Date/Time: The deadline for this specific drive is March 27. Donations are accepted:

Location: Drop off locations:

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Varies

Did you know around 900 million chocolate Easter bunnies will be made this year? How many jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps do you think are made each year? Whether you prefer chocolate or another sugary sweet, consider collecting your top picks to create an Easter basket for a child in our local Miami community. Miami Rescue Mission’s Women and Children Centers are in need of pre-made Easter baskets. You can purchase pre-filled Easter baskets from the store, but why not use your creativity to make your own? Rather than using baskets, add the gifts into colorful buckets, or another festive container that can be reused. Baskets are needed for boys and girls of all ages. Ideas for basket items include: wrapped candy, small toys, jump ropes, arts & crafts, small stuffed animals, coloring/activity books, and bubbles.

Contact: Lianner Navarro, 305.572.2004, Lnavarro@caringplace.org

Date/Time: Sunday, March 7,10:30am - 12:30pm

Location: 8500 Collins Ave, Miami Beach. You will find the cleanup group on the beach at 85th Street and Collins Avenue.

Ages: Families with children of all ages are welcome; however, all individuals under 18 must have their parent/guardian sign a waiver. Pre-signing prior to the cleanup is strongly encouraged. Parents, please no drop offs. You must be present with your child throughout the duration of the cleanup.

Time Commitment: Two hours

Manatees, seabirds, and turtles are a few of the wildlife sharing the beach with you. One of the ways you can help these marine animals is by disposing of debris which may otherwise end up in our ocean. Coastal Conservator’s goal is to help keep our Miami beaches clean. Plastic gloves will be provided; however, volunteers are encouraged to bring their own work/gardening gloves if you have them. Please keep in mind some items found on the beach may be sharp. Closed-toe shoes such as sneakers are suggested for volunteers to wear as the shoreline may be rocky and/or there could be broken glass. Don’t forget to also pack your mask, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, and water (preferably in a reusable water bottle).

Contact: 305.968.5220, CoastalConservators@gmail.com. Register and view more information by clicking here.

Date/Time: The deadline to donate this DIY project is June 1. Drop-offs are only accepted at the HandsOn Broward office on Tuesdays from 9am - 3pm and Thursdays from noon - 5pm.

Location: Drop your project off at 5815-B North Andrews Way, Fort Lauderdale. Knock on the 5815B door. The HandsOn Miami location is only able to accept projects that are mailed in at this time. If you are not able to drop your project off in-person in Fort Lauderdale, you can mail it to: HandsOn Miami, Attn: Cindy Ariza, 2103 Coral Way #202, Miami, FL 33145

Ages: Everyone can participate

Time Commitment: Varies

Emergency preparedness is important to all community members, as no one is too young nor too old to take steps to protect their life and property during an emergency. But for many low-income families it can be difficult to prioritize purchases that are meant to remain in place and unused when their resources may be limited or strained. The goal of this DIY is to provide a family with an emergency “go bag” they can easily grab when evacuating in a hurry. Supplies needed include a t-shirt, hand wipes, a manual can opener and a flashlight. Encourage your family and friends to donate their time helping you collect supplies needed to create this project! Click here for detailed instructions, including a complete list of supplies.

Contact: Cindy Ariza, cindy@handsonmiami.org

Date/Time: Ongoing opportunity

Location: Fridges are located in Little Haiti, Wynwood, Overtown, Coconut Grove, Richmond Heights, and Florida City. Use the fridge map to find each fridge’s exact location and additional information.

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Varies

Do you have too many grocery items from your weekly shopping trip or do you want to donate food to community members in an easily accessible location? You can donate food directly to community refrigerators in our local Miami community. What exactly is a community fridge? A community fridge is a refrigerator located in a public space that enables food to be shared with the community. Anyone can put food in and take food out! The aim is to reduce food waste and support folks facing hardships by providing access to fresh, nutritious food. Part of our mission is to combat food waste but families are more than welcome to purchase food for the fridge.

Buddy System, a grassroots, non-profit, was founded in response to COVID-19. Here are four ways you and your family can help:

Contact: info@buddysystemMIA.com

Date/Time: Ongoing opportunity

Location: Your home

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate

Time Commitment: Varies

When an animal shelter no longer has space, or has a pet with a special need, they will often ask for foster families. As a foster family, you can help save lives by caring for a pet in your home until it’s ready for adoption. Fostering can be for as short as one week or as long as several weeks depending on the pet. You must be a Miami-Dade County resident to foster a dog or cat from the Pet Adoption and Protection Center. Due to COVID-19, all regularly scheduled orientations for the foster program have been suspended. Foster orientation sessions are now being scheduled by appointment only and are being held on a one-on-one basis to meet distancing guidelines.

Contact: asdfoster@miamidade.gov. Please go to Foster a Pet for more information and to schedule an appointment.

Date/Time: Ongoing opportunity

Location: Online

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Varies

The Seabird Station treats upwards of 1,900 patients a year. There are a few cases where animals are in otherwise good health, but can’t be released back into the wild due to a broken wing or missing/damaged eye, which renders them unable to fly or hunt in the absence of binocular vision. Pelican Harbor Seabird Station has 15 non-releasable animals that range from pelicans to opossums, to box turtles, that they use for educational purposes. Humberto and Rosario, two permanently displaced Florida Box Turtles, act as ambassadors by helping the station understand more about wildlife and how humans have impacted the animal kingdom. Your family can help Humberto and Rosario by making a financial donation through their “Adopt a Turtle” program. Learn more here.

Contact: 305.751.9840, info@pelicanharbor.org 

Date/Time: Ongoing

Location: Your home or community

Ages: Everyone can help

Time Commitment: Varies

The Pajama Program is a non-profit that provides new pajamas and new books to children in need through a nationwide network of service agencies. Snuggling up in cozy, new pajamas with their very own new book, gives these children a secure and nurturing "good night" at bedtime. We can never have enough pajamas and books! Your family can help by starting your own Pajama and Book Drive. Remember to be safe! Create a contactless drop-off area, and communicate with your donors via phone or email. Invite everyone to purchase pajamas and books online and have them delivered to you for collection or identify places in your community where people can safely drop-off or mail the new pajamas and books. Here are our pajama and book donation guidelines:

Once your drive is complete, report the donation through the online form to learn where to send your donation. The Pajama Project cannot provide pickup service for donations. We will contact you within 7 days to arrange a drop-off location. You will either be connected with a local Chapter President to make the arrangements, or receive drop-off or shipping instructions from the National Office.

Contact: info@pajamaprogram.org, 212.716.9757. Click here to find out if there is a local chapter near you.

Date/Time: The sock collection will run from February 1 – April 30. (Don’t worry if your socks arrive a little before the 1st or a little after the 30th– we anticipate that most people will end their collections on the 30th and the socks will arrive in the 2-3 weeks following.)

Location: Please mail your collected socks to:

Soldiers Angels’ – Warm Feet for Warriors

2895 NE Loop 410, Suite 107

San Antonio, TX 78218

Ages: Everyone can participate

Time Commitment: Varies

One of the items that is most requested from service members and veterans is socks! Just think of how nice a brand-new pair of socks feel when you pull them on! Soldiers’ Angels wants to help keep our troops and veterans’ toes feeling toasty, and you can help! Start a sock collection drive and send us new socks in all colors and sizes in their original packaging. We will distribute the socks to veterans in VA Hospitals and include in our care packages to deployed service members. Our goal for 2021 is to collect 10,000 pairs of socks for our deployed service members and veterans. You can buy any adult size socks. We have service members and veterans of all sizes and genders, so as long as they are adult socks, we’ll find the right person for the sock after we have them! As you will see on our Amazon Wish List, black is preferred, but really any color is fine! These socks are not meant to be used as uniform socks by our deployed service members. The military has pretty strict regulations when it comes to military uniforms and every branch is different. These socks will be used by military for time out of uniform. For veterans in hospitals, the color doesn’t matter at all, but hospitals require that patients have non-skid socks. Check out the Soldiers Angels’ – Warm Feet for Warriors page for more information about how to participate.

Contact: inkind@soldiersangels.org

Location: Your home or community

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate

Time Commitment: Varies, depending on your project

Good Deeds Day is a global movement of doing good. Throughout the world families, neighbors, schools, clubs, companies, and communities come together to do a good deed project. Does your family have an idea of a Good Deeds Day project for your community? Or you can browse their project ideas page for ideas. We encourage individuals to recruit colleagues, friends and family, and plan a project as a group!

Contact: info@good-deeds-day.org or click here to contact the Good Deeds Day team. Click here to register your Good Deeds Day project.