Have you always wanted to give back to your community but never really found the right cause? How about you adopt a family.

Every community has disadvantaged families that could use a helping hand. Some of these families are not fortunate enough to put food on their tables. That’s where you come in. You and your spouse can identify one of these families and invite them to your home for a meal. This is the essence of adopting a family.

Finding a Family to Adopt

If you don’t already know a family that could use some help, you can find one by following these simple tips.

• Watch the news. You might see a family in dire need of help due to their house burning down, a hurricane or something similar.
• Talk to the clergy at your church. They might know some members of the church who are in need of help.
• Look among your colleagues. There may be a single parent who is struggling to stay afloat despite their job.
• Contact your local homeless shelter. There is bound to be a family there that could use a home cooked meal. You can also donate food and other supplies to the homeless shelter to assist several families at once.
• Look among your friends and colleagues for a family that has a family member in hospital and is struggling to pay the hospital bills. You could offer to prepare a meal that they can enjoy together the sick member of their family.

Adopting a family should be a family affair. Get your spouse and kids to help you identify a needy family. You can also ask them to help you with the shopping, cooking and cleaning up so that you all get a chance to spend time with the family.

What to Do When Adopting a Family

Once you have identified a family that you would like to adopt, you need to decide whether you are going to invite them to your home or take them out to a restaurant. Both options are equally good. It all depends on what you are comfortable with.

Extend an invitation to them. Be flexible since they might have previous engagements. It’s also very important for you not to be condescending with your invitation.

After all the above is settled, it’s shopping time! Depending on where you are having dinner, “shopping” could mean buying groceries or calling restaurants to find the most suitable one. Prepare a budget and grocery list before hand so that you know what your limits are. As mentioned earlier, you can always get your spouse and kids to help with the budgeting and shopping.

How is this Good for Your Marriage?

Adopting a family gives you the opportunity to experience marriage through the eyes of another couple whose circumstances are different from yours. This can be very useful especially when you are having relationship problems. It might help you realize that your problems are not so bad after all.

Holidays and other special occasions are always a great time to adopt a family. Therefore, if you are looking for something meaningful to do this Valentine’s Day, consider inviting a needy couple to dinner.