Sacramento, the helping season is upon us. ‘There’s something for everyone to do’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- South Sacramento Christian Center reports sharp rise in weekly food recipients.
- HandsOn Sacramento and partners connect volunteers to hundreds of local shifts.
- Organizations list roles from sorting and stocking to event shifts and gift wrapping.
At South Sacramento Christian Center on Stockton Boulevard the work is ongoing and so is the need. Every Saturday, the ministry’s food distribution program is a vital lifeline for thousands of families and seniors, especially during this year’s challenging holiday season.
Shaken by a just-ended federal shutdown and inflation’s rising prices, more Sacramento-area residents are grabbing onto lifelines like the center’s and more hands are needed to help their neighbors through the holidays and beyond. The strain has shown in the numbers coming to the center for groceries. Anywhere from 50 to 100 new people have been coming to the Saturday distributions in recent weeks, said church officials.
“We’re seeing a peak in family numbers,” said Cynthia Parker, who administers the free food distribution program at South Sacramento Christian Center. “The need is pretty great right now.”
Asked what South Sacramento Christian Center could use to keep its lifeline of food and services flowing this holiday season, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Parker’s answer was clear.
“We can use hands,” she said. “We can use volunteers. There’s something for everyone to do.”
The next distribution begins 8:30 a.m. Saturday at the center, 7710 Stockton Blvd. Volunteers report 6:30 a.m. for a tour of the center and the distribution operation. Tasks are handed out and the work begins.
“We do our distribution here every week rain or shine. Volunteers are key to the operational demand of a distribution like this,” said Lesley Simmons, the center’s pastor and distribution program director. “We can always use volunteers.”
The helpful connection
Sacramentans want to help. It’s easy to see in the storefronts that turned to food pantries during the 50-day federal shutdown. We’ll see it again Thanksgiving morning when thousands of runners take to the streets for the annual Sacramento Food Bank Run to Feed the Hungry; and in the faith groups, community organizations and nonprofits that give of themselves to support others across the region this holiday season.
Sacramento needs volunteers. That’s easy to see, too. And, it’s just as easy to become one during the holidays.
Pastor Simmons posted his request for extra hands to The Regional Center for Volunteerism — HandsOn Sacramento. Its HandsOnSacto.org website is a meeting site for all things volunteering in the Sacramento area.
The site was created in 1998, its founders said, as a response to the community’s need for a “full-service volunteer action center.” Today, HandsOn Sacramento serves Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo and Nevada counties with more than 8,000 registered volunteers and more than 450 nonprofit organizations.
The site connects people to volunteer opportunities, matching them online; trains nonprofits to help them ensure their volunteers have more positive experiences and better meet the needs of their communities; and coordinates yearly “Days of Service” events gathering hundreds of volunteers to help nonprofit organizations in need. A running calendar online shows day-to-day listings of volunteer opportunities.
The volunteer portals
HandsOn is but one Sacramento-area organization that matches volunteers to needs. Check the volunteer portal on websites across the region from United Way California Capital Region to Loaves and Fishes and Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services to regional philanthropy partner Sacramento Region Community Foundation for ways to give back this season.
Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services has an online shift schedule for volunteers with nearly daily openings morning and afternoon for sorting and bagging at its North Sacramento campus, 1951 Bell Ave., as well as direct food distribution at sites across the Sacramento area through December. Check the schedule for details.
Sacramento Food Bank is a volunteer powerhouse — 900 volunteers donate some 2,700 combined hours each month, or more than 16 full-time employees, its officials said.
Volunteers must be at least 10 years old to participate. Those 10 to 15 years of age must have an adult chaperone. Those 15 to 17 years old must receive parental permission. Volunteers are not eligible to receive food bank goods or services.
And at the United Way, the organization is seeking volunteers for its Season of Giving Holiday Market 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 20, at In-Shape Family Fitness, 3880 Innovator Drive, Sacramento. At the holiday event co-sponsored by In-Shape, local families browse the market to pick up toys, food and household items and for families to pick up holiday gifts for their children.
The United Way has volunteer openings for holiday market shoppers, stockers, face painters, gift wrappers and people to help distribute food for the December event.
The Sacramento women’s support organization Women’s Empowerment helps unhoused women get the skills they need to get back on their feet and find a home.
The group is looking for volunteer craft table hosts and assistants, along with toy room and gift wrapping room assistants and general volunteers for its annual Holiday Craft Party, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Dec. 13, at Capitol Plaza Building, 1025 Ninth St., No. 201, Sacramento.
The Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s site links to its nonprofit database, GivingEdge, the website behind the foundation’s annual Big Day of Giving for local nonprofit organizations, to find yet more volunteer opportunities.
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