Get your king cake and your mask ready because today is Fat Tuesday! Even though this day is usually remembered as a day full of celebrations and preparing for Lent fasting, we can add another element to the mixture. Let’s make it a day to volunteer as well!

Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras is typically a celebration marked with rich foods that will prepare participants for the fast they will experience during the religious Lenten season. Traditional foods are consumed in celebration of the carnival such as fried pastries, breads, and eggs. Celebrations vary from state to state and country to country, but the overall message remains the same. It is a message of good will and celebration for the riches that we have been given.

Fat Tuesday is the perfect time to add volunteering to the celebration agenda! You can give thanks for the things that you have, by serving those who may be less fortunate than you. Here’s how:

1. Is your town hosting a Mardi Gras parade? Help out by serving food, riding floats, or just getting out and meeting your neighbors!
2. Serve food to parade goers. Who doesn’t love good ol’ New Orleans food, Jambalaya anyone?
3. Make Mardi Gras masks with kids at your local daycare, shelter, or hospital. It’s easy! All you need is yellow, green, or purple construction paper, glitter, feathers, and an imagination. These masks will be a fun project for all ages!
4. Teach youngsters about the history of New Orleans, Louisiana. Tell youth about New Orleans and why Mardi Gras is such a big celebration there. It is also important to teach kids about the progress that has been made since Hurricane Katrina.
5. Serve your favorite fried foods to a soup kitchen. Share the Mardi Gras love with those who may not be able to celebrate it. Donate Mardi Gras themed foods to your local soup kitchen so that they may have a celebration too!
6. Coordinate a Mardi Gras themed party at your local retirement home, shelter, school, or soup kitchen. Guests can wear Fat Tuesday themed outfits, play games, and eat some great Louisiana inspired food. Don’t forget that king cake!
7. Make Mardi Gras themed bracelets with kids in local hospital care. String yellow, green, and purple beads together to make a bracelet in memory of Hurricane Katrina.
8. Host a Mardi Gras themed pot-luck dinner with your friends, family, or neighbors. Have each guest donate money to your favorite cause. You can be merry and make a difference!
9. Sign up to be a part of Meals on Wheels. Donate food and share that Fat Tuesday cheer with those who need it most.
10. Do you have a musical talent? Volunteer your musical skills at a local retirement home for a Mardi Gras themed party.

There are so many ways that you can volunteer Fat Tuesday style! Today is a great day to not only enjoy all the festivities, but also a way to celebrate your community and its members by serving.

Are you volunteering today? What are you doing to spread the good in your community?