CallMeGilligan's List of Thanksgiving Volunteer Opportunities for 2019
Sign up for the annual Super Feast, or Big Thanksgiving Meal, as it is also known, at the George R. Brown Convention Center. More than 35,000 people are fed at this event each year. You can choose a shift on Thanksgiving Day or on Prep Day, the day before the holiday; while you are at it, you might consider a shift for the Christmas feasts as well. http://citywideclub.com/volunteer-registration/
More than 13,000 runners will take to the streets in the BakerRipley "Turkey Trot Run". Register online to volunteer for this Thanksgiving tradition, which uses plenty of registration assistants (including volunteers that make up registration packets the entire week before Thanksgiving) to register runners, hand out water, give out medals, setup and tear down the course, and a whole lot more. https://houstonturkeytrot.org/volunteer/
The City of Houston and H-E-B's Thanksgiving Parade always needs volunteers - but spots fill up quickly. Register now online to be a balloon handler, banner carrier, usher, parade marshal, costume character, or work at volunteer headquarters. All volunteers must be at least 16 years of age. Parade Marshals and Costumed Characters MUST both attend meeting. Costumed Characters will secure a costume at the meetings. Location will be announced. All positions will have to work on Thursday 11/28/2019 from 6:00 am to 11:00 am. https://www.houstontx.gov/thanksgivingparade/volunteer.html
The Holiday Project's Park Manor Holiday Card Visit, in Humble, TX. Visit with residents and pass out holiday Thanksgiving cards at the Humble-area nursing home and care facility. From 10am-12noon, Thanksgiving Day.
Interfaith Ministries’ Meals on Wheels Thanksgiving is an annual community-wide event hosted on Thanksgiving morning to help feed 13,000 senior citizens in the Greater Houston/Galveston area. Volunteer in different ways - raising funds, working at the distribution sites, or delivering meals. Distribution site in Houston is First Presbyterian Church, 5300 Main Street, Houston, and for Galveston County, the Wayne Johnson Community Center, 4102 Main Street, LaMarque, TX. Event begins at 9am until all meals are delivered. InterFaith Ministries will also be collecting pet food for their AniMeals program at the event, providing pet food for seniors who have pets. If you are able, please bring dog or cat food for the pets of Meals on Wheels seniors, too. https://www.imgh.org/events/thanksgiving/
If you are like me and all about Thanksgiving food, there can be no more appropriate gift than giving your time to make sure that no one goes hungry with the Houston Food Bank. Not open on Thanksgiving Day, but they currently have a number of spots available around the Thanksgiving holidays, and are unique that children as young as the age of 6 are welcome to volunteer with their parents. All volunteers are asked to register online, sign up for a couple of shifts here.
Operation Turkey's goal this year is to serve 75,000 turkey meals across several states from 8am-12noon on Thanksgiving Day. Whether you choose cooking, plating, delivering, or cleaning, there is a job for you, and kids are encouraged to help, too. Kids programs include decorating food containers, and they get to learn about community service while they are at it. Sign up with Operation Turkey here.
The Star of Hope provides housing and services to men and women year round in the Houston area. Their Thanksgiving meals (and Christmas meals too) are usually covered by large groups, but the days before and after Thanksgiving are always in need of volunteers. Whether it's serving a meal, creating a greeting card of encouragement or a prayer, hosting a craft project, bagging snacks for teens and kids, or sorting donations, there are many worthwhile, and needed, volunteer activities. Register through their website.
Like to shop? Get together with your family and spend Thanksgiving afternoon packaging and providing Wish List items for a local charity, like the Ronald McDonald House Houston, Casa de Esperanza, the Houston Area Women's Center, the Fort Bend Women's Center or our animal friends at Friends for Life or the SPCA Houston. Your gift of food items, toiletries, or gift cards can bring a big thanks from those in need, and provides a charitable opportunity for those who need a flexible schedule.
Join the Houston International Jaycees and volunteer at the Bel Inizio Giving Thanks 5K and 10K marathon in Sugar Land. Bel Inizio is non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged women develop self-confidence through fitness and nutrition. Participants will be volunteering at the Food and Refreshment booth from 7 am-10 am on Saturday 11/23/19. Sign up online here.
The Open Door Mission, 5803 Harrisburg Blvd., Houston, TX, a faith-based recovery and rehab facility welcomes volunteers to serve Thanksgiving meals and decorate their campus and dining hall for the holidays every year. Contact them for more information here.
Stand up to cancer and support 1,000 runners at the 5th Annual L3 Turkey Day 5K & Wishbone 1K in Kingwood, TX. This event helps support the L3 Foundation, whose mission is to aid children and their families who are fighting childhood cancers. Volunteer to help with registration, runner assistance, water stations, or even at the bouncy house or face painting, and still be home in the afternoon for your own turkey day. Register at L3 Turkey Day 5K.