Time banking is a throwback to the days when people walked across the hall or street to talk to neighbors, rather than simply catching up on Facebook and other online social networking sites. Time banking is about creating real-life social networks based on thrift, yes, but also mutual friendship.

''I lived in a close-knit community in the countryside in Puerto Rico where everybody knew each other,'' said Omayra Torres, a coordinator for the Visiting Nurse Time Bank in New York City and a member.

Torres said that moving to New York City was tough because people keep to themselves, and she wasn't sure if a time bank could work here.

'But when I started exchanging services and saw the results, I said, `OK, it is possible in New York City to enlarge your social network and meet new people and become close, like family,' '' she said.

Doris Feldman, an 82-year-old member of the Visiting Nurse Time Bank in New York City, recently helped a Spanish-speaking member practice English. She compared the experience of participating in a time bank to the spokes of a wheel.

''Each good deed extends out and goes round and round,'' Feldman said. ``I helped a lady with her English and she was just as delighted as could be. But she didn't have to do anything for me.

``That's not what it's about. She provided her services to someone else in the time bank who needed her skills.''

NOT BARTERING

Time banks differ from bartering, where two people exchange services of equal value.

'It's not `you do something for me so I gotta do something for you,' '' Feldman said. ``I was always taught to help without the thought of remuneration.''

Reyes hopes that her son is learning the same lessons through his work at the time bank. The youngest time bank member, Carlos, 8, dishes out flan and other desserts at the group's monthly meetings and makes phone calls to members reminding them about upcoming meetings.

He also said he ''takes old ladies to fun places.'' The most recent fun place he visited was the Museum of Modern Art with his mother and two other adult members. The museum pass was donated to the time bank by a member.

So what has Carlos learned from his work at the time bank? ''I learned that it's important to help people,'' Carlos said. ``It gives me a happy feeling.''

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