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December 2018 - Silicon Valley
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Volunteer at CalTrain Holiday Train
Salvation Army
Date/Time: Sunday, December 2, 6 - 7:40pm
Location: Menlo Park Caltrain Station, 1120 Merrill St, Menlo Park In partnership with SamTrans, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots, the Holiday Train is coming your way again this season! A small train decorated with thousands of lights will make its way from San Francisco to Santa Clara, stopping at each Caltrain platform for a 15 minute performance, which will include a sing-a-long from a band and choir, a snow machine blasting out onto the platform, characters in costume interacting with the crowd (Santa, Frosty, etc.) and new toy collection! Volunteers will arrive at Menlo Park station BEFORE the train arrives to assist in arranging toy collection barrels and signs. Volunteers will also direct families and guests to bins where they can donate toys and help return toys and barrels to the Salvation Army vehicles. Please note that volunteers will not ride on the train. Click here for more details about Caltrain Holiday Train 2018.
Ages: All ages are welcome to participate
Time Commitment: About two hours
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Alum Rock Fall 2018 Bioblitz
Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful
Date/Time: Saturday, December 8, 9 - 11am
Location: Alum Rock Park, 15350 Penitencia Creek Road, San Jose
A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time. At a BioBlitz, scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to get an overall count of the plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms that live in a place. Join this BioBlitz where you and experts come together to explore the park, and document observations of all living things in a short period of time. Docents will guide you and teach you to use the iNaturalist app on your smartphone or tablet to record all the living things you encounter. Flowers, trees, butterflies, dragonflies, and beetles, birds, and squirrels. We love them all - now let's go find them... Every little piece counts!
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate
Time Commitment: Two hours
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'Tis the Season to be Planting
Save the Bay
Date/Time: Saturday, December 15, 9am - noon
Location: Bair Island, Redwood City (location details will be provided through email upon RSVP)
Save the Bay's mission is to protect and restore San Francisco Bay for people and wildlife, uniting the Bay Area to create a clean and healthy Bay. As climate change and pollution threaten the area, Save the Bay leads initiatives to make the region sustainable for future generations. With planting season in full swing for the next few months, Save the Bay will plant thousands of new seedlings from their nursery in an effort to restore critical habitat in the tidal marshes of Bair Island. Come join and lend them a hand, enjoy time taking in the beautiful landscape, and learn about the exciting changes each season brings to our local wetlands. No experience necessary. Gloves, tools and instruction provided. Each event is led by Save The Bay staff certified in first aid and CPR.
Ages: All ages are welcome. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
Time Commitment: Three hours
Contact: info@savesfbay.org or call 510.463.6850. Registration is available online.
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December Events
Grassroots Ecology
Date/Time: Varies by event
Location: Varies by event
Grassroots Ecology leverages the power of volunteers to create healthy lands across Silicon Valley. They restore native plants to open spaces and neighborhoods, steward creeks and watersheds, and provide hands-on nature education. While volunteering with Grassroots Ecology, you will learn interesting things about the natural world while making a positive impact on the environment. Grassroots offers opportunities for people of all ages and skill levels to help with planting, weeding, creek monitoring, or installing rain gardens and rain barrels. Use the clickable links below to register for the right volunteer opportunity for you and your family: Ages: All ages are welcome at most events. Minors under 18 require a parent to approve the online waiver when registering. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.
Time Commitment: Two and one-half to three hours, depending on event
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Help Provide Valet Bike Parking at Special Events
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC)
Date/Time(s):
- Sunday December 16, 10 - 5:30pm, San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks
- Sunday December 23, 10 - 5:30pm, San Francisco 49ers vs. Chicago Bears
- Monday December 31, 10:30 - 4pm, San Francisco Bowl
Location: Levi's Stadium, 4900 Marie P. DeBartolo Way, Santa Clara
The purpose of SVBC is to create a healthy community, environment, and economy through bicycling for people who live, work, or play in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Valet bike parking is one of many ways that Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition encourages people to bike to public events. Volunteer responsibilities include accepting event attendees' bikes, placing them on bike racks, keeping a watchful eye during the event and then happily returning them to the attendees when they are ready to leave. Perks (such as snacks, free entry, or a meal) are usually provided for volunteers, depending on the event.
Ages: Families with children eight and older are welcome to participate. Volunteers age 13-18 may participate on their own with a signed waiver. If you will be volunteering with children, the expectation is that they can be independent and support the bike parking program without needing to be supervised the entire time. You will be working together but must be able to leave them unattended at times. If you are unsure if this is an age appropriate volunteer activity for your child, please do not hesitate to contact the Community Programs Manager.
Time Commitment: Varies
Contact: Kate Plant, Community Projects Coordinator at kate@bikesiliconvalley.org or 408.813.4485, or Membership and Outreach Coordinator, Jessica Waite at jessica@bikesiliconvalley.org
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Make Blankets and Plant Flowers for the Community
Temple Emanu-El Preschool
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 18, 6 - 8pm
Location: 1010 University Ave, San Jose
At Temple Emanu-El Preschool, the child comes first. They offer a quality multi-faceted, socially and academically developmental curriculum that balances developmental, academic and Judaic learning. Students work on kindergarten readiness skills, such as ABC's and 123's, in addition to science, music, art, and more. The Temple school is community-based and open to children of all faiths. Families will work together to make blankets for the local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), non-slip socks for a nearby convalescent hospital and plant flowers for a senior center. These types of activities help children learn the value of helping others, and families can experience the importance of working with their children to better our community.
Ages: Families with children ages two and older are welcome to participate
Time Commitment: Two hours
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Help Students in Need
My New Red Shoes
Date/Time: Ongoing
Location: Varies Since 2006, My New Red Shoes has worked to close the clothing gap for children and youth in-need through their "Clothing for Confidence" Program. Beyond providing the necessities of new shoes and clothing, they strive to create a long-term impact by boosting self-esteem and confidence, providing a sense of normalcy, increasing school attendance, engagement and readiness, and improving the overall educational experience and quality of life of our community's poorest students. Each year, My Red Shoes collects thousands of new shoe donations from shoe drives led by individual donors, community groups and corporate teams. To ensure that they have the variety of shoe sizes and styles that every student requests, they supplement their inventory with wholesale shoe purchases, as needed . There are many ways to volunteer, including:
- Individual and group opportunities
- At Home Projects
- Donating Shoes or Hosting a Shoe Drive
Ages: Varies, depending on the volunteering role.
Time Commitment: Varies
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Holiday Donation Drives Around Silicon Valley
During the holidays, many local organizations are collecting supplies, food, and gifts for families and individuals in need. Consider shopping as a family for some of these needed items, collecting gently-used items from around your home, hosting a fundraiser or donation drive or creating greeting cards to go along with the gifts you provide! We recommend reaching out to the organizations in advance to confirm the dates items are needed by.
Sacred Heart Community Services
SHCS distributes 7,400 holiday food boxes to families and toys to 6,200 children. Bring joy this holiday season by dropping off turkeys or new toys! Click here for more information, 1381 S. First St., San Jose. Monday through Thursday, 8am - 5pm; Friday 8am - 4pm; Saturday 9am - noon.
www.sacredheartcs.org/
City of Saratoga
The city is collecting nonperishable food items as well as new, unwrapped toys to be distributed to needy families this holiday season as part of its annual Food and Toy Drive. Drop off new unwrapped toys donations or non-perishable food through December 19. Toys can be brought to the Saratoga City Manager's Office (13777 Fruitvale Avenue), and food can be dropped off at the Joan Pisani Community Center (19655 Allendale Avenue) or the Saratoga Library (13650 Saratoga Avenue). www.saratoga.ca.us
Unity Care's Santa's Helpers Donation Drive
Unity Care uplifts 800 lonely and anxious foster children in our area. They are seeking families or organizations to host holiday parties/drives to collect new unwrapped gifts for children ages 0-24 or $25 gift cards to Target or Walmart. You can also consider adopting or decorating one of 12 teen homes in the Bay Area. To host a party or adopt a home contact Unity Care at 408.971.9822, volunteer@unitycare.org
www.unitycare.org/santas-helper
Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos
CSA is seeking gifts and/or gift cards for teens, food donations and volunteers to help provide holiday spirit to hundreds of families in the local community, 204 Stierlin Rd. Mountain View, 650.968.0836
www.csacares.org
Sunnyvale Community Services
SCS is seeking nonperishable food items, new toys, gifts and gift cards for those ages 7-17 for holiday gift distribution to low-income families in Sunnyvale. Food items most needed are healthy cereal, canned tuna and chicken, peanut butter and jelly, canned soup and canned tomato products. Gift cards to Target and Safeway are also greatly appreciated. Sunnyvale Community Services, 725 Kifer Rd. Sunnyvale, 408.738.4298. Donations are accepted weekdays, 8:30am - 5pm, and Saturday, Dec 8, 8:30-11am. All Sunnyvale Fire Stations will also be accepting toy donations for SCS from 9am - 7pm seven days a week through December 15. https://svcommunityservices.org/donate-scs-donation-wish-list-seasonal/www.svcommunityservices.org
Toys for Tots, Santa Clara County
Join us in our efforts to ensure that every child in need in our community receives a new, unwrapped toy this holiday season! The Marines of San Jose are proud to serve all of Santa Clara County by collecting toy donations and in return, giving thousands of new unwrapped toys to Santa Clara County families in need. Visit the San Jose area page for one of the many Toy Drop-Off Locations in your area.
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Giving Plates
Doing Good Together
Date/Time: Flexible
Location: Your own home or community location
Making some baked goods to bring along to a holiday gathering? You and your family can bake up some extra treats to share as a holiday gift with new or isolated neighbors, sick or stressed friends, or even service providers you meet on a regular basis, like the mail carrier or school bus driver. Then your family can design giving plates to place your home baked goodies on as part of your gift! Visit the Doing Good Together Design a Giving Plate for directions to make your plates and for additional ideas and reflection questions.
Ages: Everyone is welcome to participate
Time Commitment: Varies
Contact: mail@doinggoodtogether.org
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Shop Kind for the Holidays!
Whether you're shopping for birthday gifts, making your holiday gift list, or just looking for big-hearted books, games, and activities for your family, be sure to keep kindness in mind. DGT has compiled a variety of "kind vendors," and we've found some fun Amazon products that could turn online shopping into a big-hearted activity. Best of all, as an Amazon affiliate and having sponsored vendors, DGT benefits from these purchases as well. Want to become a Kind Vendor? Contact us and tell us about your big-hearted product! |
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| This list was compiled by Doing Good Together™ (www.doinggoodtogether.org)
When calling to volunteer for any of the opportunities listed above, please let the coordinator know you found it through this listing. You are encouraged to ask any questions you may have of the sponsoring organization before committing to a project.
Disclaimer: This list is provided as a service to families. Inclusion of organizations in this listing does not imply affiliation, endorsement or quality assurance on the part of Doing Good Together.™ Doing Good Together™ bears no responsibility whatsoever for the activities and actions of the listed organizations.
© 2018 Doing Good Together™
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