we have done and are doing some unusual things in our community, simply because they "fit" our goals so well:
-helped run an electronics recycling day with our county solid waste dept.
-ran surplus sales/giveaways with our county government
-ran a "sciencepalooza" workshop at our school
-ran workshops for all grades using the SWE's bridge building model
-hosted a Nerdapalooza game night (this year we will also DJ a techno dance for one of the school's clubs to help raise money for school improvement)
-helped buy a bottle-filling water fountain for our school (they had none) and have helped save over 6,000 plastic water bottles since it was installed (in Jan.)
-run a tech help desk for our school - showing staff and students how to organize and save their files, how to defrag and tune up their computers, and what sort of files to avoid opening
-building (we are still working on it) a t-shirt cannon that sports groups and organizations can use at their events
-helped run a coding workshop
-helped run a mini-Makerfaire for holiday gifts
-demo'd our robots at county fair and other events
- running a trebuchet/catapult booth at our local renaissance fair (next month)
- helping with the OSU Engineering Expo (we set up robots with other local teams and let them see what FIRST robotics is about...we let visitors drive the robot, if they want to)
- hosting a showing of Underwater Dreams (or Spare Parts, when it's released) (We've even had a robot film festival on a dreary winter night)
There are a BUNCH of great ideas about workshops, etc. you can host here:
http://www.mastersindatascience.org/...ring-and-math/
My advice...though others may disagree: do what FITS your group and your community. Don't worry so much about starting new FIRST teams; build interest in science and engineering and what your team is doing. Identify a need, find an opportunity/niche that fits your team's identity. If your team doesn't enjoy it or find it relevant, their attitude will show and it will turn the public off.