Volunteer from Home

AISHEL HOUSE

What Is It?

A charity that offers “the comforts of home and community” — including meals, accommodations, Jewish chaplaincy, child care, and transportation — to patients who come to the Texas Medical Center from around the world.

Help Needed:

Deliver meals, create holiday food or crafts for patients, help care for children of patients or family members, sing holiday songs for patient families, and perform other helpful tasks. Please contact Aishel House for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

Volunteers aged 10-12 must be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers must be 13 to participate in the Junior Volunteer Program.

THE BIRTHDAY JOY PROGRAM

What Is It?

A nonprofit dedicated to bringing birthday parties to children in homeless shelters, group homes, & other disadvantaged situations in Harris and Galveston counties.

Help Needed:

Help host birthday parties in Houston, LaPorte, Liverpool, and Texas City; collect gifts or other party supplies; assemble goody bags, make decorations. Please contact Birthday Joy for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

14 independently; younger children may volunteer with a parent. Parents must sign a waiver for volunteers under 18.

BOOKS FOR DEVELOPMENT

What Is It?

A nonprofit that works with teams of volunteers to gather donated books, sort them, and box them for transport. These recycled books are donated to underdeveloped countries around the world to help them create and maintain local libraries.

Help Needed:

Help sort and package books in the warehouse, or collect books, especially those in subjects such as health and medicine, social science, and applied science. Currently volunteer groups are limited to ten people. Please contact BFD for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

16

CASA DE ESPERANZA DE LOS NIÑOS

What Is It?

A safe place for children in crisis due to abuse, neglect, or the effects of HIV. Casa de Esperanza provides residential care, and coordinates medical and psychological services according to the needs of each child.

Help Needed:

Collect basic needs or items for welcome packages; students may propose other projects.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

In general, volunteers must be 18 to participate in hands-on activities with the children, but volunteers of all ages may collect items. The agency may also consider one-time group projects with volunteers under 18.

CASA EL BUEN SAMARITANO

What Is It?

A free, non-profit health clinic that “shares the love of Jesus Christ while providing whole-person — body, soul, spirit — healthcare to the low-income and uninsured population in our community.”

Help Needed:

Projects could include computer work, child care, patient education materials, website updates, organization, and building maintenance. Please contact the clinic for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

16 to volunteer independently; 14-15 year olds are considered for specific tasks on a case-by-case basis.

THE CHILDREN'S ASSESSMENT CENTER

What Is It?

A nonprofit that provides a professional, compassionate, and coordinated approach to the treatment of sexually abused children ages 0-17 and their families and to serve as an advocate for all children in our community.

Help Needed:

Collect needed items such as backpacks and school supplies, toiletry bags, Halloween costumes, new books, birthday gifts for therapy clients, therapy graduation gifts, or gifts for the children’s holiday party in December. Volunteers may also help at special weekend events. Please contact the CAC for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

Volunteers of all ages are invited to help by collecting needed items.

DEPELCHIN CHILDREN’S CENTER

What Is It?

A nonprofit agency that works to break the cycles of child abuse and neglect, integrating “prevention, foster care, adoption and post-adoption programs to improve the mental health and physical well-being of children who are at risk of entering or are in the State’s child welfare system.”

Help Needed:

Collect and donate new items such as school supplies, holiday gifts, household items, toys, and clothing. The Center provides holiday wish lists and other information. Please contact the Center for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

None, to collect/donate needed items. (Volunteers must be at least 18 to help with the children at the Center.)

DRESS A GIRL AROUND THE WORLD

What Is It?

A program that “delivers dresses & hope to girls in need & at risk around the world,” including within the U.S. The program is run by Hope 4 Women International, a Christian organization based in Arizona.

Help Needed:

Make simple cotton sundresses, hygiene kits, and/or sewing kits from instructions provided; the items are then delivered to needy girls in Central America, Africa, and elsewhere.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

None, but volunteers should be able to sew a simple but high-quality dress.

EASTER SEALS GREATER HOUSTON – ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

What Is It?

A nonprofit that offers a variety of community-based services that give people with disabilities opportunities to live, learn, work, and play as vital parts of their own communities or neighborhoods, and providing respite, support, and education for family members and caregivers.

Help Needed:

Collect unwanted electronics to help provide training opportunities for Easter Seals clients, or collect gently used tablets, which will be loaned to adults and children with disabilities to help them communicate and learn. Please note that these collection/donation programs are on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

No minimum age.

HARRIS HEALTH SYSTEM COLLECTION / ASSEMBLY / CRAFT PROJECTS

What Is It?

A healthcare system that cares for all residents of Harris County and includes community health centers, school-based clinics, mobile health units, a rehabilitation and specialty hospital, and two full-service hospitals.

Help Needed:

Prepare Waiting Room Survival Kits, Toiletry Kits, or Diversion Kits; collect books, magazines, toys, or inexpensive prizes; or make baby hats, no-sew blankets, or other items.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

All ages are welcome to collect, assemble, and make items.

HOUSTON HUMANE SOCIETY

What Is It?

A nonprofit that is “dedicated to, and working towards, ending cruelty, abuse, and the overpopulation of animals while providing the highest quality of life to those in our care.” Programs include pet adoptions, humane education, cruelty investigations, and a low-cost spay/neuter and wellness clinic.

Help Needed:

Collect needed items, such as animal food and treats, grooming items, and cleaning supplies.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

18, but youth under age 18 are invited to collect and donate needed items.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF HOUSTON

What Is It?

A non-profit social service agency that serves Houston’s Jewish community and the general SW Houston community, “strengthening family life, laying the foundation for self-sufficiency, and improving both the social and economic conditions of our clients.”

Help Needed:

Help create Shabbat boxes, nosh bags, and holiday gifts for Jewish hospital patients; provide needed items for homebound/needy clients; or perform for seniors. Please contact JFS for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

No minimum age for most projects; volunteers must be 12 for some projects.

LIONS CLUB EYEGLASSES RECYCLING

What Is It?

This Lions Club program collects used prescription eyeglasses and reading glasses. Volunteers at their recycling centers clean the glasses, sort them by prescription strength, and package them. The recycled glasses are distributed to nonprofits that provide vision screening and assistance to people in need, mainly in developing countries.

Help Needed:

Volunteers are invited to collect used eyeglasses to donate. Usually this is done by placing collection boxes at local businesses, schools, optical shops, libraries, places of worship, city administrative centers, or eye care professionals.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

All ages are welcome to collect eyeglasses.

PROJECT LINUS

What Is It?

A national nonprofit that delivers handmade blankets to children in local hospitals, child abuse centers, and other facilities where a child might feel anxious or unsafe. Since 1996 the Houston chapter has distributed more than 21,000 blankets.

Help Needed:

Volunteers make blankets and bring them to a drop-off location; the chapter then distributes the blankets to needy children.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

None, but volunteers must be able to make a blanket suitable for presentation to a needy child.

SALVATION ARMY ANGEL TREE

What Is It?

A program that invites individual donors to provide Christmas gifts for disadvantaged children and seniors in the Houston area.

Help Needed:

In November, choose a wish list from a disadvantaged child or senior, purchase items (average $60-70), and return them to the Angel Tree.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

None.

STAR OF HOPE

What Is It?

A “Christ-centered community dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless men and women and their children. Positive life changes are encouraged through structured programs which focus on spiritual growth, education, employment, life management and recovery from substance abuse.”

Help Needed:

Volunteers may help serve meals, provide evening snacks to women and children, collect school supplies and other needed items, write notes of encouragement, and help with other projects. Please contact the Star of Hope for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

Kitchen volunteers must be high school age (with chaperone); all ages may serve snacks or write encouraging notes.

TARGET HUNGER

What Is It?

A nonprofit that distributes 3.9 million pounds to food each year to food insecure seniors, children, and families who face the risk of going hungry every day. Its services include food pantries, community and educational gardens, senior home delivery routes, and a free breakfast program.

Help Needed:

Volunteers help with the food pantries and distribution center, educational food fairs, community gardens, special events, and administrative tasks. Some organizational work may also be done from home. Please contact Target Hunger for COVID-related updates.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

16 independently; children in first grade and older may volunteer with a parent /guardian.

VOLUNTEERS FOR ANIMAL PROTECTION, INC.

What Is It?

A non-profit, no-kill, volunteer-run animal welfare organization in Kingwood that rescues and places abandoned, abused, and neglected cats and dogs into permanent loving homes.

Help Needed:

Help care for animals (socialize them, clean living spaces), assist with adoption events, collect needed items, do chores around shelter, including outdoor work.

Minimum Age to Volunteer

Must be at least 17 to care for/walk/socialize animals. Younger volunteers may collect supplies, help with fundraisers, and help in other ways.