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"For those of us who weren&amp;amp;#8217;t in the path of Hurricane Sandy this week, we can consider ourselves lucky. While the East Coast struggles with the damage, why don&amp;amp;#8217;t we turn our own weekend dates into a way to help? I was so inspired when I saw our friends at HowAboutWe post an article about the volunteer date ideas cropping up on their dating site. Lots of New Yorkers were looking to pair up and help with the recovery effort, and their good intentions made me tear up a little. Life might be going on as usual away from the East Coast, dating included, but that doesn&amp;#x27;t mean we can&amp;#x27;t join in the efforts to help. And really, what&amp;amp;#8217;s more attractive than a guy who wants to help others? Dates where you do something good together are so much more romantic and intimate than any dinner date. Even if you&amp;amp;#8217;re not local, and even if it&amp;amp;#8217;s not directed at hurricane relief, here are some ideas of dates that do good for someone other than yourself (but trust me, they&amp;amp;#8217;ll do you good too.) If you&amp;amp;#8217;re in the New York or New Jersey area, and are able, go help. Find out what supplies local shelters need and bring what you have. Help with clean up wherever it&amp;#x27;s safe to do so. Or just help out anyone you know that might need you. Did you see how Newark Mayor Cory Booker has been inviting Twitter followers to his house for power and food? Amazing. And our Melissa probably didn&amp;#x27;t anticipate spending the first week of her engaged life playing hostess to all her friends without power, but that&amp;#x27;s what she and J. have been doing gladly all week. Give up your fancy date! Calculate how much money you would spend on dinner out, cocktails, cab fare, etc., for a nice Saturday night date. Then donate that money to your favorite cause, and stay home and make dinner with the contents of your pantry and fridge. Though your time, effort and supplies are great, in the immediate aftermath of a disaster there&amp;#x27;s always a pressing need for monetary donations. Some ideas of where to donate for hurricane relief are here. Donate blood. Blood is a supply people often forget is needed in the wake of disasters (and anytime, actually). Check with your local Red Cross for blood drives or schedule appointments together. Bonus: You have a great excuse to eat cookies after! Replenishing your blood sugar and all. Sign up for a training to become a regular volunteer. Sure, there are things you can do once in a while, but why not become a regular volunteer at your local animal shelter or YMCA? Some of these require training and a time commitment. I know, you&amp;amp;#8217;re both busy people, but you don&amp;amp;#8217;t have to change your whole life. It can be as little as one Sunday a month, but a standing appointment to volunteer together not only gives you a new, bonding tradition, but it helps so many other people. Make the first move this weekend! Use your green thumb. Enjoy the last of the fall weather together by volunteering for an outdoor activity that benefits the environment. With the increasing frequency of weather disasters, anything you can do to offset climate change is good. Look into the Audubon Society or check with your local parks and community gardens. Visit with the elderly. In disasters, elderly are often affected the most. But the elderly in your own area might be in need of attention too. Call a local nursing home about their volunteer activities. You can often help with an event like a Bingo night (you guys, I play with my Grandma sometimes and it&amp;#x27;s surprisingly fun), or just visit and be friendly with the residents. These are just a few ideas of things you can do, but I&amp;#x27;m sure you can think of so many more. It shouldn&amp;#x27;t take a disaster to remind us to do good, but we do tend to get wrapped up in our own lives. This is a good weekend to start thinking about others. Do you and your partner ever volunteer together? Tell us your do-gooding activities below to give other people inspiration? Do you agree that it&amp;#x27;s a romantic thing to do together, even if you have to do some dirty work? More on helping out: *Do You and Your Guy Give Back Together? (Nicole Richie and Joel Madden Do!) *Do You Volunteer? Here&amp;#x27;s Why You Might Want to... *Ask an Expert: 5 Tips for Adopting Pets Together Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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