“Small hands can bring big changes.” It’s the perfect time of year for your kids to see how true that statement is. From making cards to holding someone’s hand, there is great potential to make a difference. We found some wonderful opportunities for your family to help out this holiday season.
Stockings with Care
Stockings with Care works with coalitions that assist families either living in homeless shelters or who are in jeopardy of becoming homeless and can not afford to celebrate their holiday. Social workers at each of these coalitions work with the parents to make their wish lists. These lists are passed on to Stockings with Care. Through the generosity of our individual Santas, private and corporate donors and a small army of volunteers, we make sure that every child gets at least two things on their list and that each child has at least three gifts to open on Christmas morning. Thousands of gifts are wrapped and delivered to the parents, empowering them to create magic for their kids.is an organization in Manhattan that gives presents to children living in homeless shelters. You and your children can help wrap presents for the children. For more information go here.
Park Slope Presbyterian Church Meals
The PSPresbyterian is providing meals to residents at Bishop Boardman Apartments on Christmas Eve. Contact // <![CDATA[
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// ]]>Shay Roedemeier to sign up for what dish you will bring. They will bring their contributions to Bishop Boardman (8th Ave between Windsor Pl and 16th St) at 11AM on Christmas Eve to begin plating the food and delivering to the apartments. This is an excellent service opportunity for kids! 174 Prospect Park West (b/w 12th and 13th Streets) Brooklyn, NY 11215
Food Pantries for Holiday Dinners and Help
I did a post on where to volunteer for Thanksgiving at Brooklyn food pantries. These food pantries also need help during the winter holidays- stocking, sorting, serving, setting tables and putting smiles on visitors’ faces. You can call your nearby food pantry to see how your family can help them. The full list of them is here.
We found some opportunities at Lutheran HealthCare.
A neighborhood institution since 1883, the Lutheran Medical Center expanded in order to provide support services to families, seniors, home care and more in Southwest Brooklyn. They need help year-round too and if you are interested in options to volunteer without family, there are additional programs.
- Reach Out and Read – Parents and their kids ages 14 and over can serve as storytime volunteers with the pediatric literacy program based in 5 of their family health centers. Please contact Liz Berger at 718-630-7175 for more information.
- Services for Older Adults – Parents and children of all ages would be welcomed to make cards and visit homebound senior citizens. Visits would need to be coordinated with the program due to staff supervision issues. For more information, please contact Sr. Fran Picone at 718-630-8302 for more information. (We did this last year with the whole family. My husband brought his guitar, PA and microphones and he and the kids sang songs for 30 minutes to the senior citizens in their cafeteria. It was, hands down, one of the best experiences we have ever had as a family. It was super easy to coordinate too.)
- Warren Street Center for Children and Families – their day care, preschool, and after-school program would welcome volunteers. Please contact Nikki Cosby at 718-237-9578 for more information.
- Lutheran Medical Center – The main hospital’s volunteer department would be happy to accept greeting cards or toys for their patients. More extensive volunteering would be limited to kids ages 14 and up. For more information, please call Mary Hetherington at 718-630-7296.
- Toy Drive – If you are interested in donating a toy please call Orianne at 718-630-7171.
Lutheran Family Health Centers
6025 6th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11220
718-630-7171