I do try to do little things throughout the year.
One of the things I do, since I work in public transit, is I purchase single-ride and 1-day passes. I keep them in my purse and hand them out to people whenever I feel like they really need that option. I've even bought monthly passes before, in a few instances where I knew they wouldn't just be resold for the cash.
There is an organization here called A Hand Up For Women; it is aimed primarily at women who find themselves in a very rough place in life, sometimes because of their own poor choices, sometimes because of other circumstances. They go through a program and are assigned a "mentor" who kind of befriends them. Time constraints have not allowed me to be a mentor, but I donate nice work-appropriate clothes and keep them supplied with bus fare passes, as well as financial donations when I can.
I also work with our boy scout troop; my oldest son got his Eagle Scout in 2008, but I've stayed with the troop since then. Basically, the only thing I do is to take one boy at a time, who is at least a First Class rank, who demonstrates that he truly wants to make Eagle Scout, AND--and this is the primary consideration to me--who does NOT have the kind of parental or other family support needed to help a scout progress toward Eagle. Getting your Eagle rank is a LOT of hard work, and I know of very few scouts who have ever made it without the encouragement and participation from a parent or other family member. My job is to take the kids who don't HAVE that family structure, and BE their support person. I don't DO the work for them, but I nag them, I help them plan, I do merit badge counseling, I go on camping and hiking trips with them, whatever it takes. I tell them the same thing I told my own sons (only one of whom stuck with it to get Eagle) --as long as THEY demonstrate that THEY want to make Eagle by doing what they need to do, I will do everything in my power to help them, including a good swift kick in the posterior--but it has to be THEIR goal; if they decide they don't WANT it, I will not try to push them into it. So far, I've had three kids make Eagle who would never have made it on their own, and it's almost as satisfying to me as when my own made it. I've only had ONE end up deciding not to pursue it--and just a few days ago, I saw his father at the store. His dad said that Abdullah has decided he wants to give it another try and wants to start back after the first of the year. He'll only have about eight months left to get everything done, so we'll see just how committed he really is!
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