Most organizations are looking for long-term volunteers, especially lately. But there is always a big push for volunteers during winter! So, whether you’re looking for something to do or just looking to give back during the holidays, there are plenty of options for you this winter!
SD Food Bank
The SD Food Bank does a LOT for the community and they need help! You can register as groups or as individuals on their site linked here. Just find the right box for you and click “register now!”
Note that there are dozens of different opportunities, locations, and tasks you can work on, so please check the requirements before you sign up for a spot!
Feeding San Diego – Opportunities in Sorrento Valley and SD County
Feeding San Diego is a great program dedicated to creating large-scale food distribution. With them, you can be a driver and deliver food directly, pack and process donations, work as a “gratitude caller,” and much more! There are a lot of opportunities! Click here to learn more.
Make a Lasting Difference at the Y – Camp Pendleton YMCA
Camp Pendleton Y is looking for volunteers both on and off base to help make a difference for kids and members of the military alike. There is a broad range of volunteer opportunities, from wrapping gifts to chaperoning a dance to actually delivering presents! You can make a difference today, learn more here.
Serve Meals with Solutions for Change
Help provide dinner for those in need anytime during the month of December! Volunteer at the Intake and Access Center located in Little Italy and help provide dinner for families. Solutions for Change is a program dedicated to ending the cycle of poverty for many families. In order to volunteer head to this site and scroll down to the calendar. From there you can learn more about their opportunities and sign up!
Donations
Blanket Drive with Dreams for Change
With the weather the way it is, there’s no telling what temperatures winter will bring. Dreams for Change is trying to get ahead of that by running a blanket drive for their safe parking participants! For more information click here!
That isn’t the only event Dreams for Change is hosting either, be sure to check out their other opportunities on their site.
Hygiene Care Kits and Welcome Home Kits with PATH San Diego
PATH San Diego puts together packs of non-perishable snacks and travel sized hygiene items for unhoused individuals. These kits are designed to be engagement tools to help get interested people to join the path program and help. If you’d like to learn more, click here!
Food/Toy Drive, Adopt a Family – Boys and Girls Club
Interested in helping local families? The Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego offers a bevy of opportunities to give back. You can host a toy drive, adopt-a-family or donate meals/toys directly to the club by joining the Boys and Girls Club “Life Changers” program.
For an easy way to make someone’s holiday special or to learn more click here.
Donate Goods, Furniture, or Shop for your Community - Father Joe’s
Father Joe’s is a San Diego charity built around sustainable solutions for the County’s homeless. They are one of the County’s crown jewels and probably don’t need an introduction—but in case you’re not sure who they are, they’re a solutions-oriented charity that is investing in San Diego’s infrastructure to help stop the cycle of homelessness.
Their villages are designed to give people a place to stay and help get them back on their feet so they can become self-sufficient. They need all sorts of volunteers and take all kinds of donations! Learn more about volunteering and donations here.