Making a Difference in the Heat: ways to help others during summer

Homeless woman sitting on a city sidewalkPhoto byDean Moriarty

Arizona summers are always hot, and monsoon season has arrived. According to AZCentral.com the National Weather Service has predicted that we are going to have below normal precipitation this year along with above normal temperatures. It looks like Arizonans will have a hot and dry summer. The heat sometimes makes it difficult for to go outside, yet there are people who live out in the heat on a regular basis.

It’s a time of year when some folks need help, including those who sleep under the stars. Most of us like to help others when we can, and we all do it in our own way. Some help with money, some with service, and others with a smile on a sad day. If you need ideas, here are few ways to help others without drowning in your own perspiration.

• Pick up a case of bottled water and a cooler that fits easily into your vehicle. Whenever you're going to be driving around, fill up the cooler with ice or cool packs and water bottles. Hand them out to the folks panhandling on the corner or others you see who look like they could use some hydration.
• Collect a bunch of make-up bags, then fill them with sanitary products for women to hand out to the women at the corners flying signs, or donate to food banks or shelters.
• Using larger make up bags, put together kits that are useful to women at work, such as sanitary products, small sewing kits, lip balm, hand sanitizer - anything that you think someone might wish they had but probably don't. Donate these to non-profits that help women find work and outfit them for interviews and jobs.
• Start a fundraiser for a local, state, or national charity. You can create a challenge drive event at You Give Goods, and you don't even have to leave your home!
• Look close to home. Is there someone in your family or your neighborhood who can use a hand somehow?
• Just keep your eyes open - you never know where you'll see an opportunity to help someone else.

Maybe it will be just saying hello to someone who is lonely, and you won't even know how much you've lifted them.

All that matters in the long run is that they know.