The following is a list of bar and bat mitzvah projects and community service projects for high school students. We have done all of these projects and helped kids and teens to do them also. We are happy to help you organize your project and have easy to follow instructions for the craft projects suggested below.
If you can help us with one or more projects, please sign up and let us know.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Host a stand to help cure pediatric cancer! All you need is one person, some cookies or other treats and lemonade and you are in the business of curing cancer! We can provide all of the information you need for this fun and easy project.
Animals
- Volunteer your time and love to help care animals in local shelters.
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Dog toys — We provide simple instructions so you can make toys for dogs and donate them to the SPCA or another animal shelter in your area. These toys are easy to make and they are fun.
- Fleece Dog Toys
- Rope Dog Toys
- Cat Toys — We provide instructions for toys with cat nip inside (requires sewing).
- Pet Therapy Dogs — Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities have residents who will be delighted to see your pet! Many facilities have short training sessions for you and your pet to get you started.
Baby Shower
Teen mothers and Grandmothers are raising children in every community. Place a crib or pack–n–play in the lobby of your church, synagogue or school. Ask participants to donate new baby gear and watch the crib fill up with everything from diapers to baby clothes! We can help you find a place to donate the wonderful items you collect.
Bagged Breakfasts and Lunches
You can make breakfast or lunch for a person who is homeless in about 5 minutes! These same bagged breakfasts and lunches can be provided to parents at area Ronald McDonald Houses. It is costly to have to eat out three meals every day when you have a chronically ill child receiving medical treatment. A bagged meal can be taken to any procedure and eaten on the run.
Birthday Parties
Your Mitzvah Circle Birthday Party — a party that makes a difference. We provide a birthday kit that you can share with your guests. You host a party and donate gifts to Mitzvah Circle Foundation. We send these gifts directly to people with serious illness or living in poverty. You will be surprised how much joy this brings to both the donors and the recipients.
Blanket Making
No sew fleece blankets are an easy relaxing activity that can benefit a wide variety of recipients. We provide the instructions. We can also suggest where these wonderful warm blankets are needed. Save the scraps and we can tell you how a school for the blind used all of our extra pieces of fleece!
Board Game Collection
We have been collecting gently used board games for ten years! Children in after school day care programs at community centers are delighted to play board games after school. Many children, especially those in inner cities, no longer play board games. This is an unfortunate finding, as board games teach children about following rules, being fair, and learning about conflict resolution.
Books
Collect gently used or new books in your school or neighborhood. Many children’s hospitals, schools and after school programs are in need of these items and welcome your contribution.
Camp Collection
Many kids get camp scholarships but do not have the supplies to attend and fully participate in all of the activities offered. Host a summer camp collection asking others to donate towels, flip flops, water shoes, camp bags, water bottles and anything else you can think of. We will help you find the recipients!
Cemetery Beautification
Is there a cemetery in your neighborhood that looks neglected? Most synagogues and churches have cemeteries that could use a little extra care. Cemetery clean up at holidays, or the placement of flags for Memorial Day can be a meaningful experience.
Cooking
Cooking is a wonderful intergenerational, community building activity. There are many simple but delicious meals that can be prepared when cooking with a group or alone. Meals can be delivered immediately or frozen to be donated at a later date. Families in need, Food Banks and shelters will be delighted to sample your delicious cooking.
Craft Projects
There are dozens of craft projects that can warm the hearts of young and old alike. If you are someone who likes to crochet or knit, gloves, scarves and afghans are always needed by our youngest babies and the most vulnerable senior citizens. Tzedakah Boxes, pot holders, refrigerator magnets, picture frames and door decorations, are just a few of the projects that can be distributed and enjoyed by a wide variety of recipients.
DVD Collection
Many hospitals and Neighborhood Centers have DVD players for the purpose of entertaining and education. However, most are very limited in their selection. Many people right in our own back yard have DVDs that they no longer watch or that their children have outgrown. Collect some DVDs and donate them! This is an easy way to brighten someone’s day!
Homeless
There are so many items that can be created and collected for homeless shelters. Did you know that homeless shelters are in need of warm socks all winter long? What would happen if every person we know provided five pairs of warm socks to an area shelter? There would be many fewer homeless people freezing on our streets this winter.
- Hats & Gloves are needed! (See winter glove collection.)
- No Sew Fleece Blankets (Please see Blanket Making.)
Jared Boxes
We have created hundreds of Jared Boxes for chronically ill children. A Jared Box is a plastic shoe box which contains hand held toys, games and craft supplies for children receiving chemotherapy or other medical treatments. This individualized box stays at the hospital so that each child has something special to play with during this difficult time. Collecting the items for Jared Boxes is easy and rewarding!
Knitting Projects
Knitting and crocheting are wonderful hobbies enjoyed by young and old alike. At Mitzvah Circle our yarn-crafters are a multigenerational group who live in different cities and take on many different projects.
Hats 4 Homeless is just one of our knitting projects where volunteers create hats, gloves and mittens for recipients who live in shelters or on the streets in cities across our country. We also encourage knitting and crocheting for babies and young children in our Knit 4 Kids program so that all babies and young children can have a new clean hat or a blanket to keep them warm. There are kids in communities, schools and daycare centers who are in desperate need of these items.
Leading Religious Services in Assisted Living & Nursing Home Communities
When older folks can not get out it is such a blessing when the world can come to them! Lead a religious service or celebrate a holiday at an area nursing home. You will bring great happiness to the residents and add meaning to their lives.
Lids for Kids
Collect new hats at your school, synagogue, church or in your neighborhood. These can be donated to local pediatric cancer centers for kids with cancer.
Projects Related to Nature
There are wonderful projects related to conservation and preservation. The EPA has a program where individuals and groups can adopt a watershed along side local community based projects that work to clean up local streams and monitor the water.
Recycling
There are so many items that can be collected for the purposes of recycling:
- Printer Cartridges
- Cell Phones (which are often donated to senior citizens for emergencies or for victims of domestic violence).
- Tabs from soda cans
- Eye glasses
You may also want to increase the recycling system in your school, church, or synagogue.
Sports Equipment
If everyone cleaned out their garage and basement there would be a lot of extra used sports equipment! There are children who are not able to play sports because they do not have the necessary equipment. There are neighborhood community centers that have basketball courts and no basketballs. You can collect used or new sports equipment and bring the thrill of team sports to other kids who may not otherwise have the opportunity to play.
Winter Hat and Glove Collection
There are outreach workers who distribute hats and gloves in the winter months to homeless people living on the streets. Every winter Mitzvah Circle Foundation collects hundreds of pairs of gloves and warm hats and delivers them to outreach workers and homeless shelters. A pair of gloves on a winter’s night can change a life.
Words of Hope
Create a scrap book for chronically ill children filled with drawings and words of encouragement. You can make this yourself, with a friend or even a small group or class. This is certain to lift the spirits of children and their families.
