Organizations to Volunteer for in New York During Christmas

The first thing to do when looking for a place to volunteer in New York during Christmas is to contact you local churches and see if they need any help. Then get you local neighborhood newspaper and check the classifieds. Call you local Meals on Wheels and Senior Citizens centers. The parks department has centers that are open on Christmas and they always need volunteers. If you cannot find any local organization, there are some city wide ones who always are looking for volunteers. These are some suggestions for organizations that make a big difference in people's lives and if you pick one of them to volunteer for, you will make Christmas in New York a little bit brighter. Just make sure to volunteer well in advance so they can get their schedules set up.

Food Bank for New York City

Every year starting in October and going all the way through Christmas, the Food Bank for New York City runs a program called NYC Goes Orange. They need volunteers to work in the Warehouse Repack Program in the Bronx where you will break down incoming donations to be sent to the soup kitchens and food pantries. You can also volunteer to deliver meals on wheels or work in the office.

God's Love, We Deliver

Gods Love We Deliver delivers meals to HIV/AIDS patients in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island. They need Kitchen Volunteers to help the chefs prepare the food. The hours are Monday-Friday 6:30-8:30am, 9am-12pm ,1pm-4pm ,4pm-6pm, Saturday 6:30am-8:30am, 9am-12pm and Sunday
6pm-8pm, 11am-2pm and 1pm-4pm.

Hope for New York

Hope for New York has dozens of volunteer opportunities and there are two very special ones they run at Christmas with children. The first one is Angel Tree which delivers presents to children whose parent is a prisoner. They need volunteers to Sponsor an Angel b purchasing a toy for a child enrolled in the program, Sign out Angels and collect donated toys, Call families of the children and invite them to the party, Help on the night before event sorting and packing gifts and Help distribute gifts and assist with party. The second one is the HFNY Holiday Outreach Dinner which they run at Christmas and Easter for approximately 350. They need 60 volunteers for event coordinating, obtaining gifts, wrapping gifts, decorating the hall and cooking and serving dinner.

The New York City Rescue Mission

The New York City Rescue Mission needs volunteers to serve meals to the homeless. You can download an application right from the site.

The Salvation Army, Times Square

The Salvation Army needs bell ringers to man their donation stations. Contact Jennifer Whitehouse, Director, Community Outreach, (212) 975-9988 Ext 400.

The Shelter for the Homeless

The Shelter for the Homeless will need volunteers to serve dinner on Christmas Day. And all year long as well.