Raise Compassionate Kids: Join a Produce Party 

Grassroots Grocery

Date/Time: Every Saturday! Beginning November 1: Families can choose from two shifts, 9–11 a.m. or 1–3 p.m. Volunteers unload, sort, and pack fresh fruits and vegetables. Volunteer drivers then help deliver the produce to community distribution sites across NYC. Families may participate in one or both activities.

Location: 1750 East Gun Hill Road, Bronx, NY (Urban Edge shopping center parking lot, behind Dunkin Donuts)

Ages: Everyone is welcome! Produce Parties are designed for volunteers of all ages, making them a great way for children and adults to serve side by side.

Time Commitment: Two hours for a Produce Party. Delivery time varies by route.

Looking for a meaningful way to raise kids who care and contribute? Join Grassroots Grocery for a Saturday Produce Party, where families work side by side to help rescue and distribute thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to New Yorkers facing food insecurity.

Produce Parties are joyful, hands-on service learning in action. Kids don’t just hear about hunger. They roll up their sleeves and become part of the solution, while experiencing the power of neighbors helping neighbors. And the learning can grow with them. Young people can return, take on greater responsibility, and begin developing service leadership skills like empathy, teamwork, initiative, and community responsibility.

Together, your family will help transform rescued produce into nourishment, dignity, and connection for fellow New Yorkers, while showing kids something they’ll carry with them: you’re never too young to make a difference.

Contact: Sheri Lyons, sheri@grassrootsgrocery.org. Register online here.

grassrootsgrocery.org

Share Your Abundance this Thanksgiving

NY Common Pantry

Date/Time: Thanksgiving Food Drive is November 12-18.

Location: NY Common Pantry is located at 8 East 109th Street.

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Join our Thanksgiving Food Drive and help a neighbor facing hunger. All throughout the year and especially during the holiday season, individuals and families struggle to put food on the table. We’re collecting items to fill grocery packages that can make a classic, Thanksgiving meal. Items to be collected include: 

• Stuffing mix.
• Canned cranberry sauce.
• Canned pumpkin.
• Canned corn, green beans, peas, carrots, or yams.
• Canned gravy or gravy mix.
• Boxed Mac & Cheese.
• Cream of mushroom soup.
• Biscuit or cornbread mix.
• Mashed potato mix.

Please no glass jars!

Learn more here. You can also give through our Amazon wishlist. 

Contact: FoodRescue@NYcommonpantry.org. 

nycommonpantry.org

Thanksgiving Meal Delivery to Elderly Neighbors

DOROT

Date/Time: Sunday, November 22, 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Location: Pick up packages at the following locations and deliver to local addresses:

• Upper West Side at DOROT (171 W. 85th Street).
• Upper East Side at Ramaz Upper School (60 E. 78th Street, between Park and Madison Avenue).

Ages: All ages are welcome to participate. Children must be accompanied by adults.

Time Commitment: One-time commitment of about 90 minutes.

As a Thanksgiving Meal Delivery volunteer, you can make a meaningful connection with an older neighbor through a social visit or phone call and a festive holiday meal. While holidays can increase feelings of loneliness or isolation, volunteering for Thanksgiving Meal Delivery creates shared connections and community.

The program is called Meal Delivery, but we like to say that it’s really “not about the meal.” It’s about the connections you make—for volunteers and recipients alike.

Contact: Register online at this link.

dorotusa.org/volunteer/thanksgiving-meal-delivery

Publicolor Paint Club

Publicolor

Location(s): Various public schools in New York City.

Date/Time: Saturdays in November, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Ages: Participants should be 12 years old or older.

Time Commitment: Five hours, including a one-hour lunch break.

Volunteers are our lifeblood—we can’t do our work without you!. There are so many rewarding ways to get involved!

Please join us any Saturday to paint alongside our students and informally mentor them by talking about your education and career. This dialogue introduces our youngsters to a much wider variety of job options than ever imagined, and encourages them to stay in school. Engagement in this type of high-level conversation is a greater indicator of academic success than family income. What an effect you can have!

Contact: Bree Falato, bree@publicolor.org. For more information and FAQs, click here.

publicolor.org

Annual Coat Drive

New York Cares 

Date/Time: The 38th Annual Coat Drive runs from October 2026 through February 2027.

Location(s): Various drop off locations throughout the city.

Ages: Everyone can participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

For 37 years, your donations have helped more than 2.6 million New Yorkers stay warm each winter. But warmth is more than a coat—it’s choosing comfort without sacrifice. 

This past winter, our 37th Annual New York Cares Coat Drive delivered warmth at scale.

Together, we collected and distributed 52,732 warm coats and winter essentials, supporting more than 200 nonprofits and schools across the city. Powered by 841 coat collections and the generosity of thousands of New Yorkers, this was a true citywide effort to keep our neighbors warm.

Help support us during the 38th Annual Coat Drive which runs from October 2026 through February 2027. 

Every donation sends a powerful message: every person deserves warmth, dignity, and community.

Contact: info@nycares.org for more information.

www.newyorkcares.org/coat-drive

Winter Wishes Program

New York Cares

Date/Time(s):

• Early November: Wish Granters are notified that you’ve been matched with individual digital letters and can begin sending gifts to your designated partner agency. 
• December 5: Deadline for Wish Granters to send gifts to your designated organization.

Location: Gifts should be sent to your designated party organization.

Ages: Everyone can participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Winter Wishes is an annual program run by New York Cares that grants holiday wishes for children and teens from low-income families in partnership with nonprofits and schools across NYC. Winter Wishes has granted hundreds of thousands of gifts to NYC youth over the last 34 years! Each wish is matched with a wish granter who purchases and sends gifts directly to a nonprofit or school for distribution. By registering as a Wish Granter, you’ll create a holiday to remember for children and teens from low-income families who need it most this season. We're talking about family shelters, public housing providers, and Title 1 schools. There is a maximum $40 commitment per letter. This is your chance to give a child or teen a gift they'll never forget.

You will be notified in early November that you’ve been matched with individual digital letters (wishes) and can begin sending gifts to your designated partner agency. 

Contact: Register here to become a Wish Granter.

www.newyorkcares.org

2026 Mom's Christmas Stocking Campaign

Mom's Christmas Stocking

Date/Time: Donations will be collected through early December.

Location: Coordinated drop off of donations to Mom’s Christmas Stocking at 216 W. 89th Street.

Ages: Everyone may participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Mom’s Christmas Stocking is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit started by Wendy Strauss at the request of her late mother to continue to fill a Christmas stocking for her each year and give it to a woman in need. Donations of essential items and gifts fill hundreds of Christmas stockings for women living in shelters in New York City and through branches in other states. 

This year, in addition to essential items, we are again seeking small gifts for women such as jewelry, hair accessories, gloves and hats. Click here for stocking stuffer ideas. You may also shop directly from our Amazon wish list. 

Contact: D. Wendy Strauss, moms.stocking@gmail.com.

momschristmasstocking.com/

Birthday, Holiday and 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.

www.dorotusa.org/

Volunteer to Color 

Color A Smile 

Date/Time: Ongoing.

Location: Your own home.

Mail your drawings to:

Color A Smile

PO Box 1516

Morristown, NJ

07962-1516

Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate.

Time Commitment: Varies.

Color A Smile is a nonprofit organization that distributes cheerful drawings to senior citizens, our troops overseas, and anyone in need of a smile. Every month, Color A Smile mails out thousands of cheerful drawings. Since 1990, Color A Smile has distributed millions of drawings nationwide. Their goal is to put smiles on people's faces and remind them that someone is thinking of them. Download a page from their website, grab some crayons, and Color A Smile. Click here for coloring templates and instructions.

Contact: info@colorasmile.org, 973.540.9222.

colorasmile.org

Treats for Troops

Soldiers' Angels

Date/Time: You can start donating excess candy right after Halloween through the month of November!

Location(s): Most Candy Collection sites host their collections starting on November 1 and run through the first weeks of November. Check back after Halloween to find a location near you! You may drop off a personal amount of candy (no more than 10 pounds). If there are no collection sites near you, please ship your candy (no more than 10 pounds) to our headquarters in San Antonio:

Soldiers’ Angels Candy

1355 Central Parkway S, Ste 700

San Antonio, TX 78232

Ages: Everyone can share their candy!

Time Commitment: Varies.

Families with too much candy after Halloween can donate excess candy to support a good cause. Kids may even earn buyback prizes for their generosity, and families will receive a tax-deductible receipt for their donations. 

You can also help at any time by making candy bags to send to Soldiers’ Angels. Here’s how to participate:

• Get some fun-size candy (this is also a great use for excess candy after holidays like Halloween, Easter, etc.).
• Using a treat bag or clear plastic baggie, place an assortment of candy in the baggie and secure it with a twist tie or decorative ribbon.
• If you would like, you can also attach a small card to the bag of candy that has a simple message like, “Thank you for your service!”

Learn more about creating candy bags here.

Contact: tft@soldiersangels.org or 210.629.0020.

soldiersangels.org