In a world hungry for connection and purpose, giving back offers an unparalleled sense of fulfillment. While financial contributions are always vital, there’s a deeply rewarding way to support Erika’s Lighthouse: by volunteering to create Good Mental Health Toolkits. This isn’t just about assembling materials; it’s about actively building the tools that empower schools, educate students, and ultimately save lives.
Any company, association, community of faith, group or individual can create Good Mental Health Toolkits for youth, families and/or educators. These kits provide practical, turn-key strategies, activities and resources that promote good mental health, reduce stigma, normalize conversations and encourage help-seeking! Once assembled, you can partner with local organizations to hand them out; like schools, community-based organizations, faith communities, park districts, medical and mental health providers that serve youth, families and professionals.
These toolkits can be customized to be distributed to any group in any setting! The resources are designed to be universal for any child, family or educator and Spanish language resources are also available.
What Does “Creating a Toolkit” Involve?
Erika’s Lighthouse provides free, evidence-informed mental health education programs to schools across the country. One way to supplement what students are learning in the classroom is through “Good Mental Health Toolkits.” These toolkits feature individual and group activities that emphasize coping strategies and help-seeking. While the content is developed by experts, the physical assembly and organization of these kits require hands-on help.
Good Mental Health Toolkits are geared for either youth, families or educators and feature educational information, strategies and resources as well as hand-on empowerment activities.
When you volunteer to assemble a toolkit, you’re helping with tasks such as:
Printing and Collating: Ensuring all curriculum materials, worksheets, parent guides, and discussion prompts are printed correctly and in the right order.
Assembling Binders/Folders: Organizing all printed materials into easy-to-use binders, folders or bags.
Packing Supplementary Materials: Including any additional resources like posters, flyers, or promotional items that accompany the core curriculum.
Quality Control: Double-checking that each toolkit is complete and ready for distribution.
Who Can Participate and How?
Individuals: Looking for a purposeful solo project or a way to contribute from home? Erika’s Lighthouse can guide you on how to prepare and organize specific components of the toolkit.
Groups & Community Organizations: This is an excellent activity for clubs, scout troops, faith-based organizations, and civic groups. It’s a fantastic way to engage members in a shared mission, fostering camaraderie while making a direct impact. Imagine a “toolkit assembly party” where everyone contributes to a common goal!
Companies: Corporate volunteering days can be transformed into powerful team-building events. Employees work together on a meaningful project, reinforcing company values and boosting morale, all while supporting a vital cause. It’s an impactful way to fulfill your CSR initiatives and demonstrate your company’s commitment to mental wellness.
A few creative ideas to use them include:
Schools provide toolkits to students throughout the year.
Individuals sharing toolkits with educators to introduce programs to local school communities.
Educators provide toolkits to families during Family Workshops or Parent Teacher Nights.
Education companies sharing toolkits with educators.
Pediatricians and Mental Health Professionals sharing toolkits with their families & patients.
Youth Groups providing youth and family toolkits.
Faith Communities sharing them with their congregations.
Companies assemble toolkits for each employee, or for an organization the company supports.
The Tangible Impact of Your Hands-On Effort
Every toolkit you help create represents a school empowered, a teacher supported, and countless students who will receive crucial education about depression, mental health, and the importance of seeking help. You are directly facilitating conversations that reduce stigma, build resilience, and offer hope.
By physically contributing to the creation of these toolkits, you become a vital link in the chain that brings mental health education to where it’s needed most. Your time and effort translate directly into brighter futures for young people.
Q&A: Volunteering for Toolkit Creation
Can my company host a toolkit assembly event at our office?
Absolutely! Hosting an event at your office can be a fantastic way to engage employees. All of the necessary materials and instructions are available to be downloaded from Erika’s Lighthouse website, making it a seamless and impactful corporate volunteering experience. You can choose to download and print the materials on your own, or order complete sets from Erika’s Lighthouse online store: https://erikaslighthouse.collaterate.com/. You can choose to add fun extras like a custom bag, journal, pen or stickers or simply donate the kits with provided materials.
How do I get started if I’m interested in volunteering to help create toolkits?
The best first step is to visit the “Get Involved” or “Volunteer” section of the Erika’s Lighthouse website: https://erikaslighthouse.org/volunteer/. There, you’ll find information on how to access the materials to download and contact details to discuss individual, group, or corporate volunteering opportunities for toolkit creation.
Where Can I Donate the Toolkits?
We invite you to utilize the toolkits in whatever way you feel would be most impactful for you and/or your group or company. You could find a local community-based organization that would like a Good Mental Health Toolkit Donation for youth in their programs, you could approach a local school and see if they are interested in toolkits or you can assemble toolkits for team/company employees to take home to their own families as a resource.
Join us in crafting hope, one toolkit at a time. Your hands-on help can light the way to good mental health for countless young people. Erika’s Lighthouse work impacts thousands of schools in every state. We started with one foot in front of the other and you can do the same, by empowering young people, families and educators in your community.
