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October 1 - November 14: Warm & Fuzzy Drive
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October 1-10: Empty Bowls Committee Forming
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October 20: High School Leaders College Prep Workshop
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November: Blanket Making Party (Date TBD)
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December 4-13: Winter Boutique
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December: Carriage Rides Youth Board Fundraiser (Dates TBA)
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February 15, 2026: Empty Bowls Dinner
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February 27, 2026: Nashville Songwriters Live Benefit Concert
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Oct 11: GVCC Common Ground Breakfast & Essentials Distribution
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Oct 13: Twin Lakes Food Bank Food Distribution
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Oct 13 - November: Winter Boutique Clothes Sorting & Counting (multiple events)
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Oct 15: Mercy Creekview Manor Senior Dinner & Entertainment
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Oct 18: 3Strands Global Break Free Run
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Oct 24: Sister Nora's Place Dinner
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Oct 25: GVCC Common Ground Breakfast & Essentials Distribution
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Oct 25: Upper Room Dining Hall Dinner
Ongoing:
Donations and Drop-Off Dates:
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Oct 14: Mercy Creekview dinner/dessert donations due
New opportunities may be added throughout the month, so be sure to check the calendar often!
| | Ella Coller's story is a little different from a lot of Hands4Hope Youth Spotlight stories. Ella discovered Hands4Hope after moving to the area by seeing the organization mentioned in the community, and found that Hands4Hope After-School Committee opportunities in summer worked with her availability and interests. She has now participated twice in these committees, both times in leadership roles. Ella's experience with Hands4Hope exemplifies the impact that youth can have, and the growth they can experience, while choosing a level of participation that works for them. Read on to learn more about why Ella chooses Hands4Hope summer after summer! | | |
The 16th annual Hands4Hope Warm & Fuzzy Drive has kicked off, thanks to the hard-working Winter Boutique Committee! Every fall, Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference partners with local elementary schools, businesses, and organizations to collect clothing to help less fortunate families in our community stay warm throughout the winter. Hands4Hope youth will sort and count these items (sorting volunteer sign-ups are available now), and then distribute them at Winter Boutique in early December.
This year we have an abundance of used clothing, so we are focusing on collecting new essentials to add to our supplies. From October 1 through November 14 we will be collecting new gloves, hats, scarves, socks, warm pajamas, underwear, thermal underwear, sports bras, athletic pants, leggings, and thermal shirts, and also twin and larger blankets. All sizes and colors are needed!
See more details as well as partner drop-off locations around the region:
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There are a few more ways to contribute needed items to be distributed at Winter Boutique:
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Shop our Amazon Registry to have items shipped directly to Hands4Hope
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Let us do the shopping for you by making a direct donation through our form or by texting "warmfuzzy" to 50155.
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Shop our Walmart Registry to provide material for the Blanket Making Party, where youth will make cozy blankets to then distribute at Winter Boutique.
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The Empty Bowls Committee is now forming! This youth-led after-school committee oversees the planning and implementation of the annual Empty Bowls Dinner in Placerville, a soup dinner featuring live music and vendors that raises funds to fight hunger in our community and beyond.
Youth in 6th-12th grades are invited to apply to participate in the committee, which will meet primarily at the Hands4Hope Placerville Youth Center. Youth will fill roles as leaders of the committee and as subcommittee participants.
Interest Surveys are due Friday, October 10.
| | Save the date for the Empty Bowls Dinner:
Sunday, February 15, 2026
at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds! | | |
In case you missed it, the 5th annual Hands4Hope Endless Summer Beach Party, the largest fundraiser of the year for the organization, was a whale of a good time! More than 200 guests ate, danced, and celebrated the accomplishments of Hands4Hope on Saturday, September 13, and many more supporters participated in the online silent auction and "Escape from the Mermaid's Spell" rescue campaign. From the bottom of our hearts, we are deeply grateful to all who attended, participated, sponsored, and donated to this event, making possible Hands4Hope's coming year of inspiring and empowering youth in leadership and service.
At the heart of the evening was a special presentation by Jeanne Shuman, Executive Director, Jake’s Journey Home; and Tania Thomas, Hands4Hope Youth Community Engagement Ambassador. Both spoke passionately about their involvement with Hands4Hope. You can watch the video at our wrap-up link!
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As one of their first activities of the year, the Union Mine and El Dorado Hands4Hope Clubs participated in the "Letters of Gratitude" campaign through Mission to Honor Veterans by writing creative and thoughtful messages to show their gratitude, and let local veterans know how much we appreciate their service to our country. Hands4Hope Club participants drew pictures and wrote heartfelt messages in more than 50 cards!
Hands4Hope also facilitated card collection from Silva Valley Elementary, Oak Meadow Elementary, Lakeview Elementary, and Louisiana Schnell Elementary. These cards will join others created by the community, and will be distributed to 100 local veterans at the 5th annual Mission to Honor Veterans event in Placerville on October 17. At that event, veterans who are unable to participate in an actual flight to Washington, D.C. due to age or frailty will be treated to virtual tours of war memorials, breakfast, snacks, lunch, a new handmade lap blanket, and souvenirs. These letters provide a personal and local "Mail Call" touch, and we are so proud of our youth for giving it their all as they participated in this effort!
| | It's the season for hoodies and crew necks, and Hands4Hope has you covered with our annual sweatshirt order. This year, we are offering crew, hooded, and full zip sweatshirts in ash gray, and a hooded sweatshirt in laurel green. This order is being placed as a "pre-order" where we will only order the exact quantities requested, and additional sweatshirts will not be available after the order period concludes. If interested, orders are due by Wednesday, October 22, and are expected to be available to be distributed starting the week of November 10-14. | | |
We are delighted to welcome two new talented staff members to the Hands4Hope team!
Heather Pica joined us in August and jumped right in to planning Endless Summer Beach Party. As Development Coordinator, she will run fundraising campaigns and events, and help manage donor engagement and acknowledgement.
Ellie Lungren joined us in September. As Community Engagement Coordinator, she will provide support to the Community Engagement program, and the youth and adult volunteers who participate in all of our outreach opportunities.
| | El Dorado Disposal has been a supporter of Hands4Hope for nearly all of its 17 years! In addition to providing Organics, Recycle, and Trash service to the west slope of El Dorado County, El Dorado Disposal invests in the health of the community overall by partnering with organizations like Hands4Hope. They said, "We have always believed in the mission to empower youth to identify a need, think creatively about how to address that need, and then execute a project that is youth-led. It's still a great formula for developing young leaders." | | |
Hands4Hope - Youth Making A Difference
is a youth-driven non-profit charitable 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to inspire and empower youth in leadership and service.
Our vision is to develop a community of civic-minded and socially responsible citizens for generations to come.
THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY!
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