Ways to Give Back this Holiday Season
Meals on Wheels • Drive a Senior • Brown Santa •
Giving Tree at St. Andrew’s • Cold Weather Shelter at St. Andrew’s •
St. Andrew’s Food Pantry
To learn more about any of these programs,
Meals on Wheels
It is a gift to serve, and a rare chance to directly help individuals in your community one meal at a time. The holiday season is when Meals on Wheels has their greatest need, since many of their regular volunteers go out of town on vacation.
The training video is short and after that, you can pick up meals for delivery at a convenient location. When a substitute driver is needed, Meals on Wheels will contact you in the morning and ask if you’re available that day. If you can deliver, they’ll give you the route details. If you’re not available, just let them know! It’s that simple!
Visit https://www.mealsonwheelscentraltexas.org/ or call 512-476-MEAL(6325) or for more information.
Drive a Senior/Senior Access
Thinking about helping others? Have a little extra time this holiday season? Want a flexible volunteer schedule? We need YOU! You can choose when, where, and how you volunteer. Drive a Senior (DaS) is a community non-profit that provides free transportation to seniors who no longer drive. We are looking for volunteer drivers and people who can help with client phone calls/scheduling. Contact us and help a neighbor remain independent. Visit driveasenior.org or email volunteer@senioraccesstx.org (WB/RR/P’ville areas) or call 512-310-1060 to find out how you can help!
Travis County Brown Santa
Help spread the joy of Christmas by donating or volunteering with Brown Santa. Visit their website for more information and donation suggestions by age at https://www.brownsanta.org/. You can also call 512-24-SANTA (512-247-2682), or email tcbrownsanta1@brownsanta.org to volunteer or donate.
Donation barrels are available at the Wells Branch Rec. Center on Shoreline through December 13. Donation bins will also be available at the Community Center & Homestead for Luminary Fest, December 9 & 10. Unopened non-perishable foods and new toys are appreciated!
Giving Tree at St. Andrew’s
St. Andrew’s partners with the Workers Defense Project to provide holiday gifts to children who would receive nothing if not for this program. The congregation chooses a tag with a child’s name from the Giving Tree in the church, shops and wraps the gift, returns it to the church, then volunteers deliver the gifts to the families right before Christmas … the true spirit of giving. For information or to volunteer, contact Lisa Ward at givingtree@runward.com.
Volunteers Needed for St. Andrew’s Church’s Cold Weather Shelter
As winter approaches there is a need for providing shelter to those in need on evenings when a Cold Weather Shelter (CWS) is declared. On such evenings St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church opens its doors to provide hot meals, showers and shelter to those in need of such services. A wide range of volunteers are needed to meet those needs:
– Provide a meal for 8-12 people, either cooked at home and brought to the church or cooked and prepared at the church. Multiple people can provide parts of the meal: entrée, salad, or dessert.
– Servers to serve the food and clean up the kitchen afterwards
– Volunteers to sleep over night at the church
– Volunteers to clean up the church the next morning
If you’d like to volunteer to help with the CWS at St. Andrew’s or wish to get more information, please contact Mary Graf at: Mary_Graf@att.net. Please put “CWS“ in the subject line and state the area(s) in which you are interested.
Volunteers & Donations Needed
for St. Andrew’s Food Pantry
St. Andrew’s offers a Food Pantry the 2nd & 4th Saturday of every month (but NOT the 4th Saturdays in November & December) from 9:00am to Noon. They partner with the Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) and Austin Diaper Bank and serve a variety of clients from the surrounding area who face food insecurity. A light snack is served while clients wait their turn to shop with their guide for packaged food, fresh fruit & vegetables, milk, bread, eggs, seasonal offerings from the St. Andrew’s garden, dry pet food, and toiletries, in addition to child & adult diapers. Volunteers are needed for a variety of jobs at each Food Pantry on Saturday morning as well as picking up food from CTFB and preparing for the Food Pantry on Fridays and picking up diapers from Austin Diaper Bank. Anyone interested in volunteering, should contact Laura at: landsmanlaura@gmail.com
Donations of canned and dry goods to the St. A’s food pantry are always welcome. Proteins such as canned tuna and peanut butter and boxed milk (no refrigeration needed) are in high demand as are soups, vegetables, rice and beans. Donations may be deposited in the box outside the Wells Branch Library or can be dropped off at St. Andrew’s Monday—Friday from 9am to 4pm.