February 2018 - Boston

 
Boston Fight for Air Climb
American Lung Association
 
Date/Time: Saturday, February 3, 7am
 
Location: One Boston Place, 201 Washington St., Boston

By joining the Fight for Air Climb, you are helping to make a positive impact in the lives of those affected by lung disease. Participants raise funds to support the mission of the American Lung Association while training to climb the stairs of a skyscraper, stadium, or other landmark building. Make the most of your experience and climb as a part of a team. Teams consist of friends, family and co-workers who want to help raise awareness and funds to support research, patient programs and advocacy efforts. Children and families can climb! Participants must be at least ten years old. There is a fundraising requirement of $100 that is due on/by the day of the event. Volunteer duties include registration/check-in, water/rest stops, finish line, and cheering squad.

Ages: 10 years old for participation, 15 years for volunteering
 
Time Commitment: Five or eight-hour shift
 
Contact: Judy Deane, 413.505.5061, Judy.Deane@Lung.org 
 
 
JF&CS Family Table Distribution
Jewish Family and Children's Service
 
Date/Time: Sunday, February 11 or Sunday, March 25, between two to three hours
  • 9am: If interested, participate in setting up for the food distribution.
  • 10:15-11:45am: Receive your assignment and pack and deliver groceries. You may arrive anytime during this time frame. You will receive a quick orientation and can then begin packing groceries for several families
Location: 1430 Main Street, Waltham
 
Family Table provides healthy food on a monthly and emergency basis to individuals and families in need. Their mission is to end hunger in the Greater Boston Jewish community while serving people who need our assistance, regardless of religious affiliation. Family Table fulfills its mission by providing Kosher food, creating a caring Jewish connection, and empowering people to make healthy eating a part of their daily lives. Family Table serves more than 100 towns across Greater Boston, the North Shore, and the South Area. Currently, Family Table is helping more than 500 families each month with groceries and connections to other services. Volunteers are needed to help with the following tasks:
  • Setting up the pantry
  • Packaging and delivering food orders to recipient families
Packing will take approximately 30 - 45 minutes. Your delivery location will not be more than 30 minutes from your hometown but not in your hometown for confidentiality reasons. The clients know that you are just dropping off the food and not visiting.

Ages: All ages are welcome and encouraged to volunteer when accompanied by an adult.
 
Time Commitment: One to three hours depending on the activity. Volunteers can arrive at 9am to help with setup.
 
Contact: Email familytable@jfcsboston.org at least two weeks before distribution date to sign up. All adult volunteers must complete a JF&CS administered CORI background check. If you have volunteered at Family Table previously, you can sign up one week before the distribution date.
www.jfcsboston.org/Our-Services/Community-Services/Center-for-Basic-Needs-Assistance/Family-Table
 
 
Food Rescue Volunteers
Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Inc.
 
Date/Time: Varies
 
Location: Throughout Massachusetts

Rescuing Leftover Cuisine bridges the gap between nutritious surplus prepared food from businesses and the local shelters and soup kitchens who provide this food to those in need. We rely 100% on our volunteers. Throughout 2017, nearly 489,000 pounds of food were rescued from food businesses in NYC, where RLC is based, resulting in over 407,000 nutritious meals. Our mission is to follow suit here in MA, where nearly 1 in 10 households is experiencing some level of food insecurity. Learn more by reading our Volunteer FAQ's.

SIGN UP INSTRUCTIONS:
  1. Visit www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/massachusetts. 
  2. Click Volunteer and fill out the Volunteer Sign Up Form. Note: under Preferred Region, click Massachusetts; then under Preferred Location, only check off one area for now. Under Availability, it's best to check All. It would be wonderful if you also check the box for Emergency Rescues!
  3. Visit our Events Calendar to view Volunteer Opportunities. Sign up for any Event that fits your schedule, up to 24 hours in advance.
Ages: Whether you're 9 or 99, travel by 4 wheels, 2 wheels or 2 feet, you can volunteer! An adult must accompany children under age 14.
 
Time Commitment: Events at Rescuing Leftover Cuisine typically last 30 minutes (Some events are longer, some are shorter). On each event, we rescue an average of 50 pounds of food, which feeds about 40 people. It only takes 30 minutes to help feed over 40 people. Anyone can volunteer for Regular Rescues at their leisure via our  Volunteer Calendar; and for Emergency Rescues, volunteers may claim or ignore any pickup (like Uber/Lyft).
 
Contact:  Sign up at www.rescuingleftovercuisine.org/MA or email Boston@RescuingLeftoverCuisne.org
 
 
Cambridge Winter Farmers Market
Cambridge Community Center
 
Date/Time: Every Saturday now until April 7; 8 - 10am and 2 - 4pm
 
Location: Cambridge Community Center (Inside the Gymnasium), 5 Callender St., Cambridge

Do you love farmers markets? Are you interested in the local food movement? Do you want to spend more time getting to know your community and having fun lending a hand? Then join us at the Cambridge Winter Farmers Market! The market is a program of the Cambridge Community Center and is held inside the CCC gymnasium, located just outside of Central Square in Cambridge. There are over two dozen vendors, live music, and fun community events that run alongside the market every week. We are looking for help with set up and clean up each market day, which involves helping the vendors bring in/out big crates produce and other food products and setting up and breaking down the market space.

Ages: Youth 12 and older are welcome to volunteer with a parent or guardian.
 
Time Commitment: Two hour shifts
 
Contact: Anna Pierce-Slive, annaps@cambridgecc.org
www.cambridgewinterfarmersmarket.com
 
 
Make Cards for Clients
Community Servings
 
Date/Time: Cards can be dropped off Monday through Friday, 9am - 5pm
 
Location: You can drop-off or mail cards to:
Community Servings
Attn: Volunteer Department
18 Marbury Terrace
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Card making is a fun project for children of all ages. Community Servings is a not-for-profit food and nutrition program providing services throughout Massachusetts and in Rhode Island to individuals and families living with critical and chronic illnesses. Our comforting, made-from-scratch meals send the message to those in greatest need that someone cares. We invite children (and adults) of all ages to help brighten our clients' day with handmade cards throughout the year. Your cards will be sent to our critically ill clients. Our clients range in age from 3 to 101 years of age and many are homebound and living alone. Your cards will brighten a client's day and let them know we're thinking of them and wishing them well. Cards should include only positive messages; please avoid saying things that might remind them of their illness. Please review the following Guidelines for Card Making.
 
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.
 
Time Commitment: Varies
 
Contact: Taylor Stevens, Volunteer Coordinator, tstevens@servings.org or 617.522.7777, ext. 227
www.servings.org/
 
 
Write a Letter!
Operation Gratitude
 
Date/Time: Ongoing
 
Location: All your cards and letters can be sent together in one large mailing envelope or box to:
Operation Gratitude
21100 Lassen Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311-4278
ATTN: Letter Writing Program
Please include a  donation form in your large mailing envelope or box.

Operation Gratitude annually sends 200,000+ Care Packages filled with food, entertainment, hygiene, and handmade items, plus personal letters of appreciation to Veterans, First Responders, New Recruits, Wounded Heroes, their Care Givers, and to individually named U.S. service members deployed overseas and their families waiting at home. Of all the items included in these packages, the most cherished are the personal letters of appreciation! Our goal is to include several letters and colorful drawings in every Care Package and tell our troops "WE CARE!" Writing a letter is a meaningful way for Americans to show support for our Military. It only takes five minutes of your day, but will bring lasting joy to our troops. Letters are accepted year-round. Right now, we have a special need for those specifically written to our New Recruits, Veterans, and First Responders. Holiday cards need to be received two to three months prior to the holidays in order for them to reach our service members on time. Once we receive letters it takes us time to screen, sort and assemble them into our care packages and then we have to factor in the shipping time. If your letters will arrive at a later date it will work well to make them general letters of appreciation so that they may be used year-round. Don't know where to start? Follow these letter writing guidelines:
  • Start with a generic salutation, such as "Dear Hero" or "Dear Brave One."
  • Express your thanks for their selfless service.
  • Avoid politics completely and religion in excess; however, saying you will pray for them is wonderful.
  • Share a little about yourself: Family, Hobbies, Work, School, Pets, Travel, etc.
  • Talk about life and interests: Sports, Weather, Music, Movies, Food, Books, etc.
  • Adults: Include your contact information (mail or email) so the letter recipient can reply. (Recipients may or may not write back; please do not be disappointed if you do not receive a response.)
  • Children's Letters: Include first names only and do not include addresses (an adult's address can be used).
  • Can't find the words? Consider drawing or painting a picture instead; please add a note to kids' drawings with their age.
  • No glitter or confetti please!
  • Do not put your individual cards or letters in envelopes-they are not needed and create a burden for our letter screeners.
Ages: Everyone can participate
 
Time Commitment: Varies
 
Contact:  OpGrat@gmail.com or info@operationgratitude.com
 
 
Car Window Poetry
Words Matter: Harness the Power of Poetry
Doing Good Together
 
Date/Time: Anytime
 
Location: Your home and community

At Doing Good Together, we know how the right turn of phrase can encourage more kindness. We know how  a great book can cultivate empathy, opening a child up to the feelings and experiences of a stranger. The instructions for this project are as simple as its name.
  1. Create short, heart-warming poems, jokes, or artwork. You may want to use the free Car Window Poetry cards available here.
  2. Place your poems on car windows outside your school, playground, library, a busy grocery store, or wherever you happen to be. Note: if it's raining or remarkably windy, postpone this step a bit.
  3. Post your poems on Instagram with the #CarWindowPoetry. While you're at it, kindly add #DoingGoodTogether as well!
Learn more by visiting the Doing Good Together Words Matter: Harness the Power of Poetry project page.
 
Ages: Everyone can participate
 
Time Commitment: Varies
 
Contact:  mail@doinggoodtogether.org
www.doinggoodtogether.org
 
 
Let's take the lovely day called Valentine's Day and make it a month-long kindness endeavor! Prepare now by printing and posting our 28-Day Valentine Kindness Challenge. Pick and choose your favorite days for doing something extra good for others or challenge yourselves for the entire month of February. This is a great project for families, community or faith groups, or even classrooms. And if you participate in this challenge, kindly let us know how it goes!

Share your stories here: www.doinggoodtogether.org/good-stories/

 

 

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This list was compiled by Doing Good Together™ (www.doinggoodtogether.org)
 When calling to volunteer for any of the opportunities listed above, please let the coordinator know you found it through this listing. You are encouraged to ask any questions you may have of the sponsoring organization before committing to a project.
Disclaimer: This list is provided as a service to families. Inclusion of organizations in this listing does not imply affiliation, endorsement or quality assurance on the part of Doing Good Together.™ Doing Good Together™ bears no responsibility whatsoever for the activities and actions of the listed organizations. 
                                                                            

                                                                                                     © 2018 Doing Good Together™