GIVE BACK: VOLUNTEER & SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES ALL YEAR

Below, we have listed some volunteer and charitable causes to consider supporting both over the holidays and all year. Let’s bring CHEER to our community!

Do you know of a holiday volunteer opportunity we should include in our article? Please send us an email at beckys@macaronikid.com.

The mission of THE CHARITY GUILD OF JOHNS CREEK is to support local area non-profits in aiding children, individuals, families, and seniors in crisis through fundraising, volunteerism, and in-kind donations. 100% OF ALL PUBLIC DONATIONS are allocated directly to our charities we support: North Fulton Community Charities, Wellspring Living, Senior Services North Fulton, Home Stretch & STAR House. Overhead and administrative costs are covered through private donations specifically gifted for these purposes.

Each year, we host an Annual Toy Drive through December 16th to help stock the North Fulton Community Charities Santa Shop. The Santa Shop provides toys and gifts to local children in need at the holidays. Click HERE for more information on how to help with NFCC Santa Shop.

North Fulton Community Charities’ mission is to build self-sufficiency and prevent homelessness and hunger in our community by providing emergency assistance and enrichment programs.

North Fulton Community Charities Senior Baskets: Local groups and individuals create Christmas baskets for seniors (ages 65 and over) and disabled adults. Click HERE for more information on how to help with NFCC Senior Baskets.

Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children who might otherwise go hungry, children who will go without a meal all weekend. Blessings in a Backpack is feeding 180 kids every week and still trying to provide monthly food bags for the families we serve as well.

If you are so inclined, any monetary donations can be sent to Lynn Kurtz Floum, Blessings in a Backpack - FAM Fund, 530 Blue Heron Way, Milton, GA. 30004. Please make checks payable to BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK - FAM FUND.  Blessings in a Backpack is a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductible.

Click HERE for a Macaroni Kid article on Blessings in a Backpack. 

The mission of Rainbow Village is to transform lives for homeless families with children of North Metro Atlanta through a community-based, transitional housing program that promotes self-sufficiency. To date, we have served over 300 families –about 900 individuals, adults with children—who have found themselves in need of transitional housing and support services to get back on their feet. Many of our residents have been domestic violence victims, and historically, most of the families we serve have a woman as head of household.

Programs: Transitional housing (single family homes); Case Management; Counseling; Life Skills training- including workforce and career development, financial literacy, health and wellness, positive parenting, and home management; After School program; Children and Youth programs.

Click HERE for more information.

Will To Live  is dedicated to preventing teen suicide by improving the lives and the 'Will To Live' of teenagers everywhere through education about mental health and encouraging them to recognize the love and hope that exists in each other. We accomplish this by: 

• Raising Awareness of Teen Suicide: Giving presentations to communities schools, families, churches, sports teams and others to raise the awareness of teen suicide in our communities and the fact that every 2 hours in America a teen takes their life - this needs to be talked about. 
• Increasing Education around mental illness and it's stigma: Through education and awareness programs that work with professional organizations that help educate the communities of mental health issues and the fact that 1 in 6 of the teens in our lives suffer from depression or some other diagnosable mental illness that can lead to suicide. 
• To Deliver Hope to teens everywhere through our LIFE TEAMMATES PROGRAMS AND SCHOLARSHIPS- that encourage the teens in our community to "talk about it" with each other - their friends and Life Teammates. Life is hard and sometime it takes a friends to help you navigate through the tough times.

As of 2018, the Will to Live Foundation has raised over $1,000,000 through events and fundraisers that have been organized by the kids themselves. In doing this, these kids form what we call "life teammate bonds" where they recognize the power of hope they have in each other. It's easier to talk to a friend and we teach them to do just that. Putting the money back into the community: To date, well over 1,000 schools have had the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program implemented through funding by the Will To Live Foundation. Over 1,000,000 students have been "reached" through this program as well as our Life Teammates activities and events since the foundation's inception in 2010.

Click HERE for  more information or to donate.

Founded in 1969, Annandale Village is an award-winning nonprofit organization dedicated solely to providing progressive life assistance to adults, 18 years of age and older, with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries so they can maximize their abilities and maintain their independence in the least restrictive environment.

As a community where people can age in place, Annandale Village offers a comprehensive array of programs and services, both residential and non-residential, designed to improve the quality of life of each individual served, according to his or her own unique needs and abilities. Annandale Village, serving over 190 adults, is a special place where men and women with intellectual and developmental disabilities lead lives that reflect quality, independence, self-worth, and achievement with the utmost care and compassion.

For more information or to donate, click HERE.

Mosaic Georgia’s mission focuses on three areas: 

• Services which enhance safety, health, and justice to anyone who has been victimized by rape, sexual assault, or child sexual abuse, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or legal status.
• Work to eliminate social conditions that allow for sexual violence
• Build capacity of local community response to crime victims.

Each year, more than 5,000 people in the greater-Gwinnett County area receive direct services. Our primary locations served include: Berkeley Lake, Braselton, Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Norcross, Snellville, Suwanee, Johns Creek, &; Peachtree Corners. We can provide forensic medical exams for anyone assaulted in Georgia. 

•  24-hour crisis line/ support line for allied professionals at 866-900-6019 
• 24-hour crisis intervention support
• 24/7 forensic-medical evidentiary exam and GBI- SAEK evidence collection
• Victim Advocacy; Medical Advocacy; Family Advocacy Legal Advocacy Services
• 24/7 Forensic Interviews (child and adolescent)
• Free legal aid services for victims with civil issues resulting from the sexual assault/abuse.
• Community awareness and education
• Professional training for schools, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, medical and mental health professionals.
• College campus presentations
• Consultation for schools, media, government agencies, publications and educational films.
• Georgia Adolescent & Adult Sexual Assault Examiner (SAE)/ Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Trainings provided statewide
• Georgia Pediatric-Advanced SAE/ SANE Training Programs. 
• ALL client services are provided with no fee or co-pay.

For  more information and to donate, click HERE.

Sunshine on a Ranney Day is a nonprofit organization that renovates homes for children with special needs using top of the line construction and design. Through partnerships and donors we provide no cost wheelchair accessible bathrooms, dream bedrooms and in-home therapy rooms. 

Sunshine on a Ranney Day,  just opened our new Sunny & Ranney Home Furnishings and Decor Store located at 109B Oak Street in Roswell. The store sells designer home goods and furniture to support home makeovers that transform the lives of kids with special needs. Each time a customer buys an item, the profit goes directly to our charity, Sunshine on a Ranney Day. 

The store is staffed by volunteers and WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Volunteer responsibilities can be found HERE. If you are interested in volunteering at the store, please contact  info@sunnyandranney.com.

Since 1979 our Atlanta Ronald McDonald Houses have served more than 48,000 families with ill and injured children receiving medical care nearby. 

• Ronald McDonald House near Egleston, 795 Gatewood Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329  Contact: Ansley Wetherington at ansley.wetherington@armhc.org
• Ronald McDonald House near Scottish Rite, 5420 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Sandy Springs, GA 30342  Contact: Aleea Bishop ataleea.bishop@armhc.org

Dream Weavers of Georgia is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children in foster care. Our mission is to create opportunities and provide resources that promote educational, emotional and social well being of Georgia’s foster children. Please join us in our mission to lift up foster children and help them be all they can be.

Click HERE for ways to help Dream Weavers.

The idea to create a community coffeehouse to train and employ young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities took shape in spring, 2017 with an all-volunteer planning group comprised of members of the Alpharetta community. A partnership between Envision Alpharetta, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to incubating grassroots community ideas, BrewAble and the City of Alpharetta, was formed in summer, 2018 to establish BrewAble in the lobby of the Alpharetta Community Center. 

Stop by and purchase some fresh baked items for your family, or take them as a gift to a friend, neighbor, client, or coworker.

You can make a donation HERE. 

Click HERE for a Macaroni Kid article on BrewAble.

Special Kneads and Treats, Inc. is a nonprofit specialty goods company located in Lawrenceville, GA, focused on providing Special Needs adults within the surrounding community a place to learn a skill and develop a sense of accountability and pride. We provide valuable work experience and training to special needs adults to encourage self-confidence, a sense of value, and the opportunity to enjoy success and socialization. Sharing the love of Jesus Christ through caring, serving, equipping, and educating, we cater to local Food Ministry Cooperatives, Elderly Care Facilities, Battered Women and Children’s homes, Medically Fragile Children’s Homes as well as many small locally owned businesses and community outreach programs.

Click HERE for more information and to donate.

Our program allows this special group of people an opportunity to provide for those less fortunate or in need with specialty baked goods and services through our Cakes for Kiddos program. Your $9.00 you can make a tremendous difference in the life of a child, special needs or elderly that may not have the opportunity to experience something as simple as a “Birthday Cake”. Click HERE to make a donation.

If you are in Lawrenceville, stop by the store at 156 Scenic Highway S. to purchase some of their delicious cakes and treats. I can personally attest to the fact that their Choc-Corn is absolutely addictive!   Profits from their standard sales are put back into community programs to further assist Special Needs awareness, research and many other areas of need. 

Tossing Pebbles. Watching the ripples. It’s fun to see how that tiny pebble can have such far-reaching impact. Similarly, one child and one act of service can create far-reaching ripples of giving that span their family, community, and lifetime. But finding a meaningful service project for kids can be tricky and time-consuming. That’s why in 2008 two Atlanta women created Pebble Tossers Inc., a nonprofit youth service organization and family volunteering resource that makes it easy to find fun, age-appropriate service projects for kids and teens in the greater Atlanta area.

Click HERE to find out about volunteer projects for kids and teens and HERE for donations.

A MILLION THANKS is asking individuals, schools, churches, businesses, and other organizations to write letters and messages of appreciation and support for our military, past and present. It is our goal to see that our military – active, reserve, and veterans – receive these messages, whether they are serving at home, abroad, or are recovering in hospitals. 

To get started, read the letter guidelines and find details on where to ship the letters HERE.

• Make cards and drop them off at a senior living facility.
• Write appreciation cards and shower teachers with a special gift or flowers.
• Bake cookies and deliver to local fireman, policeman, trash collectors, postal delivery workers, etc.
• Help an elderly neighbor by mowing their grass, bringing in trash or raking leaves.
• Donate blood to the American Red Cross.
• Donate pet supplies to an animal shelter such as the Atlanta Humane Society or Planned Pethood of Georgia
• Click HERE for more Georgia charities and nonprofits.

Duluth, Norcross, Suwanee, Johns Creek & Peachtree Corners Macaroni Kid  is full of useful local information like this PLUS tons of kid-friendly events on our EVENT CALENDAR.  

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Have an event you'd like to submit for consideration? Submit an event HERE. 

Want to advertise your business to over 10,000 local families? Email beckys@macaronikid.com to get started!