resolution resolve: serena & lily world repair kit

There are all kinds of resolutions that can be made when the calendar flips to a new year. And while trying to improve ourselves is always worthy, I think the best goals are the ones that involve helping others and making our communities or world a better place to live in. 

On Serena & Lily's website, I found the World Repair Kit.  Inside the kit is a guidebook, stamps, stickers, and a passport to track progress. It is geared for children, but also for families to work together. The kit fosters engagement with the world around us and gives children a sense of agency and lets them know that they can help to make meaningful change. Throughout the guidebook, kids are encouraged to believe in themselves and to create goals to work toward. 

The guidebook's illustrations are graphic and fun, and clearly illustrate big concepts in easy to understand ways. I love this kit because it empowers kids to take on serious issues in age-appropriate language and also offers them ways to help that play to their individual interests or talents: Issues discussed include homelessness, environmental conservation, protecting endangered species, hands-on ways to help those in need of clean water, shelter, food, education, and health care, and being a good citizen of the world. Holding a clothing drive or bake sale, creating friendship bracelets to sell, and hosting a world repair party are just some of the kid-friendly ideas suggested.

100% of the profits from the kit go to the Serena & Lily Foundation which funds youth initiatives worldwide.

Though the kit is recommended and most appropriate for kids ages 8 and up, it's never too early to teach children about the world and our place in it, and our responsibility for making it better. My non-personal goal this year is to do more volunteering because I really miss it, and I want to get my four-year-old daughter involved. My parents involved us in service projects at a young age and I have no doubt that it played a significant role in my lifelong interest in volunteering and affected my perspective on the world. 

I distinctly remember going with my parents to load bags for a food bank to deliver, my earliest memory of volunteering. Since then I've helped package meals, cook meals, serve meals, organized a toy drive, helped shop for winter necessities for families, all for various organizations, but I know I can, and should, do so much more.

Do you volunteer? Do you involve your kids? I'd love to hear about the causes that matter to you!

images via serena & lily

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