Small communities seem to face a constant struggle everyday. We all need to come together as a community in order for our communities to grow and stay strong. Here are some ways that you can help.

Volunteer Your Time. Whether you are young or old, volunteering your time is something easy and very beneficial that you can do to help your community. Ways to volunteer your time could be as simple as cleaning up your neighborhood, reading to children in a classroom or helping at your local community center or senior citizen center. Volunteering your time to help your community is beneficial not only to your community but it builds character in younger people.

Organize An Awareness Event. This can encompass any part of your community. It can be as small as a benefit for a local community member in need of funding for medical or crisis relief. It can be as big as gathering the businesses in your community for a local party in the park or indoor event center. Things to focus on are getting your community recognized for what it has to offer and bring people to your community.

Head A Project. Talking to your local Chamber of Commerce can lead you in the right direction for making a big city-wide difference in your community. Do a city-wide poll about what people think that their community needs and work to make it happen. Get in contact with your community Development Authority.

Host A Week Long Food Drive. Set up a table at the local supermarket and have a week long food drive. The best time to do this is near the holiday that people make a big meal on. For example Christmas and Thanksgiving. Ask for only one non-perishable food item to help make someones holiday by being able to give them their holiday meal. Once that is done, sort the food into meal size ranging from three to six people and deliver the food to people in your community that are in need for the holidays. You can most likely find this out by talking with your local food bank about helping out and also the Department of Public Health and Human Services. They can usually give you information or head you in the right direction.

Toys For A Cause. Another way to help people in your community is by donating all your extra toys for children in need. Many kids don't get a thing for Christmas while many get everything. Help out by giving your extra or lightly used toys to an organization that does a Toys For Tots or organize one yourself. A good way to gather extra toys is by talking to the local businesses about setting up a box or crate in their business that let's people drop off their extras and have you pick them up once a day or twice or more a week. Businesses that work great for this are grocery stores, local department stores or even your local Boys and Girls Club.

Speaking Out. If you feel that there is a need in your community or you have an idea that you think is worth trying in your community you should speak out. Great ways to get involved are by going to your city council meetings and voicing your concerns and discuss the type of change you would like to see in your community. You could also do research about your ideas so you are able to share, with the city coucil, they ways that the city could go about implementing these changes.

There are many things throughout your community that you can do to make a difference. The only thing you really need to do to make a difference is to be motivated and try.

小社區似乎每天都面臨著不斷的競爭。為了幫助社區成長壯大，我們都需要團結一致。下面的一些方法對你會有幫助。

 獻出你的時間。不管年輕還是年老，騰出時間為你的社區做點事情，這是很容易的，而且很有益處。你可以采用這些簡單的方法：比如為你的鄰居打掃衛生，在教室里給孩子朗讀，或者在本地的社區中心或老年服務中心效勞。騰出時間來服務你的社區，不僅讓社區得到幫助，而且對塑造年輕人的性格大有裨益。

 組織一次宣傳活動。宣傳活動可以包括你社區的任何部分，小到為需要醫療或危機救濟基金的社區成員提供服務，大到將社區企業集中起來，在公園或室內活動中心舉行一次活動。核心問題是讓社區明白它能提供何種服務，并吸引人們來你的社區。

 負責一個項目。與本地商會進行一次對話，可以讓你明白做些什么能讓你的社區魅力非凡。在全市范圍內進行一次調查，了解人們認為社區需要什么，并努力使之成為現實。請與你的社區發展局保持聯系。

 主辦為期一周的食物募捐活動。在本地超市搭一個募捐臺，進行為期一周的食物募捐活動。最佳時機是在假日來臨前，人們就要享受饕餮大餐的時候，比如圣誕節和感恩節。要提供不易腐爛的食物，幫助人們度過假日好時光。然后根據食量多少，以三至六人為一組對食物進行分類，并提供給社區里假期需要食物的人。通過與本地的食物銀行以及公眾健康和人類服務部進行對話，討論如何幫助人們度過難關，對你可能很有幫助。他們通常能為你提供信息或指明方向。

 將玩具當成事業。另一種服務社區的方法是為兒童捐出你多余的玩具。很多孩子圣誕節有玩具，而很多孩子卻沒有。將你多余的或沒怎么用過的玩具捐給某個“為了孩子的玩具”組織，或者由你自己組織捐贈活動。收集玩具的一個好方法是與本地企業進行洽談，在他們的企業搭建一個盒子或者木箱，讓人們將多余的玩具放在里面，每天清點一次，或者每周清點兩次或多次。做這項重要工作的企業一般是雜貨店，本地百貨商店，甚至是本地的男孩和女孩俱樂部。

 說出你的想法。如果你認為社區有需要，或你有值得一試的想法，就應該大膽說出來。有個好辦法：去你的城市議會會議，表達出你的關注，并討論你想看到的社區變化。你可以好好研究一下你的想法，讓你能與市議會分享。他們會列舉出一些可行的方法，來實現這些變化。

 在社區你可以大有作為。你唯一要做的就是放手去做，這會讓你與眾不同。