With summer’s end rapidly approaching, the new school term is upon us. With it, as many parents and students know, comes plenty of fundraising, volunteering and activities. If you normally roll your eyes at having to sell pizza, candles or random holiday merchandise or mutter over umpire duty, why not approach this year a little differently?

Try fundraising with groups, or making a competition (gently!) with other parents. Have your children as much involved as possible to ensure that they learn how hard it can be to raise that money, as well as so that they may feel pride in helping to buy new science equipment or choir shirts. (Been there, done that, on both accounts!)

Also, if you simply hate selling stuff, brainstorm ideas with the PTSA on how to fundraise differently. Maybe you can have a rummage sale, carnival, bounce rides, or a car wash. These things are only day events and do not involve confusing distribution and money mix-ups later in the year!

The same goes for people who normally have nothing to do with school. If you’re already graduated, your kids are out of school, or you don’t have kids, you don’t have to wash your hands of your community school! They can always use another pair of hands for various tasks and I’m sure they’d love to have your help.

Many schools have causes or themes that they support, either in the fall or throughout the year. Some of these may include Breast Cancer campaigns, anti-drug programs, GLBT student support and many other activities. Find out which ones you might be interested in and get involved.

Schools can also always use more supplies. While you might think our tax dollars are already spent on classroom needs, most teachers spend a few hundred dollars out of pocket each year for their own classroom’s expenses! If you have the resources to spare, why not donate some paper, art supplies, or even Kleenex to your local school? If you’re really ambitious, you could call and find out what’s desperately needed most. Maybe you even have some things on hand at home you could give, like computers you don’t use or gently used books or toys your children have outgrown.

Is there another way you could help your school out? Are you an expert in your field? Perhaps you could give a talk on career day, or offer to hold a program about something you know about—CPR, maybe, or basic self-defense? Think of the ways you could help enrich the lives of the young people in your area and give it a go. Who knows? You may even find a new vocation.