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May 2016 - Boston |
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Watertown Helps Out
Watertown Community Foundation
Date/Time: Saturday, May 7, 8:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Meet at the Arsenal Project, 500 Arsenal Street, Watertown, Old Navy entrance.
The Watertown Community Foundation is hosting its third annual Watertown Helps Out Day. There are several volunteer projects throughout the community where families can volunteer together. You do not have to be a Watertown resident to participate. Some of the projects include:
- Church of the Good Shepherd - Prep gardens for Vacation Garden School
- Department of Public Works - Fillipello Park cleanup and Whitney Hill Park cleanup
- Watertown Family Network - Family Center cleanup
- Watertown Boys and Girls Club - Painting and outdoor cleanup
- Sen. Will Brownsberger and Rep. John Hecht - Bike path cleanup
- MetroWest Collaborative Development - Outdoor cleanup and landscaping
- Waltham Fields Community Farms - Field work
Ages: Everyone is welcome. Adults must supervise children.
Time Commitment: Depends on the project. Most activities will be completed by noon.
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Make Goody Bags for Birthday Wishes!
Birthday Wishes!
Date/Time: Flexible
Location: 11 Homer Street, Newton Centre.
Click for information on arranging a donation delivery.
The mission of Birthday Wishes is to provide birthday parties for homeless children. They believe that all children, regardless of their living situation, should celebrate their birthdays joyfully, surrounded by family, friends, and others who care. The Greater Boston office serves over 200 children living in shelters or motels on a monthly basis. Volunteers are needed to make goody bags for children who attend the parties. Visit the
Birthday Wishes website for detailed information on how to make the perfect goody bags.
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate
Time Commitment: Flexible
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Annual Park Cleanup at Ringer Park
The Ringer Park Partnership Group
Date/Time: Saturday, May 7, 9am - 1pm
Location: Ringer Park, 1 Webley Street, Allston. Meet at the softball field
It's time to get your hands dirty at the annual Ringer Park Cleanup! Stanley A. Ringer Playground is a 12.38-acre public park on Allston Street between Commonwealth and Brighton Avenues. The park consists of two tennis courts, two basketball courts, a baseball diamond, a playground and many walkways. This is a
Boston Shines Collaborative Project.
Volunteer tasks include:
- Litter/Trash Removal
- Fallen Branch Removal
- Raking Leaves/Debris
- Plantings
- Sweeping Walkways/Recreation Areas
- Define Walking/Hiking Pathways
Tools and gloves will be provided and lights refreshments served.
Ages: All ages are welcome to participate.
Time Commitment: Four hours
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Distribute Food and Stock Food Donations
East End House Food Pantry
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 17, 11am - 3pm or Friday, May 27, 9am - 1pm
Location: East End House, 105 Spring Street, Cambridge
The East End House Emergency Food Pantry serves residents throughout the Boston area, primarily from East Cambridge. They support over 300 families per month by offering healthy fresh and shelf-stable foods in a dignified setting. By increasing access to good food, they promote the flourishing and achievement of children from low-income families. The East End house receives food from the Greater Boston Food Bank, Food for Free, and Lovin' Spoonfuls. In addition, they receive donations from local food drives and individuals in the community. Volunteers set up and clean up the pantry space, help receive weekly produce donations, and assist clients as they choose their own groceries from available fresh produce and shelf-stable foods.
Ages: Families with children age seven and older are welcome to volunteer. Children must be supervised at all times by an adult family member.
Time Commitment: Three or four hours
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Crafting with Seniors
Cooperative Elder Services
Date/Time: Saturdays from 10:30 - noon
Location: 37 Broadway, Arlington
Do you enjoy playing board games or bingo? Come volunteer at Cooperative Elder Services and interact with seniors from all over the Greater Boston Area. Cooperative Elder Services is a nonprofit organization that offers a caring and secure alternative to nursing home placement for frail elders and disabled adults with medical, emotional, or cognitive impairments, while offering their family caretakers peace of mind and respite. Volunteer duties may include interacting and assisting with word games, card games, arts & crafts, and additional fun activities! Volunteers must be comfortable with seniors who may have Alzheimers or early stages of dementia.
Ages: Children are welcome but must be supervised at all times by an adult family member. Please be aware that some seniors may have early stages of Alzheimer's or dementia.
Time Commitment: One and one-half hours per week
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Garden Along the Greenway
The Rose Kennedy Greenway
Date/Time: Projects take place in the Greenway parks from Chinatown to the North End.
The exact location varies based on the project needs and will be provided prior to the project.
Location: Wednesday, May 11 or 25, 10am - noon
The Rose Kennedy Greenway is a mile-and-a-half of contemporary parks in the heart of Boston. The Greenway, a roof garden atop a highway tunnel, connects people and the city with beauty and fun. Volunteers have a unique opportunity to help with the organic maintenance of this dynamic green space! Working alongside Greenway Horticulture staff, volunteers can learn more about the Greenway and gardening. Projects are based on current park needs and primarily include light duty gardening tasks such as raking, weeding, mulching, pruning, and planting. Volunteers are required to wear closed toe shoes and should wear comfortable clothing that can get dirty. Water and light snacks will be provided.
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate. Children must be supervised. The work can sometimes be fast paced and can involve bending and lifting.
Time Commitment: Two hours
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Farm at the CSA in Framingham
Stearns Farm CSA
Date/Time: Saturday, May 21, 9:30am - noon. There will be an orientation to the farm at 9:45am.
Location: 862 Edmands Road, Framingham
The mission of the historic Stearns Farm is to preserve the farm as a sustainable all-natural garden, providing locally grown food in partnership between the land, the farmer, and the community. This is done by:
- Using the CSA model
- Providing fair compensation, adequate working conditions, and support to the farmer
- Practicing good stewardship
- Donating excess food to the needy
- Encouraging the community to actively participate in the farming process
- Providing learning opportunities
- Fostering relationships between the CSA and the wider community
- Providing a beautiful place that is nourishing to body and soul.
Volunteers are needed to help with planting vegetables and doing a variety of farm work tasks. It is strongly suggested that volunteers wear long pants and bring a bottle of water due to the physical nature of the work. Please note that
no cell phones are allowed on the farm, so volunteers should keep their phones in their cars or with their other belongings
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Ages: The farm welcomes all ages. An adult family member must supervise children. Please contact the farm with the ages of your children before volunteering.
Time Commitment: One and one-half hours
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Selecting Books for Prisoners
Prison Book Program
Date/Time: Saturday, May 21, 10am-4pm (volunteers can come at any point during this time)
Location: Lucy Parsons Bookstore, 1306 Hancock Street, Suite 100, Quincy
The Prison Book Program has been supplying individuals and groups of prisoners with quality reading material since 1972. With more than 2 million people locked up in American prisons and jails, and with limited educational programming available, the need for the Prison Book Program's services is great. The Prison Book Program gives books to individual prisoners in the United States. Prisoners have limited access to books and the program provides them with free books for personal development during incarceration. The Prison Book Program believes that education is a powerful tool that reduces the likelihood that a prisoner will return to the prison system. Volunteers will read letters from prisoners, fill their book requests, and package books to be shipped. Attention to detail is a very important component of this project!
Ages: Suitable for children eight and older with adult supervision.
Time Commitment: Flexible
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Brown Bag Lunch Food Distribution
Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services
Date/Time: Every second Tuesday of the month, from 8:30-11am
Location: The Arts at the Armory building, 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville
Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) promotes the right of all individuals to live with dignity, in the setting of their choice by offering older people, younger people with disabilities, and caregivers the information, services and support needed to make choices which enhance health, well-being and independence. SCES depends on volunteers to make many of its programs possible. In conjunction with the Greater Boston Food Bank, SCES supplies 650 low-income seniors with a free bag of groceries. Each registered senior receives a grocery bag of fresh and canned food to help them make it through the month. Fifteen to twenty volunteers are URGENTLY needed to help unload the Food Bank truck, sort food, and fill brown bags.
Ages: Families with children ages six and older can help with food distribution and sorting but all ages welcome to help with welcoming seniors.
Time Commitment: Two and one-half hours
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Shawmut Garden Clean Up
Shawmut Corridor Gardens
Date/Time: Saturday, May 7, 10am - noon
Location: Shawmut Station
The mission of the Shawmut Corridor Gardens project is to promote community pride and cleanliness by decreasing litter and gardening at the Shawmut Train station. The Shawmut Garden is a teaching garden. Teachers and students from area schools, as well as adult learners, are invited visit and learn. Spending time observing a garden can be an educational experience by itself: watching pollinators, observing colors and textures, and viewing the seasonal changes that take place. The Garden is the result of a multi-year collaborative effort between designers, artisans, architects, scientists, teachers, elected officials, and community advocates. Volunteers are needed to rake mulch, pull weeds, remove dead plants, prune, and pick up trash and debris. Wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty and closed toe shoes.
Ages: All ages are welcome but an adult family member must supervise younger children.
Time Commitment: Two hours
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Host Families for High School International Exchange Students
International Student Exchange
Date/Time: Students arrive in August and January, and stay five months, ten months or one year and attend local public high schools.
Location: Your home and community
ISE is seeking families to host incoming international exchange students. This is a fantastic opportunity for families who wish to enrich their families' culture, to build memories and friendships, and to showcase their culture and values. Host families are expected to provide basic room and board. Students coming to the United States through ISE will arrive with spending money and health insurance. Students may share a room with siblings of the same sex. International students are between the ages of 15 and 18 ½. Host families are assigned a supervising area representative to help you through the entire process from beginning to end. The supervising representative will be with you every step of the way providing extensive guidance and support during the student's exchange program.
Ages: Families of all shapes and sizes are welcome. An adult over the age of 25 must be part of the household.
Time Commitment: Five months, ten months or one year.
Contact:
Lisa, 800.766.4656x103 for additional information or referral to a local representative. Click here for the link to becoming a host family.
www.iseusa.org
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Download DGT's Feelings Flashcards and Play Empathy-Building Games
Doing Good Together
Date/Time: Anytime
Location: Your home or community
Ages: Preschool on up
Time Commitment: Games will take 15 to 60 minutes.
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For your next reunion, company party, or school gathering, help your organization help others! Doing Good Together™ Family Service Fairs allow groups of all ages to serve others in a two-hour fair-style event. Attendees come together to do simple and fun hands-on projects that benefit nonprofit organizations. Want to host a fun fair of your own? Our Family Service Fair Manual with Online Toolkit has everything you need to get started.
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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.
© 2016 Doing Good Together™
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