Family Volunteering at Brooklyn Book Bodega

Brooklyn Book Bodega

Date/Time: Saturday, April 12, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

Location: Brooklyn Book Bodega,141 Flushing Avenue, Suite 407, Brooklyn.

Ages: Families with children ten years old and older are welcome to volunteer. We cannot accommodate anyone younger than ten years old in this space.

Time Commitment: Two-hour shifts.

The mission of Brooklyn Book Bodega is to increase the number of 100+ book homes for kids 0–18 years old in NYC. During the volunteer shift, family members will work together to stamp and sort books that have been donated to Brooklyn Book Bodega for distribution in the community.

Contact: Cecilia, cecilia@brooklynbookbodega.org.

https://www.brooklynbookbodega.org/

Earth Day Volunteer Day

NYC Parks

Date/Time: Saturday, April 5, 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Clayton Williams Garden, 303 West 126th Street, Manhattan.

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: Two and a half hours.

Join Clayton Williams Community Garden for a volunteer workday to help with starting seeds, building raised beds, and spreading mulch. Bring water, snacks, and comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing. Please note that some activities may involve lifting heavy materials and moving, bending, and squatting for long periods. Learn more here.

Contact: https://www.nycgovparks.org/contact-parks..

https://www.nycgovparks.org

Care for the Earth Day

NYC Parks

Date/Time: Saturday, April 12, 2 – 4 pm

Location: Olive Street Garden, 25 Olive Street, Brooklyn.

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: Two hours.

Join Olive Street Garden and Powers Street Community Garden for a volunteer workday to start seeds and beautify the gardens! Volunteers will convene at Olive Street Garden but will assist at both gardens located on the same block. Bring water, snacks, and comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing. Please note that some activities may involve lifting heavy materials and moving, bending, and squatting for long periods. Learn more here.

Contact: https://www.nycgovparks.org/contact-parks..Registration is not required. Walk-ins are welcome.

https://www.nycgovparks.org

Kids Week: Earth Month Native Planting Party

NYC Parks

Date/Time: Monday, April 14, 1–2 p.m.

Location: Chapin Parkway and 85th Avenue in Captain Tilly Park, Queens.

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: One hour.

Even when school's out, our parks are still the city's natural classroom! Bring your kids to parks throughout the city for Kids Week during Spring recess. With programs led by our Urban Park Rangers, kids will get to experience nature in a hands-on and fun way. Celebrate Earth Month with the Urban Park Rangers in a service-oriented event focused on native wildflower planting and its benefits to park ecosystems. Participants will learn about the important role wildflowers play in supporting local wildlife and promoting ecosystem health while contributing to the beautification of the park. Plants and gardening tools will be provided. Learn more here.

Contact: https://www.nycgovparks.org/contact-parks. Registration is not required. Walk-ins are welcome.

https://www.nycgovparks.org

Serve a Hot Meal to the Homeless

Manhattan Church of Christ

Date/Time: Saturdays, April 12, 19, and 26, from 9 a.m. until noon.

Location: Manhattan Church of Christ, 48 East 80th Street.

Ages: Everyone can participate. 

Time Commitment: Varies.

The Saturday Lunch Program provides hot meals to people experiencing homelessness with dignity and compassion. All shifts are family-friendly. Volunteers help set up, prepare, and serve meals, then break down and clean up. The Manhattan Church of Christ is also collecting clothing for migrant families. Contact Rev. Carl for more information.

Contact: Reverend Carl Garrison at carl@manhattanchurch.org.

https://www.manhattanchurch.org/coh

Birthday, Holiday & Caring Cardmaking

DOROT

Date/Time: Ongoing project.

Location: Mail your cards and a Cardmaking Project Information Form to:

DOROT

171 West 85th Street

New York, NY 10024

Attn: Card Making Project

Ages: Everyone can participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

DOROT is a nonprofit organization addressing the challenges of an aging population. We serve our clients with a diverse range of programs and services. We deliver those programs and services through intergenerational connections with volunteers of all ages. DOROT’s greeting card project helps bring joy and celebration to some of our frailest and most isolated seniors. DOROT always needs birthday cards, which we send to over 3,000 older adults each year. Sometimes, a card from a DOROT volunteer is the only communication an older adult receives to acknowledge their special day. We also welcome cards for Thanksgiving, Rosh Hashanah, and Passover holidays as well as Caring Cards, which we can use on a variety of occasions. Every card is designed and created by volunteers. Making a card is an easy, fun, and important way to contribute to the work that we do to decrease social isolation. Whether you’re looking for something to do on a rainy day or planning an activity for your synagogue youth group, all you need is a bit of paper, a few pens, and a little imagination. Be sure to use colored paper for the outside but white for the inside to make it easier to read. The card you create should be able to fit into a 6x9 standard envelope. This is the type DOROT uses to mail out the cards to our seniors. Write in large block (print) letters. As people get older, many have a hard time reading small print. Click here for cardmaking tips and directions.

Contact: info@dorotusa.org, 212.769.2850.

https://www.dorotusa.org/

Help Us Feed Our Neighbors

Broadway Community, Inc.

Date/Time: We have three distinct volunteer projects available:

• Community Meal Program: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Meal Preparation: Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m.
• Food Pantry: Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m.

Location: 601 West 114th Street, New York.

Ages: Children 10–14 years old may participate with adult supervision. All minors must have a signed parental release form.

Time Commitment: Approximately four to five hours, depending on the program.

For nearly 40 years, Broadway Community has been compassionately preparing warm, nutritious, and delightful multi-course meals for those in need. Broadway Community heavily relies on volunteers. Volunteers, in conjunction with our staff, carry out the majority of the needed tasks. Volunteering offers an opportunity to engage with the community and aid our organization in fulfilling its mission of serving the most vulnerable members of the community.

Community Meal Program (soup kitchen) volunteers:

Due to the dynamic nature of our Community Breakfast and Lunch Program, which serves hundreds of individuals each week, volunteer duties may vary day by day. We serve breakfast and lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, providing a ready-to-go bag option for guests to dine in our cafeteria or take the meal to go. We offer a warm and welcoming atmosphere, complete with lively music, TV, and a friendly environment for everyone joining us. Volunteer responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting in preparing, packing, and distributing breakfast and lunch to soup kitchen guests.
• Cleaning work areas.
• Performing other assigned duties.

Meal Preparation volunteers play a central role in creating hundreds of healthy, tasty, and balanced meals each week. Tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting in washing, chopping, and preparing produce and other food for cooking.
• Collaborating with our Chef and other volunteers to prepare meals for our lunch menu.
• Cleaning dishes and other work areas.
• Performing other assigned duties.

Food Pantry:

Our food pantry is generously stocked with a wide variety of dry and liquid non-perishable food items, thanks to generous donations from local community organizations, businesses, and individuals. There are three types of volunteer opportunities in the food pantry.

1. Stock pantry: Help with stocking and organizing the food pantry to ensure easy access for staff and guests and assist in packing pantry packages for guests. 
2. Produce pantry (Tuesdays only): assist in handing out pantry packages to guests who visit Broadway Community.
3. Supermarket Pantry (Thursdays only): Aid guests during our Supermarket Pantry hours and assist in reorganizing the pantry between appointments.

All volunteers should possess empathy, patience, and compassion, the ability to remain calm in a fast-paced environment, and should be team players. Some volunteers, but not all, need to be capable of lifting 20 pounds. Food Pantry volunteers should be able to lift 30 pounds.

Contact: Please contact Executive Director Isaac Adlerstein at isaac@broadwaycommunity.org. You may also click here to sign up and register for all available volunteer opportunities.

https://www.broadwaycommunity.org/

Summer Teen Internship Program 

DOROT 

Date/Time(s): 

• Session 1: June 23–July 16, Manhattan.
• Session 2: July 23– August 14, Manhattan.
• Suffolk Y JCC Session: July 21– August 14, Long Island.

Location(s): 

• Manhattan: DOROT, 171 W 85th Street, New York. 
• Long Island: 74 Hauppauge Rd, Commack.

Ages: Rising Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.

Time Commitment: Mondays to Thursdays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Thursday dismissal is at 3 p.m.

Applications are open! Rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors can intern with a diverse group of socially conscious peers to bring vital social connections to older adults. Through one of our summer teen internship programs, you can develop leadership skills and engage in meaningful programs with older adults. Through a variety of intergenerational activities, including discussion groups, home visits, creative arts, and technical assistance, teens can give back to the community this summer while earning over 112 community service hours. Learn more here.

Contact: Elijah, ewong@dorotusa.org or 917.441.3714. Click here to complete an application.

https://www.dorotusa.org

Meal Delivery, Meal Packing, and Handmade Card Project

Citymeals on Wheels

Date/Time: Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.

Location: Manhattan.

Ages: Everyone can volunteer; youth younger than 17 years old must be accompanied by an adult.

Time Commitment: Up to three hours.

Citymeals on Wheels provides a continuous lifeline of nourishing meals and vital companionship for homebound older adult New Yorkers. Our volunteer program provides connection and companionship to homebound older adults. 

Meal Delivery: Volunteers deliver nutritious meals to homebound older adults. The meal delivery is done on foot, within walking distance of the meal center.

Meal Packing: This volunteer activity is done on-site. Volunteers package muffins, fruit, bread, and milk/juice into Ziploc bags.

Handmade Card Project: Volunteers craft beautiful all-occasion one-of-a-kind cards for homebound aged New Yorkers. Click here for project details: www.citymeals.org/get-involved/greeting-cards.

Contact: www.citymeals.org/get-involved/volunteer-with-us.

https://www.citymeals.org

Group Warehouse Repacks

Food Bank for New York City

Date/Time: Tuesday- Friday, 9:30 a.m.–noon or 1:30–4 p.m. Groups can volunteer by appointment only.

Location: 355 Food Center Dr, Bronx.

Ages: Volunteers must be 11 years old or older.

Time Commitment: Two and a half hours.

Food Bank’s Warehouse and Food Distribution Center in the Bronx distributes food to member charity agencies throughout the five boroughs, supplying over 70 million meals per year to New Yorkers in need! Volunteers at our warehouse help our staff with our highest-impact initiative by sorting and repacking bulk-shipped food and goods for redistribution around the city. Repack shifts are primarily available for groups of 10-25 volunteers.

Contact: Reach out to volunteer@foodbanknyc.org to schedule your group.

foodbanknyc.org

Drive the Difference: Saturday Volunteering for the Whole Family! 

Grassroots Grocery 

Date/Time: Every Saturday! We need both volunteer packers to unload, pack, and sort groceries and volunteer drivers to pick up and drop off food at community sites in their own vehicles. You can choose to be one or both! Packing and sorting runs from 9–10:30 a.m., and then drivers with cars go on to deliver produce to a community in need.

Location: The meeting point is at 1750 East Gun Hill Road, Bronx, NY in the Urban Edge shopping center parking lot. Families doing a delivery will receive a pre-assigned address in Harlem or the Bronx before the start of the event.

Ages: Everyone is welcome to volunteer.

Time Commitment: Depends on the activity you choose.

Join fellow neighbors on a Saturday to sort, pack, and deliver fresh produce to New Yorkers in need! Grass Roots Grocery rescues excess, unsold produce from the biggest produce market in the United States, and their growing volunteer task force delivers this bounty to over 25 communities in need, ensuring that fresh and healthy produce makes its way to neighbors in need that other food assistance programs don't reach. Great for families and folks of all ages, you can be the fuel that powers this neighbors-helping-neighbors hunger-fighting mission! Join fellow neighbors on a Saturday to sort, pack, and deliver fresh produce to New Yorkers in need!

Contact: dan@grassrootsgrocery.org. Registration is available online.

https://www.grassrootsgrocery.org