Holiday Volunteer Opportunities in San Antonio

Yesterday, Alamo City Moms Blog announced the launch of Operation #acmbspreadjoy. Together with our readers, we hope to spread joy across San Antonio by doing good deeds and showing kindness to others throughout the month of December. Today we’re highlighting several local organizations that are in need of volunteers this holiday season. Get involved, and help #acmbspreadjoy!

Looking for some ways to give back to our community this holiday season? ACMB has got you covered! We’ve compiled a list of volunteer opportunities for you and your little elves of all ages!

We know there are many other opportunities that may not be listed, so if you know of one we may have missed, please leave the details (including a phone number and/or website) in the comment section below. Thank you for supporting so many of the people and organizations who need us more than ever at this time of year. From all of us here at ACMB, we wish you and your family a very happy holiday season! Click on any of the headings below to be directed to the organization’s webpage with more information!

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Any Baby Can

Adopt a family for the holidays! Your purchase of gifts and food items will help support a family that may otherwise go without celebrating the holiday season in order to afford basic living expenses such as food or housing. Click HERE for more information and guidelines to adopt a family. *Donations are due no later than December 12th.

Volunteers are also needed on Saturday, December 12th from 10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. to help sort toys collected from the toy drive. Click HERE for more information and to register!

Bill’s Elves Toy Drive (Benefiting Child Protective Services)

Join KENS 5 Chief Meteorologist Bill Taylor to help provide Christmas gifts to the more than 7,000 children under Child Protective Services’ care. Unwrapped toys and gifts for toddlers to teens and/or monetary donations to purchase gifts are all greatly appreciated. Click HERE and scroll down for a detailed list of gift ideas and to learn more about how you can become one of Bill’s Elves! Gifts are accepted at any Generations Federal Credit Union or Corner Store location through December 11th; or you can drop off your gift and meet Bill Taylor at any of the locations on the dates listed below:

  • Wednesday, December 2, 4:00–6:30 P.M.—Generations FCU, 6000 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78238
  • Thursday, December 3, 9:00–10:00 A.M.—Corner Store, 19417 Babcock Rd., San Antonio, TX 78255
  • Friday, December 4, 4:00–7:00 P.M.—The Shops at La Cantera (in front of Forever 21), 15900 La Cantera Pkwy., San Antonio, TX 78256
  • Monday, December 7–Friday, December 11, 4:00–7:00 P.M.—KENS 5 Studio, 5400 Fredericksburg Rd., San Antonio, TX 78229

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The Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas

The holidays can be especially tough for grieving families, but food joins the masses and brings people together during difficult times. You and your family can sponsor and serve a dinner to families (children ages 6–17 and adults) before the grief support groups offered Monday–Thursday. The menu can range from pizza to casseroles—it is totally up to you! Mealtimes take place from 5:45–7:15 P.M., so it only takes a little over one hour to make a difference. Click HERE for more information and to sign up!

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Children’s Hospital of San Antonio

New and unwrapped toys, books, games, gift cards, toiletries, and more can be dropped at The Container Store, located at Loop 410 & San Pedro across from North Star Mall, now through December 15th. All donations will go directly to providing a Holiday Hug to a patient at The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio to help make his/her holiday a little brighter!

Elf Louise Christmas Project

This is an experience you and your family will never forget! Individuals and groups can volunteer to wrap toys, stock shelves, and deliver toys. Click HERE for a detailed list of volunteer opportunities. You can also purchase a gift for a child from the wish list HERE, and it will be shipped directly to Elf Louise; or you can buy a wish list item elsewhere and drop it off at any of the locations listed HERE. *Donation dates vary by location.

Family Services Association Adopt-A-Family

In 2014, more than 220 sponsors/adopters, 595 volunteer gift wrappers, and 200 other volunteers offered care and holiday support to 450+ Family Service Association clients—more than 1,800 children, parents, and seniors. This holiday season, you and your family can sign up to sponsor/adopt a family in need. A representative from Family Services Association will match you with a family and provide you specific details about each family member and his/her wish list for the holidays. Click HERE for more information to register to Adopt-A-Family.

Family Violence Prevention Services’ Nutcracker Sweets (Benefiting the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter)

A San Antonio tradition for many years, Nutcracker Sweets is an extravaganza of holiday desserts and savory items prepared by some of San Antonio’s most celebrated chefs, caterers, and ice cream artisans. The event will be held on Monday, December 14th from 5:30–8:30 P.M. at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts (100 Auditorium Circle, San Antonio, TX 78205). Tickets are $50 for adults and $25 for kids ages 13–17); admission is free for kids 12 and younger. Click HERE for more information and to purchase tickets.

If you are interested in volunteering for the event, please contact Family Violence Prevention Services, Inc. at (210) 852-1234.

Gotcha Covered Collection Drive (Benefiting Haven for Hope, SA Food Bank, and the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter)

Donation trucks will be on hand Sunday, December 6th at the Park North Shopping Center (842 NW Loop 410 at Blanco Road, San Antonio, TX 78216) to collect much-needed items for families in need. Click HERE for a list of items requested by the charities.

H-E-B Feast of Sharing

The H-E-B Feast of Sharing is an annual community event held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center that provides holiday meals to hungry, lonely, elderly, or indigent individuals and families. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, December 19 from 11:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. Volunteers are the key to bringing the magic to this wonderful event! Registration is required for all volunteers, and some age limits apply. Click HERE for more information and to register.

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Morgan’s Wonderland

Why not enjoy some time outdoors volunteering at Morgan’s Wonderland, where everyone can play, learn, and enjoy some holiday cheer? Volunteers are essential to the success of Morgan’s Wonderland, as it depends on the generosity of its volunteer family to help keep the park an economical and safe place for everyone to enjoy. Click HERE to learn more. *Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age or 14 with a parent/guardian.

Salvation Army Angel Tree Toy Shop

Take part in a Christmas miracle! The Salvation Army is seeking volunteers to help set up the Toy Shop. Duties include organizing/sorting gifts by age group and packing all donated gifts to be distributed to specific children. Volunteers are needed December 7–18, Monday–Saturday, from 9:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. Click HERE to for more information on how to volunteer. *Volunteers must be at least 14 years of age.

SAMMinistries

Help make holiday wishes come true by sponsoring a child. This year SAMMinistries needs your help to provide holiday gifts to more than 500 children who have experienced homelessness. Click HERE to learn more and sponsor a child.

Volunteers are needed to assemble and organize Christmas gifts for the children of SAMMinistries’ housing programs Monday, December 7–Friday, December 11 from 8:00 A.M.–6:00 P.M., and Saturday, December 12 from 1:00–3:00 P.M.

Volunteers are also needed to wrap gifts at the gift wrapping party on Saturday, December 12th from 9:00 A.M.–1:00 P.M. *Please bring your own wrapping paper, tape, scissors, and anything else you need to wrap a gift. SAMMinistries will provide the gifts to be wrapped, Christmas music, and holiday cheer! Click HERE for more information and to RSVP for the gift wrapping party.

SAReads Holiday Book Drive at Barnes & Noble

Help SAReads collect 10,000 new books for disadvantaged children in Bexar County by volunteering for two hours at a local Barnes & Noble store. The SAReads Holiday Book Drive will take place the first three weekends in December. Click HERE to register to volunteer.

Seton Home Angel Tree

The Annual Angel Tree Program is a way to plant the seed for establishing positive family traditions by helping to purchase and wrap items for moms and their children at the Cottages of Seton Home. You and your family can sign up to receive one or more ornaments with a recommended gift item for a Seton Home mom or baby. The suggested value of each ornament is less than $25. Click HERE to sign up to receive an ornament. *All gift items due December 7th.

Toys for Tots

Volunteers are needed to help pick up toy collection boxes throughout the San Antonio area, count and sort toys, fill toy requests, assist in the check-in process, and at times assist the coordinator with toy purchasing events. Click HERE to register to become a volunteer for Toys for Tots.

New and unwrapped toys or monetary donations will be accepted through December 17th and will help to assist families in the local area. Click HERE to locate a drop-off location near you in the San Antonio metro area.

Christin
Christin is a wife who is desperately learning to cook for a husband who LOVES to cook. She’s the mother of big brother T & little sister C and two yellow labs, Duke & Delta. Christin is the middle sister of three girls who are the best of friends and talk a million times a day. She was born in Houston but grew up in San Antonio. Christin likes to say she’s Texas born but SOONER bred. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, she returned home to San Antonio in February 2006, where she met her husband just a few weeks later. She has always had a small crush on photography but over the past few years it has developed into a love affair. In her spare time she loves to photograph and write about her little world on her blog Growing Up Gish!