Help other people

Help Others | Mental Health America

HOW HELPING OTHERS HELPS YOU

If you lug your elderly neighbor's groceries up her steps, clearly it's good for her. But did you know that it's likely good for you too?

Research indicates that those who consistently help other people experience less depression, greater calm, fewer pains and better health. They may even live longer.

Consider some recent research:

Students who performed five acts of kindness a day increased their happiness
Providing emotional support to others significantly decreased the harmful health effects of certain kinds of stress among older people
People who donated money to charity got a boost in a feel-good part of the brain, as revealed in brain imaging research

Doing good can make you feel good. It might

remind you that you're relatively lucky
make you feel connected to others
help you feel needed and effective
take your mind off your own worries for a while
make you feel generous
add a sense of purpose and meaning to your life

HINTS ON HELPING

Consider these tips for helping others—and yourself:

Don't feel like you have to make grand gestures or huge time commitments. Sure, helping can mean serving meals at a homeless shelter every week. But it also can mean:
- Calling a friend to see how she's doing
- Serving your spouse breakfast in bed
- Letting a car in front of you on the highway
- Smiling at a stranger in the street
- Holding the elevator door for your co-worker
Vary your acts of generosity to prevent the experience from becoming ho-hum, advises happiness researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, who also found that doing several kindnesses in one day gives the best boost.
Beware of taking on too much, or you'll risk feeling resentful. When asked a favor, think it over before saying yes.

WAYS TO VOLUNTEER

If you want to volunteer for an organization, invest in finding the right match. If you like to

read... consider volunteering at a school or tutoring program
work outdoors... try volunteering to clean up a local park
speak another language. ... perhaps work with immigrants
work at home... make fundraising calls
play sports... volunteer as a coach
promote health... try a local hospital or clinic

Whatever you choose, ask if the group will provide support for your efforts, like training or a contact to answer questions that arise.

To find volunteer opportunities, call your city or county information line for the contact information for a volunteer coordinator service. You also can check your Yellow Pages under "Volunteer Clearinghouse" or "Volunteer Center" or find options online at Volunteermatch.org. Your local Mental Health America affiliate office also may be looking for volunteers.

Reviewed by Stephen G. Post, director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics at Stony Brook University and author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People: The Exciting New Science That Proves the Link Between Doing Good and Living a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life .

100 Ways to Help Others Even If You're Not Rich

Helping the Poor

Published Nov 28, 2021

When we talk of helping others, the first thing we usually think of is giving them material things or making cash donations. But there are a lot of ways to help others that don’t involve spending money.

Helping people isn’t just for those with millions in their bank accounts. Each and every one of us has something that we can offer to others. Be it your time, your knowledge, or your ability to crack some really good jokes – all of these can go a long way in making people’s lives a lot less hard. Just imagine how different the world would be if all of us strive to help one another.

If you’re wondering how you can serve others in your own little way, here are 100 ways to help others even if you’re not rich:

Donate old clothes and shoes.
Be a patient listener.
Donate blood.
Volunteer at a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
Compliment someone to increase their self-worth.
Spread positivity.
Be on time.
Congratulate someone when they did something courageous.
Pick up trash in public areas even if it’s not yours.
Teach children to be kind to everyone.
Share your knowledge and expertise.
Believe that there’s goodness in everyone.
Keep your word.
Buy local and support small businesses.
Volunteer at the pound or animal shelter.
Park your car properly. Make sure it won’t cause traffic or impede pedestrian movement.
Respect everyone’s beliefs.
Understand instead of passing judgment.
Let others cut in front of you in traffic.
Thank the people who rarely get gratitude like the service workers, housekeeping staff, and the security personnel.
Avoid single-use plastics or styrofoam as much as possible.
Clean up your mess to lessen the cleaning staff’s work.
Help someone put together a resume to find a job.
Talk to the people that nobody bothers to talk to like the cleaning staff, the grocery bagger, etc.
Let the person with an armful of groceries go in front of you in line.
Help an elderly or disabled neighbor with yard work.
Give directions to someone who is lost.
Return your own or other people’s grocery cart so the store staff won’t have to.
Give away extra fruits and vegetables you harvested from your garden.
Say only kind words, especially on the internet.
Offer your bus or subway seat to a pregnant woman or the elderly.
Share your food with someone who can’t afford a meal.
Give restaurant coupons and vouchers to poor and homeless people.
Give away seedlings and cuttings from your yard.
Lend a hand to someone in a wheelchair.
Donate books you have already read to a public library, an orphanage, or any local charity.
Make new neighbors feel welcome.
Use your social media to give voice to the voiceless.
Comfort someone who just lost a loved one.
Encourage someone who’s just been through a big disappointment.
Organize a garage sale and donate the proceeds to charity.
Bring food to a sick friend.
Smile. You never know whose day you brighten with your smile.
Visit a nursing home and talk to residents who don’t get visits from family and friends.
Give the coupons you’re not going to use to people who need them the most.
Offer to run errands for your elderly or disabled neighbors.
Practice proper waste segregation.
Offer to babysit kids for a single parent who’s struggling with work and childcare.
Hold the door for someone else.
Send an encouraging note to someone you know who’s having a difficult time.
Give your used but still functional luggage to foster kids. They often don’t have anything to pack their clothes in when moving from one foster home to another.
If you can, help someone who is trying to reach something high on a shelf in the grocery store.

Donate old coats and blankets to local shelters.
If you’re going to a grocery store or pharmacy, check with the neighbors if they need something to pick up too.
Collect stuffed animals from family and friends and send them to the children’s ward at your local hospital.
Collect used baby clothes from people you know and donate them to a women’s shelter.
Teach your children the importance of giving back.
Give credit to where credit is due.
Help stray animals find their forever home.
Never make fun of someone else’s misfortune.
Donate your kid’s old bikes to children who have to walk to school.
Practice compassion. Put yourself in other people’s shoes.
Talk to people who are having a hard time socializing.
Forgive the people who have wronged you even before they asked for it.
Be polite to everyone.
Leave a newspaper or magazine you’ve read in a coffee house or the bus stop so someone can read it after you.
Don’t badmouth someone, even your enemies.
Ask for forgiveness from someone you’ve hurt.
Conserve water and energy so other people can make use of it too.
Stick up for someone who you know has been treated wrongly.
Help a pregnant woman pick up items from the floor.
Tell someone the truth even if they may not like it.
Encourage your kids to do small acts of kindness towards other people.
Be someone’s exercise buddy to encourage them to lose weight.
Take time to write a great review whenever you like the food or have received great service.
Give out simple care packages to people you see on the street.
Help someone struggling to carry their grocery bags.
Plant a tree.
Donate your old glasses to organizations helping visually impaired people.
Campaign for a cause you believe in.
Help a coworker who’s struggling to get all their tasks done in time for the deadline.
Make friends with someone new to the company.
Invite a new neighbor over for dinner or barbecue to introduce them to the community.
Invite a neighbor or coworker who’s alone for the holidays.
Cook large portions of food and share some with your neighbors who are struggling.
Build a mini public library in your yard and invite other people to come read the books or donate their used books.

Do chores for a family member who could use some extra free time.
Offer a ride to your neighbor who doesn’t have a car or whose car has broken down.
Provide roadside assistance like changing a tire or calling a towing service.
Help someone achieve a goal – as long as it won’t hurt someone.
Lend your tools and equipment to a neighbor who needs them.
Donate your old laptop to students who can’t afford one.
Share inspiring quotes and stories on your social media accounts.
Give others the opportunity to express their thoughts and ideas.
Let a friend crash on your couch while they’re looking for a new apartment.
Bake some cookies and leave them in the break room at work.
Befriend people who are considered outcasts in society.
Promote your friend’s business.
Stay calm even when people are being rude to you.
Live a kind of life that will inspire others.

Donate To The Poor & Homeless Of South Florida

Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen has fed the poor and homeless in South Florida over 900,000 hot meals since 1993. Our tax deductible non profit organization also accepts and distributes donations such as clothing, toiletries, shoes, bicycles, and more. You can donate to help the poor and homeless through our website.

Judy Ponio is a professional writer and devoted Christian. She has a passion for writing about topics related to morality and helping the poor and homeless. She is the lead author for the Our Father’s House Soup Kitchen blog.

Correct Digital, Inc is paid by private donors to provide website digital marketing services to this non-profit organization.

12 Places to Donate Old Eyeglasses in the US 10 Places to Donate Toys to Children in Need

11 Ways to Help Others - Study Buddhism

So many people and animals suffer every day. Of course, each of them needs individual help, but it all depends on our ability to understand their situation and see how we can help. To be truly helpful, it is not enough to be compassionate or have some skill. We also need generosity with our time, self-discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom. Here are 11 ways to help others. By practicing them, we not only help those in need, but also break out of the shell of our own loneliness, filling life with meaning. nine0005

1. Take care of those who are suffering

We need to take care of the sick, the disabled, people in pain. When we meet those who have a great responsibility or a difficult task and who need our immediate help, we enter into their position and share their burden as much as we can.

2. Guiding those who are confused and do not know what to do

When we meet people who are confused and do not know what to do in difficult situations, we help them with advice if they ask it, or simply by listening to them. If our dog or cat is locked in a room, we open the door to let it out. We apply this principle even when a fly is crawling on the window. The fly doesn't want to be in our room, it wants to fly away, so we open the window to let it out. nine0005

3. Thank for the kindness of those who helped us

It is important to appreciate the work of all people who make our world a better place, and try to help those who have given a lot to us personally, such as our parents. It is important to do this not out of guilt or duty, but out of sincere gratitude.

4. Reassure and protect those who are afraid

We try to calm frightened people and animals. If another person needs to go to an unsafe place where they can be harmed, we offer our company and protect them. For refugees who have escaped violence, we provide security and help to settle in. Those who have been traumatized by war or who have been subjected to any form of violence especially need our understanding and help to heal their emotional wounds. nine0005

5. Comfort those who are sad

We try to comfort those who are sad, such as those who have lost a loved one or are divorced, with compassion. No need to treat them with condescension: "Oh, you are poor." We try to put ourselves in their position and share their pain.

6. Helping the poor financially

It is important not only to donate to charitable organizations, but also to give alms to the poor we see on the streets. We need to get over the squeamishness, especially if the homeless beggars look dirty and repulsive so that we don't even want to look at them, let alone smile and treat them with respect. Imagine if this person living on the street were your grandmother or son: could you just walk by with a cold heart, as if they were pieces of stinking garbage? nine0005

7. To introduce the Dharma to those who are attached to us

We also need to help those who want to spend a lot of time with us. We do not want these people to depend on us, but if they have a very strong karmic connection with us, we can try to help them. If they are interested, we can teach them Buddhist methods to achieve happiness and be able to help others. The point is not to convert them to Buddhism: we just help and give advice. In this way we can make our relationships more meaningful. nine0005

8. Helping others according to their desires

In helping others, we try to do it according to their preferences and desires. When others ask us to teach them something, and we can do it and see that it will be useful, it is important to help, even if this is not our favorite activity. When we go to a restaurant with friends, it would be impolite and selfish to always insist on the place we love. From time to time, one should agree with the preferences of others. As in relationships, we need to find a compromise between what we love and what the other person likes. Not everything should depend on us and our preferences. nine0005

9. Praise those who live honestly

We can also help by giving encouragement to those who lead honest lives - have positive attitudes and work well. It is important not to overdo it, so that they do not become arrogant. This is especially important for people with low self-esteem. If a person has virtues, but he is too proud of them, you can praise him in the presence of others, but not in person. We encourage them to use their abilities to help others, but we also lessen their pride by pointing out their shortcomings. nine0005

10. Teaching constructive behavior to those who lead a destructive lifestyle

When we meet those who lead a destructive lifestyle, we should not simply reject or curse such people. Instead of judging, we try to show them how to change bad habits if they are receptive to it.

11. Use extraordinary abilities when all else fails

Some of us have abilities that are beyond the ordinary. For example, we may be martial artists, but we do not like to advertise our abilities. But if we see that someone has been attacked, we need to use our skill to pacify the attacker, if it is impossible to stop him in another way. nine0005

Video: Matthew Ricard - "The Benefits of Altruism"
To enable subtitles, click on the "Subtitles" icon in the lower right corner of the video window. You can change the subtitle language by clicking on the "Settings" icon.

There are many ways to help others. But skill lies not only in seeing how, to whom and with what to help. It is also important for us to understand when to offer help and when to take a step back so that others learn to help themselves. Those who are truly suffering, physically or emotionally, need our immediate care. But help is always needed in the right degree—not too much and not too little. It is important to help those who have experienced adversity return to normal life, but perhaps the best long-term assistance is to provide conditions and methods so that others can go ahead and take care of themselves. nine0005

How to help people? 6 tips

How to help people if sometimes you need help yourself? Why is charity associated with material support? When is the time to help another and how to understand it? If you want to learn how to help others, but do it wisely - here you will find your answer. Help is a relationship between people that is built on trust. How to awaken the warmth in yourself, learn gratitude? We offer advice for all occasions. nine0005

How to help people or what is humanity?

You walk down the street and see these poor animals who are looking for food, you look at pensioners who beg for alms and . .. you pass by. You go online and see a banner asking you to help the orphanage, you go to social networks, and they are looking for volunteers to clean up the forest. How to stop being indifferent and be able to overcome selfishness? The age-old idea that social services should work, that the government should help is a stereotype of millions of people. nine0005

But the truth says: "Help your neighbor, and you will be rewarded twice." How to help people without looking for excuses with a light soul? Critical situations can happen to anyone, so no one is immune. Children, whose fate has brought them to orphanage, the elderly, who live their lives in poverty, suffer especially. Everyone needs support, compassion to some extent, but not everyone sees someone else's pain.

Take the Empathy Test

Help is a voluntary act. Few people will pay attention to the problems of the environment, if they do not focus on it. Few people will think about the disabled, if not to say it by word of mouth. People always find a way to communicate, adapt, but no one has canceled good deeds! nine0005

If we now experience joy, success, live happily, then someone cries, suffers and feels hopelessness. How to help others if you yourself have not known this feeling in your direction? Egoism is a bad thing. It makes a person callous, blind in relation to society. Did a friend take you on a train, lend you a sum of money? And then this friend realizes that he cannot count on a conversation in a difficult moment and remains abandoned, because you do not have time. The exchange between people should always be present, even if help has not yet been received in your direction. nine0005

The answer to the question "how to help people?" it is very easy to find - he sleeps in the person himself. The ability to see the truth that was hidden under the mass of negativity and selfishness is simple!

Elementary ways to help your neighbor.

How to help people without leaving home? We will find everything on the Internet, where global life is constantly in full swing. Learn about problems in a neighboring country, read the news in your city, talk to the person who posted the “I need help!” post. It is enough to become interested in the topic of charity, as we immediately find hundreds of options to make a contribution. Why "immediately"? Now everything is freely available, and people are actively disseminating information. Why not teach English in schools for free? And what about the idea of participating in landscaping, cleaning parks in your city? A person is able to direct his efforts in a positive direction. The main thing is to want to change the world around. nine0005

Helping others can take many forms. Animal protection organization needs pet food, it is required to create a social video, highlight a global problem - such activities stimulate a person to action. Many do not think about how helping others makes a person happy. Inside, he feels needed, takes root in the work and fills himself with great knowledge.

Want to support orphans? You can make cute cards for them, buy fruits, sweets and take them to an orphanage. I have a dream to travel, but with a sense - a great option is to take care of elephants, feed turtles in Asian countries, help the deaf and dumb in Europe, etc. Such activities not only stimulate our consciousness, but also enable creativity. The probability of being in a negative mood and saying “I have nothing to do, I’m bored” definitely disappears! nine0005

How to help people? First of all, pay attention to the circle of close people. Did you manage to move away from your parents, but rarely keep in touch with them? It is worth asking what they need, how they are doing, to bestow care. It is important to sincerely want to contribute to their lives. From the outside it seems that everything is fine with friends, but in reality they have nowhere to turn. Do elderly neighbors live nearby? It would be worth buying them groceries, helping them carry their bags to the fifth floor. Words, deeds are needed not only by relatives, friends, but also by absolutely strangers. It’s elementary to give up your seat in the transport, move the old woman across the road, support the door for the loader with the goods in his hands. nine0005

Every day each of us can be a superhero who sows a seed of goodness. How to help people? Fill someone's life with meaning that will motivate you to be active. Good deeds are possible wherever we can remember our neighbor. It is important to realize that true love is expressed not only in material values, but also in moral qualities.

Take the test: optimist or pessimist

How to help people?

1. Become a volunteer.

You can help the unprotected layer of the population anywhere and anytime. For example, donate blood at transfusion stations and help hospitals with the same. It is possible to be Santa Claus or the Snow Maiden in orphanages, and give sweets to orphans. Sell handicrafts, and give the proceeds to public organizations. Volunteering is a calling for those who are ready to donate a little of their time and efforts for the benefit of others. Volunteering is an activity that is not connected with self-interest and profit. nine0005

2.

Make a financial contribution.

Today it is difficult to imagine the construction of rehabilitation centers, animal shelters, and the treatment of diseases without funding. Sometimes there is simply no time for self-help. It is optimal to allocate a certain amount for the purchase of books, clothes for orphans, the purchase of food for zoos, the distribution of food to the poor in heating centers. Sometimes you can deny yourself the purchase of another fashionable thing, and think about your neighbor.

3. Give helpful advice. nine0102

In correspondence with a friend, did you notice that she had psychological problems? You can temporarily be a psychologist and try to solve the issue together. Personal knowledge can become saving for another. This will not only strengthen the relationship with the person, but also deepen personal knowledge.

4. Do charity work.

How to help others if you are not interested in global, social problems? Charity is a broader concept than volunteering.

Learn more