101 Ways to Help

Want to help but don't know what you can do? Here's my list of 101 free (or costs very little) ways to help someone you know that is suffering. Be it the patient, the family, or someone taking care of that loved one. Any one of these is sure to make life just a little better, make it just a little easier, make it a little less painful. Try a few. And not just on the sick. Doing something nice for someone else will not only help them, but will brighten your day as well. ~Lori~

  1. Help clean their house.
  2. Wash their car.
  3. Help organize their medical bills.
  4. Take them for a car ride.
  5. Read aloud to them. (Bible, newspaper, magazine, novel, etc.)
  6. Teach them a craft. It will help occupy their mind and their time. (Crochet, knitting, cross stitch, etc.)
  7. Request or dedicate a song to them on the radio.
  8. Give them a makeover.
  9. Call them just to say "How are you?" or "Thinking of you".
  10. Be patient.

  11. Go through their closets and help them remove clothes that don't fit anymore. (Could be losing alot of weight)
  12. Rake their leaves in Autumn.
  13. Help them keep track of appointments~times, places, dates
  14. Take them to an appointment.
  15. Sing to them or sing with them.
  16. Rent a movie for them.
  17. Tell them a joke.
  18. Sit with them outside on a warm Spring day. (Careful of too much sunlight with some medications and treatments.)
  19. Give them a pen and notebook to use as a diary.
  20. Listen.

  21. Do their mending for them.
  22. Fill the gas tank in their car for them.
  23. Make phone calls for them. (businesses, insurance companies, doctors offices)
  24. Go to church with them.
  25. Do a jigsaw puzzle with them.
  26. Give them crayons and a coloring book. Not just for small children, this is great idea for kids of all ages, even grown up ones.
  27. Give them stationary so they can write letters.
  28. Visit them often.
  29. Help them organize their medicines.
  30. Be compassionate.

  31. Change the furniture around in the room that they spend the most time in. Gives them a change of scenery and a new outlook, literally.
  32. Weed their flower bed.
  33. Get their mail.
  34. Take a walk with them, even if that means pushing their wheelchair.
  35. Babysit for them. (Great idea to help the caregivers of a cancer patient.)
  36. Dance with them. Yes, even if they're in a wheelchair.
  37. Hold their hand.
  38. Buy them a new shade of nail polish.
  39. Bake them cookies.
  40. Understand that they feel very alone, even in a room full of people. They are the only ones going through it.

  41. Cook dinner for them.
  42. Clean out their garage.
  43. Buy them a book of stamps.
  44. Take them to the movies.
  45. Buy, or let them borrow, a handheld travel game. Especially a video game. Great to take to appointments.
  46. Talk to them about their favorite topic. Show interest.
  47. Tell them it's okay to cry.
  48. Let them know that they can call you any hour of the day, and really mean it.
  49. Give them some thick, fuzzy socks.
  50. Allow them a certain degree of self-pity. What they are going through is very hard, and its hard to be compassionate sometimes if you have never experienced what they are.

  51. Do their laundry.
  52. Shovel their sidewalk or driveway in winter.
  53. Help them plan for the future, even if that means helping them plan their funeral arrangements.
  54. Take them to a sporting event.
  55. Play a board game with them.
  56. Take them to the library.
  57. Send them balloons.
  58. Be their advocate when rude people stare at them.
  59. Prepare a basket full of healthy snacks for them that they can keep handy.
  60. Do not treat them like they are contagious.

  61. Do small home repairs for them.
  62. Mow their lawn.
  63. Pick up their prescriptions.
  64. Take a younger person to the mall with you.
  65. Buy them a prepaid calling card so they can keep in touch with long distance friends and family.
  66. Rent a video game for them.
  67. Write them a letter.
  68. Be strong.
  69. Give them a houseplant.
  70. Don't get frustrated over their mood swings.

  71. Clean their gutters.
  72. Comfort them.
  73. Take them to the zoo.
  74. Take them leftovers.
  75. Buy them a magazine subscription (or pass along your copy).
  76. Go through their pictures with them. This will occupy some time for them and while it may remind them of happier times, it will take their mind off of being sick for a while.
  77. Ask for their help with something. This will make them feel needed, useful, a little more "normal".
  78. Give them a manicure.
  79. Have kids draw them a picture.
  80. Hide your feelings of helplessness.

  81. Change the batteries in their smoke detectors for them. This is something that may have slipped their minds.
  82. Prune their hedges or trees.
  83. Do their grocery shopping.
  84. Take their car in to be serviced.
  85. Give them a puzzle book.
  86. Steam clean their carpets.
  87. Send them a "Thinking of You" card.
  88. Give them a new pair of fuzzy slippers.
  89. Have kids make them a card.
  90. Be there, in as much as you can, just be there.

  91. Set the time on their VCR for them.
  92. Winterize their home.
  93. Take their dry cleaning to cleaners.
  94. Treat them to a hair appointment. (For patients requiring wigs due to treatments, find someone in your area that can give them a new look.)
  95. Buy, or let them borrow, a walkman.
  96. Give them your favorite warm blanket.
  97. Give them a back rub.
  98. If they have internet access, send them a virtual card.
  99. Compliment them.
  100. Offer them a shoulder to cry on, literally.
  101. Tell them "I love you."