| Project and Description |
Ages
|
Location |
Grassroots Ecology
Join Midpen and Grassroots Ecology staff for a fun workday planting native plants at Ravenswood Open Space Preserve. Staff will provide training on plant identification, planting techniques and information about why these plants are vital to our local landscape. This project is an excellent opportunity for first-time volunteers!
|
For adults and families with older children
9:30 AM–12:30 PM |
Ravenswood Open Space
|
Positive Pillowcase Messages
Make pillowcases with positive messages for LifeMoves. |
All ages
|
OFJCC |
No-Sew Blankets for PATH
Join us along with PATH and provide love, security, warmth and comfort to people in need by making homemade no-sew blankets for their community.
|
Families with school-age children |
OFJCC |
Gardening at Hidden Villa
Come weed and move with us so we can get ready for spring! Garden and digging enthusiasts 12 and up are encouraged to volunteer. |
Older children (12+) and adults |
Hidden Villa |
Sack Lunches for Hopes Corner
Hopes Corner supplies their guests a bag of healthy, shelf-stable foods each time they visit. Join us with your purchased food items to fill a provided paper grocery-sized bag that we will decorate for the guests of Hopes Corner. Food items must be individually wrapped, easy to open and not require any cooking or preparation. Here are some ideas of what to bring:
- Cereal bars and granola bars
- Protein rich food:
o Meat in pop-top can or pouch (example tuna/chicken)
o Protein bar
o Jerky stick
o Peanut butter in individual pouch or cup
o Nuts and trail mixes
o Fresh Fruit (oranges, bananas and apples work best)
o Fruit or applesauce in cup or pouch
o Individual cracker snacks
o Individual cereal or oatmeal cups
o Drinks: 100% fruit juice, shelf-stable milk or milk alternative, water
|
7+
|
OFJCC |
Snack Packs for WeHope
Come create snack packs for the WeHope community along with kind and thoughtful messages to brighten up their day! Items to bring if you can:
- Applesauce cups/pouches
- Canned meat (tuna, chicken, salmon, etc.) with pull top (4–6 oz)
- Slim Jim meat sticks (individually wrapped)
- Fruit cups (4 oz)
- Fruit juice box or canned (individual sized)
- Trail/granola bars
- Fresh, whole fruits like apples, oranges, bananas
|
3+
|
OFJCC
|
JFCS Sorting Donations Center
Join JFCS to help provide hope for those in need by being a helping hand on site and sorting donations.
|
9+ |
JFCS |
Avenidas
Come create a thoughtfully decorated flowerpot and plant a flower inside to send to Avenidas for their residents. |
Older children and adults |
OFJCC |
Thank You Snack Packs
Join El Camino Health to show your appreciation for our healthcare workers and honor all the hard work they have put into keeping us all healthy and safe during these unprecedented times.
Pack a healthy snack bag and write a heartfelt thank you card. Want to pack and write more than one? The sky is the limit; we hope you will make as many packs as your heart’s desire! We have lots of thanks to go around!
|
All ages |
OFJCC |
Fence Painting at Family Connections
Join Family Connections in sprucing up their space giving their community a well-tended and intentional place to gather and grow. |
All ages |
OFJCC |
Spring Cleaning at Family Connections
Join Family Connections at their Redwood City location to help them spring clean, making it easier to empower under-served families in San Mateo County. |
Adults and school-aged children |
Family Connections |
Planting Trees and Tree Care with Canopy
"He that plants trees loves others beside himself." ~Thomas Fuller
Come plant in East Palo Alto for a better tomorrow.
|
9+ |
TBA |
Full-Sized Toiletries for Women in Shelters
Help us decorate tote bags and fill them with full sized toiletries for Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence. Please bring as many of the items listed below to put in the tote bag provided and use your creative and kind heart to decorate the bag for the recipient.
- Full-size shampoo
- Full-size conditioner
- Full-size body soap
- Bar soap
- Deodorant
- Toothpaste and toothbrushes
- Brushes, combs, hair ties
- Shaving cream and razors
- Baby wipes
- Lotions
|
Families with school-aged children and adults |
OFJCC |
Making Toys for Shelter Animals
Join Palo Alto Humane Society to create cat and dog toys for shelter animals.
|
Families with school-aged children |
PAHS Office |
Make Dog Toys and Treats for Shelter Animals
Join us as we make t-shirt dog toys and no-bake dog treats for shelter animals. Bring an old t-shirt and we'll show you how to make it into something fun for an animal in need! |
7+ |
OFJCC |
Wild Gardens at Izzi Early Education
Plant seasonal, colorful flowers in Izzi's planning beds. We will also be planting succulents in empty cans to attach to the chain link fence to bring in extra greenery. |
Teens and adults |
East Palo Alto |
Create Play Spaces at Izzi Early Education
Help create educational play areas like a pool noodle pour station and an outdoor music station at one of Izzi's Head Start locations in East Palo Alto to create fun spaces for their community. |
Teens and adults
|
East Palo Alto |
Friendship Bracelets for Connection
Come create friendship bracelets with SEJ (Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry). These bracelets will be delivered to Ethiopia, Israel and Ukraine to give our Jewish world neighbors a feeling of love and connection during these hard times. |
Adults and school-aged children |
OFJCC |
Hamsas for Care
Join us along with JFCS Youth First in creating hamsas for Holocaust survivors and for community members making homes in a new place. This fun and easy project will help give a thoughtful touch to those in need of love and connection. |
Families with young children |
OFJCC |
STEM Packages for Children who Live in RVs
Come join KSP and build small space STEM packages for families living in recreational vehicles (RVs) in our communities. |
For adults and families with school-aged children |
OFJCC |
L'Dor Vador—Hausner Children and Holocaust Survivors
Come create a present for Tu B'Shevat to give to Café by the Bay's Holocaust survivors. We will create succulent bowls, card and baskets of food to deliver for this beautiful Jewish holiday. |
9+ |
Hausner Day School |
Israel in Our Hearts
Join us in an amazing initiative called Child Center for Kibbutz Kissufim Kids, and create kits of school supplies with a present, a card and friendship bracelets to send to Israel.
|
9+
|
Hausner Day School
|
Serving Lunch at LifeMoves
Come serve lunch at LifeMove's new center in Redwood City! Providing lunch is a crucial need. Come show your love and support of one of our most vulnerable communities by providing sustenance and companionship.
|
10+ |
LifeMoves |
Activity Kits for
Evacuated Seniors in Israel
Join UnXeptable to
create art kits for evacuated seniors. Following October 7, many senior
survivors had to evacuate from their kibbutz. We will create art kits to help
them heal from the loss and find hope. You will help us cut and sand decorative
models of houses and prepare a kit that will include all the materials needed
to decorate the model and make it into a symbol of rebuilding the seniors' homes. We will ship the kits to the seniors in Israel so they can enjoy this
art project and know how much we care.
|
9+ |
OFJCC |
Help Anamatangi Polynesian Voices Move!
APV will be moving to their new East Palo Alto home for office and community space. Come help load the moving truck with furniture, boxes and supplies and then unload the truck at their EPA location. We will also tag any unwanted items for donation and clean up any debris or trash. Volunteers must be able to lift 25–50 pounds. |
17+ |
2550 Wyandotte Avenue,
Suite C
East Palo Alto |
Moms Welcoming New Moms
Join Blossom Birth and Family creating 'welcome to motherhood' boxes and relaxing heat-able neck therapy pillows for new moms! |
Moms of any age |
OFJCC |
Little Free Libraries in Woodland Park Communities
In order to encourage more reading in the Woodland Park Communities west of 101 in East Palo Alto, Kiwanis Club of Palo Alto has created two new beautiful Little Free Library structures that have been installed in two neighborhood pop-up parks. The partnership of the City of East Palo Alto, Woodland Park Communities, Kiwanis, Youth Community Service and the East Palo Alto Library will be celebrated at the 10:00 AM dedication event at the park at Newell and West Bayshore. Books will be provided by the East Palo Alto Library. Following the event, youth will be led in a mini-mural painting project on the Little Free Libraries by artist and teacher Pedro Rivas Lopez at both pop-up parks at Newell and West Bayshore and at Donohoe and West Bayshore.
|
All ages |
East Palo Alto at Woodland Park Community at the Bridge Pop-Up Park |
Green Hearts make Clean Parks!
Join the Trash Bash! YCS's youth led sustainability team, SPROUT, will be hosting a park clean up at Mitchell Park on MLK day. We will meet at 11:00 AM sharp in front of Ada's Cafe.
|
7+
11:00 AM–12:00 PM |
Mitchell Park |
Help at the Downtown Food Closet in Palo Alto!
Volunteers will help shelve donated food items from 11:00 AM–1:00 PM or 1:00–3:00 PM.
The Palo Alto Food Closet hopes volunteers will become interested in volunteering on an ongoing basis for this critical essential service in our community that serves the food insecure.
The location is managed by the Downtown Streets Team and a number of the ongoing volunteers come from the Palo Alto University Rotary Club; please let them know if you are able to give more time in the weeks to come!
|
18+
11:00 AM–1:00 PM or
1:00–3:00 PM |
Palo Alto Food Closet |