Call to Action - December 1, 2023
Greetings, Prince William -Volunteer Prince William is working hard on Untrim a Tree, which provides gifts for children attending Title I schools in the community, along with Senior Baskets for homebound senior citizens. We have over 1,300 children still waiting on Santa, but you can help! An online donor form can be filled out at https://bit.ly/3QcHLYH. New location this year: Prince William County Fairgrounds; donation drop-off dates are December 10 (9am-8pm), and December 11-12 (12pm-8pm). Please email utat@volunteerprincewilliam.org for more information. Other Untrim a Tree volunteer opportunities:
- Volunteers age 16+ are needed to sort and organize toys delivered from Toys for Tots December 6 and 7, 9am-7pm each day at the Prince William County Fairgrounds. Volunteers age 16+ welcome, volunteers under 16 are welcome to volunteer with a parent or responsible adult. Any time you can volunteer December 6 and/or 7 is acceptable, and credit for service hours will be available. Just a couple of hours will do much to make Christmas happen for a vulnerable child! Please email jhawkins@volunteerprincewilliam.org to sign up and learn more.
- Volunteers age 16+ (under 16 welcome with a parent or responsible adult) are needed to sort toys December 10 thru 12 at Prince William County Fairgrounds. Jobs include accepting donations, sorting toys and placing Senior Baskets in their correct storage place. Credit for service hours are available! Please visit the Elf Helper Sign Up Genius page at https://bit.ly/3sDthrK to register.
- Volunteers age 16+ (under 16 welcome with a parent or responsible adult) are also needed to help deliver Senior Baskets the morning of December 13 to the Woodbridge and Manassas Senior Centers. Duties include loading the baskets/gift bags in your vehicle, driving to the appropriate senior center and unloading/placing the items where directed by senior center staff. You can get service hours credit for this and make a Joyful Christmas happen for a senior who may have no one to visit them over the holidays! Please visit the Senior Basket Delivery Sign Up Genius page at https://bit.ly/3QIohdl to register.
Other volunteer opportunities:
- Spread holiday cheer with Boxes of Basics! You can make local children's holidays brighter by sponsoring a Box of Basics clothing. All items go to children in need, referred by local school social workers, other nonprofits and community organizations. Your generosity can help multiple kids. It's super easy: 1) Visit https://bit.ly/3MCjEA7; 2) Select a size/gender of Boxes of Basics and sign up; 3) Use the shopping list provided to help fill a box; 4) Deliver your unwrapped items at one of their convenient donation sites by December 20. You'll feel great knowing your purchases will help a child meet their basic clothing needs! Please visit https://boxesofbasics.org/clothing-donations for a list of donation sites.
- The holidays can be difficult and sad for those who have family members dealing with life-threatening/advanced illness, or hospice care. You and your family can brighten up the holidays for these patients and their caregivers by assembling and donating Holiday Stockings to Capital Caring Health. It's so easy, simply visit the dollar store to collect items such as word puzzle games, wrapped candies, non-skid socks and more. Let your creativity flow and your donation will help make this dark period a little brighter for these clients and family members. Please visit https://bit.ly/3RnNECI for a list of suggested items and more details. Please email swhite1@capitalcaring.org to learn more.
- The Prince William County Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta invites children in grades K-12 to participate in the 2024 MLK Community Choir! The choir is scheduled to perform at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Program on January 15, 2024. It's not too late to join - interested Prince William County, Manassas City, and Manassas Park youth can register at https://bit.ly/3sQ7PQu. Rehearsals have started, other dates are December 13, January 12 and January 15. Please email at HancockM@pwcs.edu for more information.
- Calling All Elves! The folks at House of Mercy are converting their facility into Santa's Workshop and will be providing toys to over 1,000 children as part of their Christmas with Mercy Lots of Volunteer Elves are needed to make this a successful event, December 7 thru 16. Volunteers age 16+ are needed; volunteers age 12 thru 15 are welcome to volunteer with a parent or guardian. You'll be full of the holiday spirit as you make a Merry Christmas possible for these vulnerable children and their families! Please visit https://bit.ly/3MT1HOd to sign up and learn more.
- We know it's the holidays, but the staff at PWC Department of Social Services is already looking ahead to the annual Point in Time Count, January 24 at 7pm, & ending on January 25 by 2pm. Volunteers age 18+ are needed to help conduct surveys with persons actively experiencing homelessness throughout the county as well as the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. Be prepared for being outside at night and in cold weather conditions, be comfortable with technology and attend required training, date/time TBA. Registration ends December 5 at 11:30pm, please visit https://bit.ly/3uEZ783 for registration and details, email homelessservices@pwcgov.org for more information.
- Celebrate the holidays by supporting the Town of Dumfries Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 9! Volunteers age 18+ are needed to help with the check-in and line-up of parade participants, helping with the spacing of the parade to ensure participants aren't following each other too closely and parking. Volunteers need to arrive at Potomac Valley Church, 1006 Williamstown Drive, Dumfries at 7am on December 9. Please email yragland@dumfriesva.gov or call 571.363.5200 to sign up and learn more.
- Remember our fallen veterans by participating in Wreaths Across America, being held December 17, 10am-3pm at Quantico National Cemetery. To participate in wreath laying, please visit https://bit.ly/47vLqGB to register. It's a wonderful way to honor our veterans and Remember, Honor and Teach their service and sacrifice to younger family members. Volunteers are also needed on December 16 and 17 to provide support to this event. Please visit https://bit.ly/46b0SHi to sign up. For more information, please email NOVAVETS.WAA@Novavets.Org.
- Quantico National Cemetery is in Urgent need of sponsored wreaths for this year's Wreaths Across America, as their normal supplier is no longer available. You can sponsor a wreath by visiting https://bit.ly/49wCuCL, then scroll down to the button marked Sponsor Wreaths. The wreaths are $17 and will be used at Quantico. It's a wonderful way to support this program, especially if you are unable to attend in person. Please email NOVAVETS.WAA@Novavets.Org to learn more.
If you are looking for other opportunities, please don't forget to call our wonderful team at Volunteer Prince William at 703.369.5292. You can also visit our website at www.volunteerprincewilliam.org. Thanks so much for all you do in our community.
