Hey Friends!

I hope you are staying warm and savoring these last days of 2024! The new year is quickly approaching and we hope you take some time to enjoy the holiday season. The holidays are great time to volunteer with the family and give back to your community!

Looking ahead to 2025, we're here to help you make service part of your New Year's resolutions. A great way to get started is to volunteer at our annual MLK Day of Service Read-In event that will take place on Saturday, January 27th from 10 am until noon at Winston-Salem State University. Keep on reading to learn more about this great event and other ways you can volunteer to support our neighbors in the new year.

Yours in Service,

The HandsOn NWNC Team

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service promotes Dr. King's ideals of service, equality, and non-violence. For over a decade, we've honored his legacy with our annual Read-In Event, which will take place this year on Saturday, January 25, 2025, from 10 AM - Noon at Wake Forest University. The program is jointly organized with our partners at Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State University, as well as HandsOn NWNC. The event this year is generous sponsored by Honda Aerospace.

Volunteering at this inspirational and fun event is a wonderful opportunity to mentor and support children in our community, while also promoting the joy of reading and the beauty of diversity. During the event, approximately 100 children from kindergarten through 5th grade will be paired with a volunteer "Reading Buddy" who will lead them through various activity stations tied to Dr. King's legacy of service, education, civil rights, and self-sufficiency. At the event, each child will receive one age-appropriate book and one new civil rights-themed book to take home. Volunteer slots are limited, and will fill quickly, so if you are interested, we encourage you to sign up today! If you are connected with a child who might be interested in participating, you can sign them up for the event here.

We encourage you to join us and share this opportunity widely with your own networks. Please email Cazandra Rebollar at Wake Forest University if you have any questions. 

The nomination forms for the 2024-2025 Forsyth County Governor's Volunteer Service Awards are now open! Each year, HandsOn NWNC honors the "best of the best" volunteers from across the county for the efforts they make to improve the lives of our neighbors and wider community. But we can't share these inspirational stories of service unless we hear them from you! Nominating a volunteer for these awards is a great way to not only honor their contributions and recognize their efforts, but it's a wonderful opportunity to highlight your organization and the impact of your mission within the wider community.

This year, our recognition event will be a dessert reception held at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness on May 7, 2025. You can secure your ticket or sponsorship now! Last year, a partner shared that they ended up recruiting two new board members and raising $5,000 as a result of their participation in these awards--and it all started with a nomination! Please remember that EVERY nominee gets to attend the awards reception for FREE! That's due to our generous sponsors--and we're currently accepting new sponsors now as well. Sponsorships start at just $300, and are a great way to support a wide variety of causes and mission areas with just a single gift! 

Nominations can be submitted by organizational representatives, fellow volunteers, employers, and others (just not family members!) If you'd like some guidance on how best to craft your compelling nomination for these meaningful and competitive awards, please don't hesitate to reach out to Casey Capstick for a one-on-one session. You can learn more about this program on our website. 

Organized by our friends at Love Out Loud, Christmas for the City is a free citywide Christmas party that features live music and arts performances, original work by local artists, a make-your-own toy workshop and, of course, Santa Claus! In years past, 1,200+ volunteers have welcomed over 10,000 guests for an evening of celebration and community at the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem. The event is scheduled for this Saturday, December 21st from 1 pm to 6 pm. And here are some of the ways you can still get involved:

North Pole Village Host

This year, the North Pole Village is all about experiencing the simple but powerful joy of Christmas! In the North Pole Village, kids can make toys, hear the message of Christmas in the North Pole Theater while sharing a cup of hot chocolate with friends, decorate Christmas cookies, and meet Santa and his elves. Loving volunteers are needed to help with volunteer assignment, greeting and hosting the room. 



This year, the NPV experiences include:

Woodworking

Lego Table

SANTA

& other experiences led by our nonprofit partners

Learn More

North Pole Village/ Santa Line Greeters

Welcome to the North Pole! As a greeter, you will bring the JOY to the event by stationing yourself at either the entrances of the North Pole or at the Santa Line entrance. Either way, what this volunteer role involves: HUGE SMILES, FESTIVE ATTIRE, and an EXCITEMENT to welcome people into the Village! You may be asked questions about what is in the room: You'll be able to share that there are incredible nonprofits and organizations stationed with activities, and a line for SANTA and some fairytale princesses! So encourage people to just walk around! You will report to the North Pole Coordinator-Terri Moy! Just check in at the North Pole and grab a door to greet! It's really that simple! 

Learn More

Runners!

Volunteers who are willing to be a part of the action and fill roles as needed. This year, runners will be especially helpful with cleaning and disinfecting activities. To be one of our volunteer runners!

Learn More

We know that the road to recovery for our neighbors to our west will be long, and there are numerous ways that you can still help communities get back on their feet this holiday season. Since mere hours after Helene made landfall, we've provided resources and opportunities on GetConnected, our volunteer site, with current and vetted information for ways to mobilize effective and efficiently. We've recently updated this site to highlight some of the most current and ongoing volunteer opportunities, along with a list of vetted nonprofits still doing important recovery work on the ground in WNC.

As HandsOn leans into our EIGHTEENTH year of providing top-notch service to the community in 2025, we want to make sure that we bring our partners and volunteers along with us--because we can't do the work of mobilizing people and organizations that inspire community change without YOU!

We encourage you to make a year-end gift in honor of your favorite volunteer (we'll send a letter to them!) or provide a year of Supporting Partnership to another nonprofit. We've grown our impact and area served this year, and your support will help keep that success on track.

There are so many ways in which a single gift to HandsOn, no matter how small, is leveraged multiple times over the course of a single year! Your end-of-year gift can help HandsOn keep harnessing the power of volunteer efforts and providing support to hundreds of other nonprofits and causes across our community! Got questions? Don't hesitate to reach out to Amy Lytle, Executive Director.

For all of our local volunteer opportunities in Forsyth, Surry, Stokes, Davie, Davidson, Yadkin, and now Guilford County, please visit GetConnected.

And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for timely opportunities and other information!

HandsOnNWNC.org

phone: 336.724.2866