Magnus Agle, 9, recently spent a morning with his family lifting boxes of food onto pallets to be loaded onto trucks and delivered to charitable organizations in Irvine, California.
“Just do it,” he said about service. “It gives you a good feeling.”
Magnus’ family volunteered through JustServe to join others in unloading an estimated 40,000 pounds of food on Feb. 21 from an America 250 truck from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Brothers Henry and Jonas Takagi, both JustServe youth ambassadors in their area, drove a long distance to serve at the event, explained a news release from ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“It feels good to be able to help others who are in need,” Jonas said.
Henry added that for youth, choosing service is “definitely a better use of your time than just being on your phone.”
Brock Solano said that as a parent, he can see the benefits of his children participating in service.
“I see my children put down their devices and step outside of themselves to be able to think about others who are less fortunate,” he said. “Now they are the ones that are looking for the service projects. They are bringing friends and friends of other faith; it’s a unifying cause.”
All across the world, children and youth in the Church are serving others — with their families and friends, through Primary service activities, during Young Men and Young Women activities, using the JustServe platform, joining high school JustServe clubs and in every day acts of kindness.
The 2025 Caring summary explained that there were 7.4 million volunteer hours of service just last year. The Church also has provided principles to inspire families and leaders to help children and youth discover the joy of service. Those are found in the 2025 Caring for those in Need annual summary and summarized below.
Involving children in service
Children can care for those around them in small and simple ways, such as sharing a toy, giving someone a hug or writing a kind note, explained the Church’s website.
Ways to help children get involved in service include:
Lead by example. Start by serving in the home. Incorporate service into the family and expand to the community. See more in the February 2023 Liahona article, “Helping children discover the joy of service.”
Teach about service. Connect children with their primary identity and divine nature. Help them value relationships and service. Bring them along when fulfilling Church responsibilities, do family history together, see who needs service in a branch, ward or neighborhood. See more in the June 2024 Liahona article, “Teaching children the power of relationships and service.”
Serve together. Find where to volunteer locally or remotely through JustServe.org.
Resources for parents and leaders:
Involving youth in service
The Church’s Caring website has resources for youth, including a quiz to help them learn their “service style.” Answering a few questions can help them see what acts of service might fit their personality — for example are they more like the Good Samaritan in the New Testament or Ammon from the Book of Mormon.
Youth can:
Find a service project. JustServe.org and the JustServe app list service projects based on interests and location. The platform also offers the ability to start a new project.
Join or start a service club. Youth can find meaningful service opportunities and projects through a JustServe or other service club at school. If a school doesn’t have such a club, a section of JustServe.org includes successful practices for starting one.
Share with others. Teenagers can inspire others to serve by sharing the Church’s posts from the Caring.ChurchofJesusChrist Instagram and Facebook accounts and by sharing their own service stories on social media.
The Caring website points out that youth don’t need a lot of time or money to make a difference. “There are small things you can do to get involved and serve those around you.”
