Get Ideas
Spark some change with these GivingTuesdaySpark project ideas. Identify a service project or good deed that addresses an issue that’s close to your heart. We encourage activities of all sizes, from acts of kindness to large-scale community service projects. These are just a few ideas - the sky’s the limit! Don’t forget to register your project!
Issue: Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is already a problem for kids and teens today in a world where we are sharing our lives more and more on social media. Now that we are encouraged to stay inside, many of us are on the internet even more now and cyberbullying is becoming more frequent. Cyberbullying can have a really big impact on someone’s mental health, especially a kid’s or a teen’s.
What You Can Do:
- Create a public service announcement video for social media to stand up against cyberbullying
- Become an up-stander against cyberbullying at stopbullying.gov
- Encourage friends to join you in writing about a time you were cyberbullied and how it affected you. Then you can all post your stories to social media. You may encourage others to speak out about how they were cyberbullied
Issue: Essential Workers Rights
Right now, people with certain jobs are considered to be “essential workers” and they cannot stop working while we are all practicing isolation and quarantine. Before the coronavirus pandemic, many of these workers weren’t even making enough money to pay rent and support a family.
What You Can Do:
- Write a letter to your local government representative, saying that essential workers should earn a liveable wage
- Start an online petition that fights for essential workers to earn a living wage
- Leave a nice thank you letter on your garbage can for your garbage collectors
Issue: Racism + Systemic Injustice
Racism and its different forms is still an issue that we struggle with in today’s world. Chinese American and other Asian American citizens have been facing an increase in racism and race-based discrimination as the world has been dealing with fighting the coronavirus, simply because the first cases of the virus that the world knew of were found in Wuhan, China. Systemic racism and police brutality have become big topics around the world after the murder of people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
What You Can Do:
- Make a video reciting a poem against racism that others can listen to! Ideas for poems can he found here
- Use chalk to make some kind street art that speaks out against police brutality or systemic racism
- Educate friends and family members about the issues and stand up against racism when you see it happening. Get resources at EmbraceRace and ConsciousKid
Issue: Mental Health
Good mental health is very important to staying healthy and happy. Being stuck inside your house, bored all of the time due to Coronavirus can take a toll on your mental health.
What You Can Do:
- Make a funny Covid-19 or social distancing playlist and share it to a friend
- Host a movie watch party with your friends
- Check on your friends to see how they're doing while they’re stuck at home. Not being able to see friends in person may be taking a toll on some of them
Issue: COVID-19
The world may be slowly starting to open up more day by day, but it is still our responsibility to help keep the spread of the virus down and keep ourselves and those who have compromised immune systems safe and out of reach of COVID.
What You Can Do:
- Designate an hour a day to stay off of the internet to help save internet bandwidth for others who may need it to work from home. Do this for a week and convince some friends to do it as well!
- Make a flyer offering to do yard work for neighbors on Nov 30. Ask neighbors to put the flyer on their door if they are interested in your help with a note with what they need. This will limit interaction. (Idea courtesy GT Spark Leader, Michael)
- Create protective masks and equipment for yourself, a neighbor, or an essential worker in need.
GTKids Leader Khloe Thompson, created a video for a DIY face mask for those of us that use sewing machines or want to learn how to sew.
If you are able to provide PPE to health care workers in need or are in need yourself, check out Get Us PPE. This amazing organization lists numerous hospitals in need of protective gear and gives specific instructions, including drop-off points, for donating to each one.
Issue: Homelessness
Homelessness means people who do not have a place to stay. The word "homelessness" also includes people who sleep in warming centers, homeless shelters, or in abandoned buildings, parking garages, or other places not meant for humans to live in. Homelessness occurs for many reasons. It may happen when people or households are unable to buy and/or maintain housing they can afford. Rates of poverty and homelessness have unfortunately been increasing because of the pandemic.
What can you do:
- Fill gallon-sized ziploc bags with toiletries and other essential items and give them to people experiencing homelessness. Download the list of items here. (Idea courtesy GT Spark leader, Jahkil)
- Contact your local government and push them to create more affordable housing in your community
- Hold a community closet-cleaning day and encourage a large group of people to donate old clothes, furniture and other items to a local collection agency or homeless shelter.
Get more ideas for how to participate in GivingTuesdaySpark. Don’t forget to share your project on social media with hashtag #GivingTuesdaySpark and inspire your friends and followers to give back too. Together we can change the whole world.