Hint: This could be your school, neighborhood, a particular group of people, etc.

Some ideas for what your community might be include:  

• Online Community 
• Rural or Farming Community 
• Immigrant or Refugee Community 
• Senior Citizen Community 
• Cultural or Ethnic Community 
• Animals  
• Environment 
• Local Neighborhood 
• School 

Hint: How do you know that this is a problem? Have you experienced it yourself? Have you seen it happen? Have you read any articles or done any surveys that show that this is a problem? Do you have any data that shows that this is a problem? 

There are lots of ways to discover a problem that affects a community you care deeply about. Here are some ideas:  

• Environmental Concerns: You might be passionate about the environment and care about issues like pollution, littering, deforestation, and the well-being of animals. 
• Bullying: Bullying can be a big issue for students. You may want to help make sure other people at your school feel included and that people are kind to each other. 
• Community Cleanliness: If you have noticed litter and trash in your neighborhood or at school, you may want to organize clean-up efforts to keep the area looking nice. 
• Animal Welfare: You might care deeply about animals and may want to help strays, help people be good pet owners, or support animal shelters. 
• Hunger and Homelessness: You may know that there are some people in your community who are struggling with hunger or homelessness. You may want to start food drives or fundraisers to help those in need. 
• Education: Maybe you have noticed some things that you want to improve about your school, like better playground equipment or more interesting lessons. 
• Health and Wellness: Health-related issues like exercise, healthy eating, or mental health might also be interesting to you. 
• Cultural and Diversity Awareness: You might be interested in helping people understand and appreciate different cultures and backgrounds in your school or community. 

Hint: Help us understand your whole idea and why you think it is a solution to the problem you identified. Think of what you need to do from now on, step by step, to solve the problem you found. Do you need to tell even more people about it? What supplies or resources do you need? Do you need to ask for help from the people around you? 

No idea is too big or too small! Here are some ideas for social projects that you might be interested in doing to make a positive impact on your community: 

• Trash Cleanup: Organize a community clean-up event to pick up litter and make sure local parks, playgrounds, or streets look nice. 
• Kindness Rocks: Paint inspirational messages or artwork on rocks and leave them around the community to spread happiness. 
• Book Swap: Set up a book exchange station where people can donate and borrow books for free to help support reading and a sense of community. 
• Thank You Cards: Create and send handmade thank you cards to local firefighters, police officers, teachers, healthcare workers, or others to show appreciation. 
• Community Art Project: Organize an art project where community members create colorful murals or paintings to decorate public spaces. 
• Senior Outreach: Visit a local senior center and spend time chatting, playing games, or doing crafts with the residents. 
• Recycling Initiative: Promote recycling within the community by creating posters or bins for collecting recyclables. 
• Supporting Animal Shelters: Collect donations for animal shelters — such as pet food, blankets, and toys — and deliver them to a local animal shelter. 
• Environmental Awareness Campaign: Share information or create activities for people to do related to environmental issues, like pollution or water conservation.  

Hint: Sharing your ideas with other people is very important to grow your changemaker power. How many people have you talked to about this problem so far? What have they done about it?

Let’s say the student project is a community clean-up. Here are some roles young people and adults could play to put this idea into action:  

• Communicator: Communicators spread the word about the project by talking to teachers, classmates, and parents to get them involved. 
• Creative Designer: Creative designers make posters, flyers, or other things that people can look at to learn about the project. 
• Materials Manager: Materials managers keep track of the supplies needed for the project, such as gloves and bags for a cleanup. 
• Event Organizer: Event organizers plan  eventsfor the project and make sure they go well, like a cleanup day. 
• Motivator: Motivators get classmates and friends to join in the project and stay excited. 
• Safety Officer: Safety officers make sure everyone follows safety rules during activities like cleanups or events. 

Hint: Creating change is a big job for one person to do alone. An important but difficult step to becoming a changemaker is convincing others of your idea. Think about what skills and teammates you need to make your dream a reality.

Let’s say the student project is a community trash clean-up. Here are some ways you can find people to help you put this idea into action:  

• Classmates: Talk to friends and classmates about the project during lunch or recess and invite them to join your team. 
• School Clubs: Visit school clubs that focus on the environment or community service and ask if members would be interested in helping. 
• Teachers: Ask teachers if they know students who might want to participate, or if they can help spread the word in their classes. 
• Family and Neighbors: Talk to family members or neighbors who might be interested in supporting the cleanup or know others who would be. 
• Community Centers: Visit local community centers or libraries and ask if you can post a flyer or talk to people there about your project. 
• Sports Teams: If you’re part of a sports team, ask your teammates if they’d like to help out, or if they know others who would. 

The Problem 

The problem I want to solve is litter in our local park. I noticed it when I was playing soccer with my friends, and we kept tripping overrash. It’s important to me because the park is where we go to have fun, and it should be clean and safe for everyone. I see litter every time I go there, and I’ve even seen animals trying to eat it, which isn’t good for them. I did some research and found out that almost 80,000 tons of solid waste were generated in national parks alone. This made me want to do something about it in our own park at home. 

The Solution 

I want to address the litter problem in our park by organizing a community cleanup day twice a year. I came up with the idea after seeing how much trash there is and realizing that if everyone helps, we can make a big difference. My next three steps are: 
1. Make flyers and posters to let people know about the cleanup. 

2. I’ll ask the city if they can provide trash bags and gloves for everyone who participates. 

3. I plan to ask my friends and family to help spread the word and join in.  

I’m excited to bring the community together to make our park cleaner and safer. I’ll also talk to local businesses to see if they can donate snacks or water for the volunteers. I believe this will make a big impact on keeping our park clean. We can take pictures and videos so more people help when we do more clean ups in the future. 

The Team 

Yes, I have a team! My friends, Alex and Mia, are helping me with the community cleanup day. Alex is great at art, so he’s designing the flyers and posters. Mia is really good at talking to people, so she’s helping spread the word and getting more volunteers. We’ve already talked to our families, teachers, and neighbors about the cleanup, and they’re excited to help out. To get more people’s attention, we’re going to put up posters around the neighborhood and ask our school to make an announcement. We also plan to post about it on social media to reach even more people. So far, we’ve talked to about 20 people, and many of them have agreed to join us on the cleanup day. 

The Problem 

Bullying is a real problem at my school. I first noticed it when I saw a classmate being picked on during recess, and it made me feel really bad. This is important to me because everyone should feel safe and happy at school. I know it’s a problem because I’ve seen it happen more than once, and some kids are afraid to come to school because of it. I talked to some friends, and they said they’ve seen it too. I also read that 1 in 5 students 12-18 years old experience bullying on the stopbullying.gov website. That’s too many kids! That’s why I want to find ways to stop bullying and make our school a better place. 

The Solution 

My solution to the bullying problem at our school is to start a group called “Friends Helping Friends,” where students can come together to talk and support each other. I came up with this idea after seeing how much bullying can hurt people and realizing that having friends who listen can make a big difference. My first step is to talk to a teacher or counselor to get their help in setting up the group. Then, I’ll create a schedule for regular meetings and invite students who want to join. Finally, I’ll plan an assembly or workshop to raise awareness about bullying and let everyone know about the support group. I think this will help make our school a safer and kinder place. I’ll also ask for help from the school counselor to make sure the group is a safe space for everyone. 

The Team 

Right now, I don’t have a team, but I know who I want to ask to join me. I would ask my classmates who care about bullying and want to help others feel safe at school. I’d also talk to the school counselor because they have experience dealing with these kinds of problems. To make people pay attention to the problem, I’d start by sharing real stories about how bullying has affected students at our school. I think hearing these stories will make others realize how serious it is. I’ll also create posters and maybe even a video to show why it’s important to stop bullying. To make my dream a reality, I’ll need help with organizing meetings and spreading the word, so I’d look for people who are good at planning and communicating. With a strong team, I know we can make our school a kinder place.