  The same can be said for a single dad.  His children can benefit greatly from the presence of a woman who will spend time with them.  This doesn’t have to be a formal arrangement but instead be a matter of caring for people you already know.

Youth Group: My wife and I volunteer our home on Tuesday evenings for our church’s youth group.  It is a lot of fun and we do not even teach the lesson.  It is a small sacrifice for us but for some of the kids who show up this is the time of week they look forward to.  They come to youth group and have fun in a safe environment full of people who love and care about them.  In the past I’ve met teen agers who’s only interactions with caring adults is during youth group.  The same can be said of boy scouts, girl scouts, and many other community type organizations.  Time spent volunteering can have a profound impact on a child’s life.

More Difficult:

Direct Family Assistance: Many of us know of at least one hard working family that just doesn’t make enough money to do more than scrape by.  Make a pact with five friends to donate a small percentage of your income to this family.  It doesn’t have to be direct monetary payments but maybe you could all save up and buy a car for the family or provide help in purchasing a house.  Giving money directly to those in need is far more efficient than giving to a charity with administrative costs who will turn around and give only a part of the donation to the recipient.  If you don’t know which family to help ask at your local church or community organization.

Youth and Childrens Community Center: Many youth and children have few good opportunities to have fun in a safe and caring environment.  I remember being 15 and hangin out Friday and Saturday nights.  If there was something going on at the town hall I would go there and play basketball or watch movies and generally stay out of trouble.  IF there was nothing going on I would drink and get into trouble.  Providing teens with a safe and fun environment is essential to keeping them out of trouble.

If you live in a neighborhood that does not have a community center you can start one.  It will take a lot of work and help will be needed.  However, if you follow through you will be rewarded by the amazing changes you will see in the kids who come.

Illegal Aliens: Where I live in Arizona there is a huge illegal alien population.  Most of these people come to American in order to find work and feed their families.  Many of us have our own opinions on whether we ought to crack down on this activity.  Politics aside, we have to realize that these are people who are often in desperate situations.  Many of them are husbands and fathers who left their families to find work.  Imagine if you could help a person in this situation by providing the resources needed to start a small business in their home country?  This would certainly not be an easy thing to do but it would take a family without a father and allow the father to return home and be the husband and father he needs to be.  Can you think of many activities with a greater reward than that?

These are just a few ideas I came up with in the short time it took me to write this article.  I could easily come up with 100 or more in a week.  If you are ready to start changing the world and making a difference start on one of these ideas or come up with one of your own.  The important thing is that you actually start and do something rather than just thinking about doing something.  Don’t be afraid to start small but just start.