Volunteering in Geauga County Ohio for Christmas Holidays

Every year the Geauga County Department on Aging, with the help of many dedicated volunteers, puts together a free Christmas dinner for area seniors through their facility. They offer Senior residents Christmas meals that they can come in and pick up to take home, or we will deliver them to the homes for people who cannot easily get out. Since mom used to work at Job and Family Services before she retired, we would volunteer at the kitchen getting the meals prepared and handed out. They are currently seeking volunteers for making and delivering the meals. This has been one of the more rewarding volunteer efforts that i have been involved with! people under 18 years who want to volunteer must be accompanied by an adult. the Geauga Department on Aging is located at 12555 Ravenwood Drive. and they can be reached via phone at: 440-285-2222 x 2130 In case you want to volunteer sooner, this same program is available for Thanksgiving dinners as well.

Within Geauga County Ohio, many of our local churches have a food pantry which they use for making meals for the needy folks in our community. These churches and pantries can always use volunteers especially during their busy times like Thanksgiving and Christmas. So on a more grass roots level, you can work with a local church coalition of which there are seven local churches who work in harmony with our local Social Services agencies. This coalition is called the Geauga Hunger Task Force. Their mission is to provide food to needy families throghout the county. There are also two after hours pantries, one at Job and Family Services, plus the Womansafe Shelter. You can receive information on how to volunteer and donate or how to receive help by calling: 440-285-9141 or the copeline at: 440-285-5665

The following churches are Geauga Hunger Task Force Coalition members: Burton Congregational Church, Chagrin Falls Park Community Center, Christ Presbyterian Church (Chesterland), First United Methodist Church (Middlefield), Grace Lutheran Church (Thompson), Pligrim Christian Church (Chardon), and Newbury United Church.

Geauga County Job and Family Services offers annually their "Sponsor A Family" program which is where a group of volunteers helps out a needy family or seniors within Geauga County. JFS works to match needy families with local businesses, civic organizations, schools, groups, churches, and individuals. Kinetico Inc, the local company we used to work for in Newbury Ohio did this every year. We had a committee who helped work with the JFS coordinator to help select a needy family, and then we coordinated the donations and the presentation to the family.

There are toy drives, and food collections plus generous donations which all go directly to helping local families in need at Christmas. This was an excellent group effort, and it had a profound and lasting effect on all participants including the volunteers! To get involved and help out a local family, contact the Geauga County Job and Family Services office at: 440-285-9141 Tell them you want to help with their Sponsor A Family program. Also tell them Mike Hewitt sent you!

No matter where you live, there is always someone nearby that could use a helping hand. You don't necessarily need a giant organization behind you to make a difference in someone's life this Christmas. For example, if you have a specific skill that a person or family in need could use, stop over and ask them face to face can i please help you out? If your elderly neighbor loves to put up Christmas lights, but cannot get on a ladder any longer, go offer to help them for an afternoon. Maybe they will make you a nice hot dinner in trade.

You could always offer to babysit for an evening so that the mom and dad next door can go out cCristmas shopping? Or what if someone needs to sit and watch television with grams while the family goes out to get a Christmas tree? What if you picked up a Christmas tree for someone who can no longer afford that kind of luxury! These are just the kind of simple things that can really make people happy. So get out into the community and help some of your friends and neighbors this Christmas season! Heck with that, go help them now, and keep on doing it. Maybe we can't make the world a better place until we all try doing a little more good right in our own backyard?