4 Ways To Support Your Community
Your local community is only as thriving and vibrant as its citizens, and if you want to live in a great community, you should support it to make it the best it can be. There are a number of easy things that you can do to support your local community.
Eat at Local Restaurants in Your Area
When you are hankering for a bite to eat, instead of opting for a national chain restaurant, choose instead to dine at the best local restaurants in your area. There are a number of great reasons to choose to eat local. One, if fosters community. The casual encounters you have with other people in your community at the restaurant can lead to stronger connections. Two, you will end up strengthen your local economy. According to the data, approximately 48% of each purchase at a local establishment recirculates into the local economy, as opposed to less than 14% that is recirculated from a chain. The third reason to eat a local restaurant is that local establishments tend to have a smaller ecological footprint than those larger establishments. They tend to use up less land and use more local products. For more information on local restaurants, contact a local outlet, such as Voted Best of America.
Shop at Local Thrift Stores
One easy way to support your community is to shop at thrift shops that are local to your area. Often times local thrift shops will give their proceeds to your local homeless shelter or charities, rather than large national charities. If you don't like thrift shopping, you can support your community by donating your old, no longer needed items to a local thrift shop instead.
Donate To Your Local Food Pantry
When people in your community are going through a hard time, they have your local food pantry to turn to to make sure that they don't go hungry. Food pantries rely on the goodness of the community to stay stocked and keep running. An easy way to help your community is to simply, when you buy canned goods, buy double the amount that you need and give the extras to your food pantry.
Volunteer Your Time and Skills
Community focused classes are possible due to volunteers who help teach skills to the community. If you have a special skill, you could volunteer to teach a class. For example, if you are an accountant, you could volunteer to teach a tax preparation class. If you don't feel like you have any special skills, you can volunteer your time to projects going on in the community.