List of support ideas
Offer to make ordinary every-day things easier so that your grieving person can have the luxury of just being devastated. —Megan Devine
- Show up and listen
- Bring them a meal (remember breakfast and lunch, too!)
- Help with lawn care
- Decorate their front door for the upcoming holiday
- Answer when they call/text
- Babysit their kids
- Help with their laundry
- Drop-off/pick-up their dry cleaning
- Get coffee together
- Invite them out for a walk
- Include them in social events (even if they have turned you down in the past)
- Do their dishes
- Wash their car
- Bring groceries
- Offer to cook together
- Bring healthy snacks
- Make them a music playlist
- Ask if they want to talk, and just listen
- Ask if others have left dishes you could return
- Check-in regularly
- Give a gift certificate for self-care
- Take their garbage/recycling out
- Help with transportation
- Keep asking, even if they’ve refused help before
- Replenish pantry staples
- Buy them stamps and stationery
- Set up a laundry service
- Set up a cleaning service
- Bring paper products - toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, napkins, plates, etc.
- Gift cards for retail therapy
- Bring mints or gum
- Help with their pets
- Plan a fun night for their kids
- Bring toiletries
- Offer to vacuum
- Bring coffee or dessert
- Bring art supplies
- Bring a journal
- Gift certificate for a writing workshop
- Gift card to a bookstore
- Invite them out into nature
- Ask about their loved one by name
- Set a calendar reminder to reach out around milestones and holidays
- Bring fresh fruit
- Offer to organize a memory book or legacy box
- Watch a funny movie together
- Invite them to do an exercise class with you
- Do home repairs
- Run errands
- Invite them for the holidays
- Help organize bills
- Send a care package
- Help with pet vet appointments
- Take them to a farmer’s market
- Go for a bike ride together
- Go volunteer with them
- Accompany them to spiritual services
- Bring fresh vegetables
- Help sort through or pack up the loved one’s belongings
- Help with taxes
- Help organize finances
- Show up if there is an emergency
- Research resources for them