The holiday season is here. With many San Diegans facing hardships, there are lots of opportunities to help and give back.
Serving meals
One of the most popular forms of volunteering over the holidays is serving meals.
- Feeding San Diego: Here in the community, Feeding San Diego is one of several organizations dedicated to providing food for those who don’t have regular access to it. They offer different forms of volunteering including sorting, packing and distributing meals. Their website lists an opportunity to volunteer for the week of Thanksgiving. This could also be an option for families who want to volunteer together. Children as young as six years old are allowed to volunteer. Since this is one of the more popular volunteer activities, checking their website before going is highly recommended to make sure spots are still available for helping.
- The Salvation Army: The international organization is dedicated to helping those in need in a number of different ways. This also includes providing opportunities to serve meals. This Thanksgiving they are already full, but they are still looking for help for Christmas day for their downtown location. Those interested in helping can sign up on their website. Double check to make sure spots are still available.
- Meals on Wheels: The holiday season isn’t the only time people can volunteer to serve meals. Opportunities to serve, distribute and deliver meals are available throughout the year. Meals on Wheels, for example, is another organization that does this work. They serve seniors and veterans in the community.
Volunteering
There are organizations that could use help now.
- San Diego Humane Society: This month, the San Diego Humane Society announced concerns about dogs at the shelter and efforts to prevent the spread of a contagious illness. They are asking for the public’s help and are waiving adoption fees for all puppies and dogs through Nov. 30. For those who can’t adopt, they’re asking for help with fostering a dog. Their goal is to get at least 100 dogs into temporary or permanent homes.
- San Diego Blood Bank: Blood donations help save lives and are always needed. Donations can be made at any San Diego Blood Bank donor center or mobile blood drive through Nov. 30. As part of the donation, five meals will be provided to the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank.
- Hands On San Diego: It's an organization dedicated to helping people easily connect to volunteer events or projects from different nonprofits here in the county. Their website has a calendar listing with requests seeking volunteers, details describing the project, the date, times and how long it will take. One event for the week of Thanksgiving for example is being organized by nonprofit Sustainability is Sexy. The event is a holiday fair called Green Friday. They are looking for volunteers to help with the event.
Donations options
An option for those who feel the spirit of giving but are limited on time is making a donation.
- Father Joe’s Villages: The organization has a mission to prevent and end homelessness. They are having their annual Thanksgiving Day 5K run. Proceeds benefit their food assistance programs. A donation of $25 is said to provide two weeks of hot lunches. Another option is to attend virtually for $35. For another $5 participants can get a dog bandanna.
- San Diego Rescue Mission: They also tackle homelessness. A hot meal there can be provided with just $2.44. Their goal is to reach over 32,000 meals by Thanksgiving Day.
- Mama’s Kitchen: The organization is dedicated to helping prevent malnutrition for those facing critical illnesses such as cancer or HIV. This year they are having their 19th annual Thanksgiving bake sale. Each pie sold will provide 12 meals to a critically ill San Diegan. The pies cost $32 dollars and there are different flavors to choose from including pecan pie and pumpkin pie. They can be bought online. Get yours quick! They're said to sell out.
Quick ways to give back
If you are limited on time and money, there are still options for giving back.
- Random Acts of Kindness: The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has lots of ideas for doing good deeds without spending money or dedicating a large amount of time. Some examples include letting someone go in front of you in a line, taking some time to help clean a beach or a park and sending a positive text message to people you know.
- DoSomething: This nonprofit is a similar organization but is geared towards young people. They offer a wide range of ideas including simple ways to make a positive impact, for example, collecting aluminum cans or sharing a silly selfie to comfort friends who are feeling stress.
