Individual & Group Volunteering

Through community support of our Holiday Gift Program, we are able to provide gifts to families who are struggling the most during the holiday season. Each year, we are able to provide holiday gifts to over 630 children thanks to generous donors and sponsors. Starting this fall, you can help by (1) sponsoring the gifts for a child, (2) hosting a collection of wrapping material or items for the family gift bag or by (3) cutting out wish list stars or wrapping collection bins.

Become a Study Buddies tutor and help children in grades 1^st through 8^th grade with their homework Monday and/or Wednesday evenings throughout the school year. Adults and high school students can be tutors for a semester or two. Build a rewarding relationship with kids in this academic support program. Another great way to contribute to this program is to create materials such as trivia sheets for 5^th grade through middle school with topics like sports (especially soccer) or current pop questions. You can also create or find brain teasers and crosswords puzzles for 4^th grade and up.

Prepare and serve a Study Buddies dinner to the children participating in the Study Buddies Program on Monday and Wednesday evenings. We all know how hard it is to concentrate on an empty stomach, which makes a meal so vital to the success of this program and the well-being of the children.

Donate non-perishable snack items for the children enrolled in our summer programs where they are given the opportunity to participate in educational and recreational activities in the community.

Contribute to the beauty of our property and help with the seasonal landscaping needs such as watering, planting, mulching, and weeding. Come for an afternoon or several visits. Our sensory garden needs care too.

Fundraising events such as our Annual Spring Gala and our Golf Outing are especially important to the agency as it enables us to fund our programs. Volunteer to support these events by joining our committee, obtaining items for raffle or auction, preparing materials or helping at the event.

Thanking others is an important part of our relationship with our sponsors, donors and volunteers. Help us spread the love by writing or creating thank you notes. We will provide the cards.

Do you have a specific skill or professional talent you would like to share? We are always looking for people with experience and expertise who can help with translations (especially Spanish and Mongolian), at the front desk in the evenings, or with graphic design. Perhaps you are a yoga or fitness instructor and would like to lead a class for one of our programs. Or, you can entertain others with a comedy, improv or drag performance. Contact us to learn more about partnering with our staff to lead an in-person or virtual activity for an elementary to high school audience.

Back in 2020, we initiated a project to bring cheer to anyone visiting our facility and give others in our community an opportunity to contribute and leave their mark. We have created a Kindness Rock Garden containing painted rocks with messages of Hope, Joy, Love, Safety, etc. Thanks to our community partners, that garden has grown to include Glenview United Methodist Church and the Glenview Public Library. If you would like to contribute to our garden, you just need some smooth rocks, paint and a sharpie to write a message. Full instructions are provided here.

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to encourage others to give, utilize the “Facebook Fundraising” app. Many donors like the ease of this quick transaction and you can set it up to post reminders to your followers. Click here to learn more about how to set-up a Facebook Fundraiser. Note: Facebook does not take out transaction fees for non-profits.