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Latvia’s annual Good Deeds Week begins on Monday, 5 October, with residents across the country invited to contribute time, practical help or attention to the people and places around them. The campaign, organised by the charity Palīdzēsim.lv, runs until Sunday, 11 October.
The initiative is designed around a simple premise: meaningful civic participation does not always require a large donation or a formal long-term commitment. Participants can choose an activity that fits their circumstances, carry it out individually or with others, and register the completed deed through the campaign’s online platform.
A nationwide invitation to volunteer
Palīdzēsim.lv says the 2026 campaign is being held for the 18th year. Its organisers are encouraging participation from families, schools, workplaces, community groups and non-governmental organisations. The suggested areas of activity include helping another person, supporting animals, improving a shared environment or contributing to a local community project.
The campaign’s structure is deliberately open-ended. A good deed might involve visiting or assisting someone who needs company, collecting useful goods, helping with household or outdoor work, supporting a local social organisation, or taking part in an activity that makes a public space more welcoming. The emphasis is on actions that are realistic and do not depend on substantial financial resources.
Residents can plan an activity, complete it during the campaign week and record it on the Good Deeds Week website. The registration system is intended to make otherwise separate acts of assistance visible as part of a wider national effort, while also giving schools and organisations a way to share ideas.
Schools bring volunteering into everyday life
Education is one of the campaign’s most visible settings. Several Latvian schools have listed Good Deeds Week activities in their autumn programmes, allowing pupils to connect volunteering with cooperation, responsibility and practical problem-solving.
Pilsrundāle Secondary School, for example, has announced a Good Deeds Day for 6 October. The school says its pupils will be encouraged to help, cooperate and bring encouragement to others as part of the national week. Limbaži State Gymnasium has also scheduled Good Deeds Week from 5 to 11 October, while schools in Valmiera have included related class activities in their autumn calendars.
These school-based activities reflect the campaign’s broader approach. Rather than treating volunteering as a specialist activity reserved for established charities, organisers present it as something that can begin in a classroom, family, workplace or neighbourhood. That makes the initiative particularly accessible to younger participants, who can take part in group activities under the guidance of teachers or other adults.
From one-off help to a culture of participation
Palīdzēsim.lv describes volunteering as a practical way to strengthen social responsibility and involvement in community life. Its wider work includes support for children and young people facing health or social difficulties, assistance to foster and larger families, and cooperation with specialised schools, care centres and crisis centres.
The organisation’s archive of earlier Good Deeds Week activities shows the range of projects that can emerge from the campaign. Previous examples have included support for care-home residents, assistance to animal shelters, local clean-up work, donations of food or useful goods, and visits or performances for people who may otherwise have limited opportunities for social contact.
Such activities are modest in scale, but they can address practical needs while building connections between institutions and the communities around them. A school can work with a care centre, a business can support an animal shelter, or neighbours can improve a shared outdoor area. The common feature is direct participation rather than passive support.
How residents can take part
People interested in joining the 2026 campaign can choose an action that is safe, lawful and appropriate to the recipient’s needs. Organisers encourage participants to coordinate in advance with schools, charities, care institutions or other groups when assistance involves vulnerable people or animals.
- Offer practical help to a neighbour, relative or community organisation.
- Collect or prepare useful items for an established charity or local service.
- Take part in a clean-up, gardening or improvement project in a shared space.
- Organise a school, family or workplace activity that benefits people, animals or the local environment.
- Register the completed activity through the Good Deeds Week platform to share the example with others.
Latvia’s 2026 Good Deeds Week runs from 5 to 11 October. Its message is intentionally uncomplicated: residents do not have to wait for a large campaign or a major institutional project to contribute. A small, well-organised act can provide useful help immediately and encourage others to participate as well.
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