The Midlands is flush with opportunities for people to put their hands and feet to work for others. Here are a few of the latest ways to get involved:

Get moving

Lexington County youngsters are being encouraged to ride, swim and cycle Saturday to support the area’s needy during the second annual Timberlake Youth Triathlon.

Lexington County Sheriff’s Department deputies, Timberlake Plantation Owners Association and Timberlake Country Club are sponsoring the event, which will benefit GoodWorks in Chapin. The ministry was established in 2002 to assist people in need in the Chapin, Little Mountain, Irmo and Prosperity communities.

During the triathlon, which begins at 8 a.m.:

•  Children 5 years old and younger will swim for 10 meters, ride a bicycle for one-quarter mile and run 100 yards.

•  Children 6 and 7 years old will swim 25 meters, ride a bicycle one mile and run three-quarters of a mile.

•  Children 8 and 9 years old will swim 50 meters, ride a bicycle three miles and run three-quarters of a mile.

•  Children 10 and 11 years old will swim 100 meters, ride a bicycle three miles and run three-quarters of one mile.

Twelve-year-olds will swim 150 meters, ride a bicycle three miles and run three-quarters of a mile.

The registration fee is $30 per participant and parents can register children by visiting www.active.com and clicking the link on the home page for the Timberlake Youth Triathlon. Registration is limited to 100 children.

Youth arbitrators

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is seeking volunteer youth arbitrators to work with young adults who have come in contact with law enforcement for misdemeanor crimes.

Volunteers will receive training on how to conduct arbitration hearings and hand down appropriate sanctions while helping the youth learn from their mistakes and maintain a clean record.

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department Arbitration Program was created in 2007 and has enjoyed a 90 percent success rate of non-repeat offenders among the 1,300 youth who have been referred to the program.

For details about volunteering, call Lt. Kym Myers of the Sheriff’s Department, (803) 736-0429.

Getting their hands dirty

Southeast Middle School students will put their hands to the earth Saturday when they build a school garden.

The new garden will have raised beds, and fall vegetables will be planted.

The garden is possible because of a grant to the Sustainable Schools Project of Sustainable Midlands, through the Whole Kids Foundation’s School Garden Grant Program.

The program was created with Food Corps to help schools expand students’ relationships with food through gardening. The foundation is providing $2 million in grants to more than 1,000 schools and garden-related nonprofits nationwide.

Southeast Middle School’s team is being led by teacher Henrika Bates and principal Stacey Whitaker.