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The Volunteer Connection
Holiday 2025
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Hi Friends!
It's hard to believe that we're already deep into the end-of-year holiday season! 2025 has been a bit of a blur here at HandsOn. Like me, I know that many of you are looking forward both to the delights of the holiday season and the opportunity it presents to focus more on our family and loved ones.
During this season of giving and gratitude, we also know many folks have a renewed interest in helping our neighbors, especially in our current environment. While the immediate threat to SNAP benefits may have been resolved, there are still many people that face hunger everyday. If you're interested in helping out, you can find all of our food-security related volunteer opportunities on GetConnected, and we've highlighted a few below. Additional organizations working with people facing food insecurity can be found here.
Also remember that another way to increase the effectiveness of your own personal volunteer efforts is to call and email your elected officials--on the local, state, and national level--on important policy issues. Remember, for every nine meals that SNAP provides our neighbors, food banks--even in the best of times--can provide only one. North Carolina ranks dead last in the country in the 2024 Civic Health Index on citizens contacting or speaking with our elected officials. Yet, as we saw with the recent advocacy efforts around SNAP, using your voice--alongside volunteering and service, and other aspects of the Civic Circle--can be one of the most powerful ways you can effect change. If you want to learn more, I encourage you to check out the resources provided by One Sector, One Voice Triad--a cross-mission, sector-wide collaboration of which HandsOn is honored to be one of the backbone organizations. This work is important because we know that *every* civic act, *every* act of volunteering, makes a crucial difference
This holiday season, I am thankful for our HandsOn team, my supportive family and friends, our amazing nonprofit partners that pull rabbits out of their hats everyday to meet their missions, and, of course to you-- the thousands of volunteers who come out to serve our neighbors each and every year. Building thriving and healthy communities where everyone can prosper means all of us pulling together!
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Yours in Service,
Amy
Amy Lytle
Executive Director
HandsOn NWNC
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Samaritan Ministries, a HandsOn Supporting Partner, runs the largest soup kitchen in Winston-Salem, serving 300 guests every day. The government shutdown and the delayed SNAP benefits this month has only seen the demand for their services rise. There's lunch and dinner shifts available every day of the week, 365 days of the year. Volunteers are also needed to serve "on-call" in case of absences, help with check-in, and pick up donations from local grocery stores. Volunteering with Samaritan is a very tangible and concrete way to help some of the most vulnerable in our community!
Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!
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Elementary students in Winston-Salem are still waiting for volunteer tutors this school year! Heart Math Tutoring, a HandsOn Supporting Partner, makes it easy and rewarding to help a child build confidence and foundational math skills, no experience needed. Volunteers work one-on-one with a student for just 30–60 minutes per week, using fun, hands-on activities and a proven curriculum with full training and support.
Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!
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Operation Turkey Greensboro is back and ready to prepare, package, and deliver 2,000 meals to families but they can’t do it without YOU!
Ready to roll up your sleeves, make some memories, and spread a whole lot of Thanksgiving cheer? Pick your shift, grab your spot, and be part of something truly special this holiday season!
Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!
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Do you know a student who is passionate about the environment or wants to gain experience working at a local non-profit? Piedmont Environmental Alliance, a HandsOn Supporting Partner, is hiring for two great, unpaid volunteer internship opportunities this spring!
Outreach & Events Internship
They're looking for a motivated, self-directed intern to help support their busy Spring events. The intern will send marketing and outreach emails, track information on spreadsheets, plan logistics and programs for upcoming events, and participate as a team member at events like the Piedmont Earth Day Fair, Environmental Debate Tournament, and more.
They're also looking for an Environmental Education Intern who can commit 5-10 hours a week for the full academic year to learn and teach Environmental Education programs to local students. Interns must be available at least one day a week during school hours between 8 am-2 pm. By the end of this internship, the candidates will have completed Criteria IV of the North Carolina Environmental Education Certification
Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!
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Join the MLK Day of Service Read-In in Winston-Salem!
The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service promotes Dr. King's ideals of service, equality, and non-violence. For more than a decade, we've honored this legacy with our annual "Read-In" event, co-planning the event alongside our partners and friends at Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University. We're excited to announce that this year's event will be hosted at the Anderson Center on WSSU's campus on the morning of Saturday, January 24th, and will be generously sponsored by our friends at Honda. (Yes, that's the Saturday immediately following the holiday weekend.)
This educational and "hands on" event pairs children from kindergarten to 5th grade with a "Reading Buddy" volunteer who will lead them through various activities related to Dr. King's legacy of service, literacy, self-sufficiency, and human and civil rights. At the event, each child will receive one new civil rights-themed book to take home.📚❤️ Participants will also enjoy healthy snacks, and assistance with transportation to/from the event, allowing them to build connections and enjoy the experience of being on a college campus.
If you're interested in having the youth in your orbit participate, please register them in advance, and please share widely with any youth-serving organizations with whom you have a connection!
Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!
Please note that all volunteers will need to attend a virtual training and pass a background check before serving.
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Support All in for Our Schools and the Every Shelf, Every Student Campaign!
In response to the ongoing budget shortfall affecting Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools (WS/FCS), Bookmarks, a HandsOn Supporting Partner, has launched a campaign to rally the community around students and teachers. Through the initiative, titled “Every Shelf, Every Student,” each public school in the district will have a curated list of urgently needed books available for purchase on their website--empowering individuals, families, and businesses to make a direct and lasting impact on student literacy.
This initiative is part of a larger community effort, All in for Our Schools, that serves as a coordinated community hub for donation and volunteer opportunities specific to identified and immediate needs, while evaluating longer-term solutions.
Learn More Today!
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2025 - 2026
Nonprofit Essentials
Human Resources
Date
Thursday, December 18, 1-4 p.m.
Location
Virtual
Cost
$60/person; $50/person for Supporting Partners
About
Join us for this session that recognizes that the most important part of any nonprofit is its people! Whether you're working with volunteers or paid staff, this session addresses key topics such as recruitment, retention, development, and evaluation and how to create a motivating and rewarding environment where everyone can be their full and best selves.
Register Here!
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2025 - 2026 Nonprofit Essentials
Working With Leaders in Grassroots Communities
Date
Thursday, January 15, 1-4 p.m.
Location
Virtual
Cost
$60/person; $50/person for Supporting Partners
About
As we all work together to align our efforts to move the needle on the important systemic issues that our communities face, collective impact, place-based and resident-led initiatives, and asset-based community development move to the forefront. Please join us to learn more about this work and how you can successfully be a part of it!
Register Here!
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AI for Fundraising:
Donor Engagement and Strategy 2.0
Date
Wednesday, January 31, 9-11 a.m.
Location
Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness, room 209
114 W 30th Street, room 602
Winston-Salem, NC, 27105
Cost
$10/person
About
Join Nicole Royer, Forsyth Tech's Small Business Center, and HandsOn NWNC for a follow-up to the AI for Fundraising: Donor Engagement and Strategy workshop offered last year and discover how AI can personalize donor outreach, improve fundraising campaigns, and uncover new opportunities.
Register Here!
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For all of our local volunteer opportunities across Forsyth, Surry, Stokes, Davie, Davidson, Yadkin, and now Guilford Counties, please visit GetConnected.
And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for timely opportunities and other information!
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HandsOnNWNC.org
phone: 336.724.2866
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