Grassroots Giving

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3 Ways to Give Back on Thanksgiving

1) Set up your own neighborhood or family food drive. You can ask everyone who's coming to Thanksgiving at your house to bring non-perishable food, clean (new or gently used) coats or new socks. These items are in high demand! You can donate the food to Second Harvest Food Bank, drop it off at a collection barrel around town, or donate to one of the many "Little Free Pantries." If you donate to a free pantry, you can go one step further and put together meal boxes for the holiday. Include items such as stuffing mix, cake mix, canned veggies and fruit.

Help raise funds to support the Second Harvest Holiday Drive by forming a team or donating online on the Second Harvest Website:

https://www.thefoodbank.org/holiday-food-fund-drive/

See the list of most needed food for donations here:

https://www.thefoodbank.org/most-needed-foods/

Visit this website to find a small pantry near you:

http://mapping.littlefreepantry.org/

Donate Adult Size Clean Coats or Socks to St. Francis Soup Kitchen

https://stfrancissoupkitchen.org/how-to-help/

Donate Kids Size Cloths to Hope's Closet

https://www.hopesclosetsc.com/donate-clothes--goods.html

2) Reach out to a neighbor who may be alone this holiday season. Do you know all your neighbors? If not, take this holiday as an opportunity to reach out and invite your neighbors over for a meal. Not ready to host a giant gathering? You can still put together a plate and visit an elderly neighbor or a college student that can't afford to travel home. You can reach out to folks by leaving notes in mailboxes, posting on a neighborhood group online, or just knocking on a door and introducing yourself. If you want to get out of your neighborhood - you can make a sack lunch with snacks and drinks. You could even decorate the bag and give them to unhoused folks around town.

3) Volunteer before or after Thanksgiving! While soup kitchens and food pantries are often closed or overwhelmed with volunteers on Thanksgiving and Christmas, they do need volunteers for the other 362 days of the year!

Click here for a list of Food Service volunteer opportunities.

Let us know what you plan to do this Thanksgiving by clicking the "Express Interest" button below and leaving a comment.

If you are hosting a project and want us to share it with our volunteer network please Email Johnny at jshamoun@scvolunteercenter.org