How to Get Involved in the Austin Community

The Austin community has a great spirit.

That said, sometimes it becomes a little harder to get involved in that community after you have kids.

Don’t worry: at Sports Movement, we’re all about helping kids get involved in the community through sports and physical activity. This is why we’re going to share a few great ideas with you.

Generat10n Serve

Volunteer work is one of the best ways to get involved in the Austin community. One of the best ways to introduce young children the incredible benefits of volunteering is Generat10n Serve (previously Little Helping Hands).

Generat10n Serve’s Family Volunteering initiative gives families with children 3 years old and up the chance to participate in their various activities. You need to register your family as volunteers, but everything is built around helping you to get – and stay – involved.

Keep Austin Beautiful

Keep Austin Beautiful is aptly named. The initiative aims to help preserve the natural beauty of Hill Country as the city cements its position as a bustling tech hub.

Lady Bird Lake, the Zilker and Pease Parks, and Austin’s greenbelt hiking trails are some of the more common areas Keep Austin Beautiful works in to clean up trash and promote recycle-friendly systems.

These are some of the city’s fun activity spots for families that also promote an active lifestyle. Helping keep them clean not only gets you involved in the Austin community, but gets your kids active and healthy at the same time.

Austin Senior Games

The Austin Senior Games organization offers a vast array of opportunities to get involved with a part of the community often overlooked. Here are just a few of the events they organize:

Basketball Free Throw Event

Austin Senior Games Basket Ball Free Throw Event is one of those where only 2 volunteers are needed at a time. But it’s a great way to get involved in helping the elderly lead an active lifestyle – which is just as important for senior citizens as it is for kids.

Badminton Event

The Austin Senior Games Badminton Event is another event where a limited number of volunteers are asked to join, largely due to the isolated nature of the sport.

But, just like any other sport, it’s an important way in which you and your family can get involved with the Austin community in an active, healthy manner.

Cycling Event

Austin Senior Games’ Cycling Event requires far more volunteers than the other events we mentioned: 10 in total.

While helping run a cycling event isn’t quite as active as it sounds – you’ll most likely be spending most of it ushering cyclists on the set route – it’s still a great way to get moving while helping build the community.

Be sure to keep an eye on the Give Pulse website to stay updated on Austin Senior Games events.

Austin Pets Alive!

Many of Austin’s active residents involve their canine friends in their exercise routines, especially when it comes to jogging.

But, sadly, there are many dogs – and other animals – left without a home. And because Austin is America’s largest no-kill city, that number is often beyond the scope of our animal shelters.

This is where Austin Pets Alive! comes into the picture. There are a variety of opportunities to get involved, from walking dogs to helping with animal training.

If you and your kids have a love for animals, this is an amazing opportunity to sneak in some healthy exercise in a fun way while helping the animals who don’t have forever homes yet.

Urban Roots

This might be more of an opportunity for teens and adults than for young kids, but Urban Roots tackles another prevalent issue in the Austin community: food insecurity.

As the name implies, this is largely an opportunity to exercise one’s green fingers. The idea is to help teach citizens how to grow food (perhaps even start a vegetable garden at home).

Urban Roots has volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups, as well as (paid) youth internship programs on a sustainable urban farm.

Fresh Chefs Society

It doesn’t matter how experienced you are in the kitchen – being able to cook is a valuable life skill for all. Unfortunately, some don’t have naturally available ways to learn such skills.

Fresh Chefs Society aims to change that by relying on volunteers to teach disadvantaged youths how to prepare healthy meals. After all, a healthy diet is just as important as a healthy lifestyle.

Bake a Wish

Yes – Karen Nichols, the founder of Bake a Wish, named the non-profit similarly to the Make a Wish Foundation on purpose!

Originally a simple gesture, Bake a Wish has become a firm favorite in the Austin community.

Any time a request for a cake, pastry, or other baked goods comes in for orphans, those with a disability, or the elderly in need, Nichols shares it with the Bake a Wish network. Volunteers with the necessary skill levels, equipment, and budget can then sign up for the task.

Bake a Wish also asks for help with collecting and delivering the baked gifts, as well as monetary donations.

Foundation for the Homeless

More than 2,000 (perhaps closer to 3,000) estimated people experience homelessness every night in Austin.

There are a number of ways in which you can get involved in helping alleviate that situation – be sure to fill out a volunteer form on the Foundation for the Homeless website to find opportunities if interested.

Some of the biggest areas include assisting with viable housing solutions, finding gainful employment, childcare, and education.

Conclusion

If you know of any opportunities you’re involved in, be sure to leave us a comment below!

Sports Movement also offers several different youth sports programs for soccer and cricket, so if you know an underprivileged child you would like to sponsor, take a look at what we have to offer.