Sometimes “good work” can require heavy lifting (like last month’s Coastal Cleanup), but sometimes it requires very little physical effort.

You can even help others just by listening to music. Benefit albums are released regularly, but the Joey’s Song charity CDs deserve special attention. Put together by the Joseph Gomoll Foundation (and released on Omnivore Recordings), these CDs offer music made for both children and their parents.

The kids’ version contains a lively set of family tunes – the majority of them never before released – from such acts as the Knack, Sammy Llamas (of Bodeans fame), the Motels’ Martha Davis and the Baseball Project (featuring REM’s Peter Buck). The “adult” disc holds 15 tunes (10 previously unreleased) by musicians such as Roseanne Cash, Sam Phillips and Mark Kozelek, as well as separate tracks from Jayhawks co-founders Gary Louris and Mark Olsen.

It’s good music for a good cause. The discs are a very personal project of producer Mike Gomoll, whose son Joey passed away from a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet’s Syndrome. Money raised through these CDs goes to help those afflicted with seizure disorders and to Gio’s Garden, a respite care center that gives specialized services for families with special-needs children. Visit www.joeysongs.org or http://omnivorerecordings.com to find out more about these albums and this foundation.

Reading is another popular leisure pastime; however, buying the book My Son, The Soccer Player will help raise money for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The book – written by former Argentina pro soccer player and current L.A. area soccer coach Bruno Pisano – features profiles and interviews of more than 50 soccer players or their parents. It’s an interesting and informative way to learn about these soccer stars. One of the book’s strengths is that Pisano chose players from all around the world, which creates a nice diversity and underscores the project’s universality. Pisano has pledged a dollar from each book sale to go to Children’s Hospital and he hopes to raise at least $1.2 million. Find more information at www.mysonthesoccerplayer.com.