How do you spend your date nights? Do you plan dinner and a movie? Participate in a wine tasting? Go bowling or visit a museum? Oftentimes date nights have a romantic or activity-based focus. But what if you used your date nights to give back to the community while spending quality time together?
Donating your date night to a good cause is a great way to strengthen your connection, make new memories, make an impact and save money.
Connect
While traditional dating methods offer a level of connection, volunteering together may give you a new way to connect as you identify your joint impact. Before the activity, you can discuss what opportunities you share a passion for and why they’re important to each other. You can find opportunities that align with your values and interests.
During and after your volunteer time, you can connect on how you're coming together to fulfill the organization's mission and how that makes you feel. Volunteering will offer you a chance to discover shared values, strengthen your character and build mutual purpose that can bring a deeper level of connection and make date nights even more special.
Create memories
Whether volunteering by serving meals at a local shelter, packing meal bags, doing community cleanup or mentoring children, you can create meaningful memories together. Many of these opportunities also have an ongoing need for volunteers. Returning often can help you form connections with other volunteers and recipients. Creating long-lasting friendships will allow for more memories to be made.
Impact
Volunteering creates a lasting impact on the community. When you volunteer, you are helping change lives for the better, and that positive change makes an impact forever.
To fulfill their mission, nonprofit organizations rely on support from volunteers. Donating your date nights to serve others in your community and beyond helps improve the lives and well-being of others in need. These actions will impact you as individuals and as partners, as volunteering is known to foster a sense of accomplishment and pride.
Save while serving
Using date nights to volunteer is also a cost-effective alternative to traditional date night activities. Instead of breaking the bank on movies, dinner or entertainment, couples can redirect resources to activities that serve the community. By volunteering, you are donating time rather than money. This allows you to have fulfilling experiences without creating a financial burden.
Volunteering is a great way to make date nights more special while contributing to a great cause. Volunteering helps to increase shared commitment, compassion and empathy, which are positive traits for strengthening a relationship. It allows you to connect deeply, create meaningful memories, leave a lasting impact and save money.
So, the next time you're planning a date night, why not do it with purpose and donate it to a great cause?
Rachel Caballero is the community development manager at TruWest Credit Union, headquartered in Tempe.
