Holiday Adopt-a-Family
YWCA Seattle|King|Snohomish
Date/Time: Friday, December 3, Thursday, December 9 or Friday, December 10, 8am – 6pm
Location: YWCA Phillis Wheatley Branch, 2820 East Cherry Street, Seattle
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate
Time Commitment: Varies
The holidays are a special time of year when we come together as friends and family to express appreciation for the people that are dear to us. While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways we gather for the holidays, it doesn't change the deep desire to connect, give back, and celebrate. This giving season, your family can help support families served by YWCA Seattle|King|Snohomish by donating gift cards to allow families to purchase holiday gifts. Here’s how you can help with the Holiday Adopt-a-Family program.
We are requesting the following:
- A $100 gift card for groceries for the head of the household.
- Two $50 gift cards for each child to the two stores of their choice.
Please determine the size of the family you would like to adopt, and then email adopt-a-family@ywcaworks.org to sign up! Then, we will add you to our list and match you to a family. Depending on the size of the family you request, it could be a day or a few weeks. Once matched, you’ll receive a family information sheet with names, ages, interests, and which stores they’ve chosen.
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Family Volunteers for Peace Festival
Global Peace Women
Date/Time: Sunday, December 5, 10am PT, 12 pm CT, 1 pm ET
Location: Online
Ages: All ages! We welcome you to attend as a family!
Time Commitment: Two-hour program
On December 5, International Volunteer Day, join family volunteers from all over the world to celebrate the power of volunteerism!
Festivities include:
- Family Volunteers Story Telling
- Performances
- Story Contest winners!
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Families For Wishes
Make-A-Wish
Date/Time: Most campaigns run December 1 - 31
Ages: Everyone can participate
Time Commitment: Varies
Celebrate the holiday season with your family by raising funds to help wish families. Together, let’s bring joy back into a family’s life so they can look forward to tomorrow. Every dollar raised matters. Families For Wishes is a holiday campaign that celebrates the wish families currently waiting for their wish to be granted. Sharing your support for Make-A-Wish® as a family will introduce more people to the life-changing power of a wish and help make wishes come true for children and families when they need it most. Families all over America are invited to join the campaign to bring joy back into a family’s life and raise funds for their local Make-A-Wish chapter from November 30 through December 31. Learn more by downloading the Families for Wishing Toolkit.
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Second Saturday Work Parties
Volunteer Park Trust
Date/Time: Saturday, December 11, 10am – noon. The project runs every 2nd Saturday.
Location: Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Ave E, Seattle. Look for the sign at the Black Sun sculpture across from Seattle Asian Art Museum to tell you where we'll be in the park.
Ages: Families with children of all ages are welcome to volunteer
Time Commitment: Two hours
Come meet your neighbors and friends, and enjoy gardening in Volunteer Park at our monthly 2nd Saturdays Stewardship events. Volunteers will clean garden beds, weed, mulch, and remove invasive plants to help keep our park beautiful. Please bring your own gloves, a bottle of water, and a face mask. We will provide the tools. If you are not vaccinated, please continue to observe proper social distancing. Masks are still required by Seattle Parks & Recreation. This event is a great way to get outdoors, meet your neighbors, and help keep your park looking beautiful for everyone. Kids are welcome!
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Make Fleece Blankets
YouthCare
Location: 2500 NE 54th St, Seattle, WA 98105
Ages: Everyone can help
Time Commitment: Varies
Help youth stay warm with homemade no-sew blankets! This is a fun and creative way to help youth. These blankets will get lots of love in the apartment a young person just moved into, in one of our shelters, or anywhere where youth can snuggle up and feel its warmth. You can volunteer on your own time and make these blankets anywhere! Pick out some fun (youth-appropriate) fleece and a pair of scissors! We recommend this YouTube video for blanket making instructions. We need twin-sized or queen-sized blankets the most!
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Host a Holiday Drive
Treehouse
Date/Time: Ongoing need
Location: Your location
Ages: Everyone can help
Time Commitment: Varies
Does your family want to support youth in foster care during the holiday season? Rally your network to help by hosting a holiday donation drive. This year is still different for youth in foster care, but their need for resources is greater than ever, and we remain dedicated to fulfilling those needs. Click here to get started on your holiday donation drive. Don’t have time to run a holiday donation drive? You can also order items from our wishlist, which will be shipped directly to our free store and distributed to youth.
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Volunteer Work Parties
Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association (DNDA)
Date/Time: Check the volunteer page for upcoming event dates and times
Location: Varies depending on dates
Ages: Families with children ages five and older are welcome to volunteer. A youth waiver form must be signed by parent/guardian if under 18.
Time Commitment: Two and one-half hours
Volunteering with DNDA’s Nature Programs can be a fun, rewarding experience allowing you to get outside, improve the health of a local natural area, and give back to your community. Volunteers will participate in fun, hands-on conservation work led by staff from DNDA's Nature Team. Restoration work includes removing invasive plants, planting native species, and mulching new plantings, depending on the restoration progress in each site. Working out in the elements requires the right apparel. Long pants and closed-toe shoes are required, even in the summer.
- Bring a face covering to the event. If you forget a face covering, the event lead will have extras for you.
- Bring any water or snacks you might want during the volunteer event. For safety reasons, we will not be able to provide any refreshments.
- If you have your own pair of work gloves you are encouraged to bring them. If you don’t, that’s okay; we will have some for you.
- All volunteers under 18 participating without a parent are required to bring a completed Youth Waiver Form.
Please note: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, most sites will not have a bathroom present.
Contact: Caroline Borsenik, DNDA's Environmental Programs Director, caroline@dnda.org. Registration is available online. Each event will be limited to a maximum of 10 volunteers. As a result, volunteer spots may not be available on all dates. After you submit a volunteer inquiry, our staff will contact you directly to confirm your spot.
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Host a Drive
Congregations for the Homeless
Location: 515 - 116th Ave NE, Suite 150, Bellevue
Ages: Everyone can help
Time Commitment: Varies
Does your family want to share joy this holiday season and help support men experiencing homelessness? You can help by hosting a donation drive for much needed shelter items.
Step 1: Pick a Drive
These are our most needed items:
- Socks
- Underwear
- Deodorant
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrushes
- Twin size blankets and sheets
- Oatmeal and cereal
Step 2: Promote Your Drive
Share your drive with your friends, family, and colleagues on social media and through email. Need help with marketing your drive? Reach out to Kerry at kerryd@cfhomeless.org.
Step 3: Coordinate Drop Off
Once you have collected your items, please contact Kerry at kerryd@cfhomeless.org to coordinate a drop-off time. We will want to make sure someone is there to help you and to thank you!
Step 4: Thank Your Supporters
Make sure you thank everyone who helped with your drive, and share pictures with us to post on our social media page.
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Host a Joy Drive
WestSide Baby
Date/Time(s): Please email drives@westsidebaby.org to let us know when you would like to drop off your items. Preferred dates and times are listed in the Give Joy Drive handbook. Please note that the last day to drop off your donations is December 13 at the South Lake Union Branch and December 15 at the White Center Hub
Location(s): You can run a virtual drive or deliver items to:
WestSide Baby Hub, 10002 14th Ave SW, Seattle
South Lake Union Branch, 435 8th Ave N, Seattle
Ages: Everyone can help
Time Commitment: Varies
This December, your family can bring JOY to children by hosting a donation drive in your community. Host a virtual drive and have your friends and family send items directly to WestSide Baby through our Amazon WishList of most needed items, or collect and deliver the specific items we need most right now. Scroll down the page for our most needed items list. Our program staff works hard to track and learn what our partner providers need most for the children and families they care for. Please read through the Give Joy Drive handbook for more detailed information.
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Sort and Repack Food
Food Lifeline
Date/Time(s):
- Morning sessions: Monday – Saturday, 9 – 11am
- Afternoon sessions: Monday – Thursday, 1:30 – 3:30pm; Saturday, 1 – 3pm
- Evening sessions: Tuesday – Wednesday: 6 – 8pm
Check Food Lifeline's calendar for session availability and to register each member in your family. Please arrive 15 minutes early and plan to work the full session. Please note that most evening and weekend shifts are at capacity through the end of the year. Plan ahead and schedule for the new year!
Location: 815 S 96th St, Seattle
Ages: Families with children age 10 or older are welcome to volunteer.
- Volunteers below age 14 must be accompanied by a chaperone. There must be at least 1 chaperone for every 5 volunteers younger than age 14.
- Volunteers below age 18 must fill out a parent/guardian consent form when they arrive to volunteer. Waivers will be good through the end of the calendar year
Time Commitment: Two-hour shifts
Join us in our warehouse for a volunteer session at the Hunger Solution Center! You can change lives and feel great! Food Lifeline is on a mission to end hunger in Western Washington. We believe that access to food is a human right and that nobody deserves to be hungry. Food Lifeline provides nutritious food to hundreds of thousands of people facing hunger every year by sourcing nutritious food from a variety of food industry partners. We distribute this food through a partnership with 300 food banks, shelters, and meal programs, enabling us to provide the equivalent of 134,000 meals every single day. Volunteers sort and repack nutritious food to feed our neighbors who may be experiencing food insecurity. You’ll sort bulk donations and repack sourced grocery items into family size portions so we can send them over to local food banks, shelters, and meal programs! It is easy, fun, and you can make a huge difference in just a few hours. Our Seattle volunteer sessions are fun, rewarding, and inclusive! Because Food Lifeline is an industrial food-handling facility, we have a few guidelines in place to ensure everyone’s safety and success.
- Closed-toe shoes are required, with no exceptions.
- It is often cold in the warehouse. For your comfort, please consider bringing a light jacket.
- Your work will be physical in nature and includes long periods of standing. You may be asked to lift up to 40 pounds.
- Please arrive 15 minutes early and plan to work the full session.
- Volunteers must wear a face mask and gloves at all times.
- Volunteers who are 17 years old and under will need a parent or guardian to sign a consent form.
- Maintain 6 feet social distancing. Volunteers from the same household may work at a single workstation and be closer than 6 feet from each other.
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Greet Deliveries with Gratitude |
EXPLORE our growing list of at-home projects you can do whenever you're ready, each with conversation starters, book ideas, and more! Follow along on social media as other families tackle this month's project and share their stories! Simply join our Facebook group or find us on Instagram ( @doinggoodtogether and #sharekindness). |
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Add kindness to your holiday shopping experience. (And support a big-hearted nonprofit too!)
Our newly updated Shop Kind online store has gifts, games, books, apparel, kindness kits and more. Great for gift giving or for yourself! Visit often as we add items through Bookshop, the Amazon Associates program, and from independent vendors. The passive income we receive from sales, along with the small ad cost to DGT chosen vendors, helps our nonprofit as we in turn help busy browsers and buyers find goods that "do good" as well. (Disclaimer: we receive affiliate dollars and a small fee from the vendors to help support DGT.) Thank you!
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Mailing Address:
755 Medina Rd
Wayzata, MN 55391
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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.
© 2021 Doing Good Together™
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