Growing up my dad was a volunteer for many organizations around the Omaha area. He was a Special Olympics basketball coach, he worked with Ollie Web’s Honey Sunday Program and volunteered with various special education groups. He loved volunteering, so much so that when he retired, he became a full time volunteer and even today is busier volunteering than he ever was at his regular job. He loves taking my oldest with him when he goes out to volunteer and I love listening to the many things my son has picked up on when being out in the community. I wanted to compile a list of local volunteer activities that families could do together. Thanksgiving is coming up and it’s a great time to start teaching our kiddos what they are thankful for and how they can help those in need.
- Salvation Army Bell Ringing – Pick a shift and ring those bells. All ages welcome as long as there is adult supervision for younger kiddos. https://www.registertoring.com/WebPages/Default.aspx
- Meals that Heal – Ronald McDonald House – Make a meal as a family that will be given to a family currently staying at the Ronald McDonald House. http://www.rmhcomaha.org/get-involved/provide-a-meal
- Keep Omaha Beautiful – there are a variety of ways that your family can help make a difference in our community by volunteering to help clean up parks and neighborhoods. http://www.keepomahabeautiful.org/what-we-do/programs/overview.html
- Open Door Mission – The ODM welcomes families and kiddos school age and up to help at their outreach center where members of their programs come to find clothing and home items. http://www.opendoormission.org/volunteer-walkins-welcome/
- Heartland Hope offers a variety of ways to help from cooking a meal for a family to helping in their food pantry. School aged kiddos are welcome with an adult. http://heartlandhopemission.org/volunteer/
- Christian Outreach Program Elkhorn is always looking for volunteers to sort clothes and help with the food pantry. COPE helps families throughout the metro who are struggling during a financial crisis. http://copeinfo.org/get-involved/
- Special Olympics of Nebraska loves having volunteers help during their games and tournaments – age requirements vary depending on the activity volunteering for. http://www.sone.org/get-involved/time/
- Omaha Public Libraries is always looking for an extra hand organizing and welcomes youth volunteers. https://omahalibrary.org/volunteer/