Giving Back to Our Community this Holiday Season

'Tis the season of feasts and gift giving. Let's make sure people from all walks of life feel the love this season. Our Philanthropy committee, headed up by KP Public Affairs' Alison MacLeod, has put together a great resource of volunteer opportunities for you to engage with this Holiday Season. Peruse our list and find a way to get involved that is meaningful to you.

Here are a few key resources to help you find how you're going to give back:

Volunteer Center of Sacramento
Hands On Sacramento
United Way California Capital Region
City of Sacramento Volunteer Program
Sacramento County Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers of America

Volunteer on Thanksgiving Day!

Agency: Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
Date: 11/25/2010, 7:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Address: 6000 J Street, Sacramento CA 95819

Start a new Thanksgiving Day tradition - volunteer! Volunteers are needed on Thanksgiving Day at the 17th annual Run to Feed the Hungry. This event is the largest fundraiser for Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS), a non-profit organization assisting those in need with emergency distribution and education services at no cost to Sacramento residents. Volunteers ages 18 and up are needed for water stations, course monitoring, clean-up, parking and more. Go to www.sacramentofoodbank.org, click "Calendar" and view Nov. 25 to sign up!

Requirements: 18 and up, available 7am-11:30am on Thanksgiving, ability to stand and walk for extended periods.

Web site: Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Wrapping Party!

Agency: Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services
Date: 12/20/2010, 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Address: 3333 Third Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817

Help bring joy to families in need this holiday season by sorting and wrapping donated toys. Are you a novice wrapper? No problem! There will be plenty of experienced wrappers on hand to help you. Wrapping materials, snacks and basic wrapping guides will be provided. You’re also welcome to bring snacks and wrapping materials to share. Invite your friends, family and co-workers, or come alone and make some new friends!

To sign up, please view December 12 or December 20 on the volunteer calendar on www.sacramentofoodbank.org.

Requirements: Minimum age to volunteer is 10. Those ages 10-15 must be accompanied by an adult.

Web site: Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services

Salvation Army Toy Drives

What is The Salvation Army toy drive?

The Salvation Army’s annual toy drive provides holiday gifts for thousands of needy children age 12 and younger.

How can you participate?

At various locations throughout the Sacramento, a person can donate a new, unwrapped toy.

How are the toys given out?

Families go through an application process for Christmas assistance (food boxes and toys). Once the eligibility has been confirmed, the gifts are then distributed to families in mid to late December.

News10 Coats for Kids
Winter Coat Drive

Donate now through December 3rd.

We’re celebrating 20 years of collecting News10’s Coats for Kids!  We hope you’ll join us and donate new or gently used coats to our program.  Over the last 19 years, you’ve helped us collect and distribute more than 475,000 coats to children and families in need.  Our goal this year is 25,000 donations to make it to the ONE HALF MILLION mark!
We’d also like to welcome 2 new sponsors who have graciously joined News10’s Coats for Kids:  Rogers Jewelry Company and Century 21 M&M and Associates.  In addition to Swansons Cleaners, they will be collecting coats at all of their locations and we hope you visit them during the program and say thank you.   You can also donate at The UPS Store and find their locations below.
It's easy to be a hero! Just clean out those closets and donate new or gently used coats to our program!  We do accept coats of all sizes. There are many ways you can help out from donating a coat, to taking donations yourself, holding an event where you collect coats, making a monetary donation, and volunteering your time.  Take a minute to check out all the great ways our community is helping us make sure we help keep families warm this winter. Sign up your school or business now and start collecting for News10's Coats for Kids!

More information and where to donate here.

Rancho Cordova Annual Christmas Tree Lighting

Sponsored by Rancho Cordova Parks & Recreation District
Sunday, November 28th
Village Green Park
3141 Bridgeway Drive, Rancho Cordova
4:30pm-7:30pm

Come to the annual lighting of the Rancho Cordova Christmas Tree. It's a great family event! Girl Scout Brownie Troop 331 will be there to collect your coat donations.

Adopt-A-Family

http://www.volunteersac.org/programs.php

The Volunteer Center of Sacramento’s Adopt-A-Family Program provides food and gifts for local families in need during the holidays. Without this program, these low-income families may go without Christmas dinner and gifts for their children. Donations, sponsors, and volunteers are needed to ensure the success of this program.

In 2009, Adopt-A-Family assisted 166 families and 462 children during the holiday season. Your sponsorship can make one more family’s Christmas wish come true.

2010 Adopt-A-Family Guidelines “Providing Food & Gifts for Families”

Program Facts:

• Families on the Available Families List have passed a strict application process.
• Families range in size from small (1 parent/1 child) to large (2 parents/13 children).

• Approximate cost of adopting a family ranges from $50-100 per member.

• Sponsors provide a family gift, gifts for each child and a grocery store gift card for Christmas dinner.
• Families can be shared! Groups are encouraged to sponsor large families together.
• Sponsoring a family is a tax-deductible donation.

Gifts From The Heart (GFTH) Program

The Gifts From The Heart (GFTH) Program is an annual holiday gift-giving program designed to provide gifts to children, teens and senior adults, served by the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services, Divisions of Child Protective Services and Senior and Adult Services.

For the past 20+ years, thanks in great part to the generosity and caring of our Community Partners, the holidays have been brighter for the children, teens, and senior adults served in our system of care.

Each year, about 100 Community Partners donate gifts to over 4,000 children and youth, and over 600 seniors.  An estimated 13,000 gifts are distributed throughout Sacramento County.

The Department of Health and Human Services appreciates the continued participation and support given to The Gifts From The Heart Program by our wonderful Community Partners and volunteers.

How can I help?

You may sign up as a community partner to sponsor children, teens, and seniors for gifts during the holiday season. In addition, monetary donations are always welcome. Cash donations will be deposited into the "Gifts From the Heart" reserve account for the sole purpose of purchasing gifts. All gifts and monetary donations are tax deductible.  Please contact the Gifts From the Heart Coordinator at 875-2027 for additional donation and contribution information.

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