Raise your holiday spirit
With these volunteer opportunities, you can make this the most wonderful time of the year for others, and yourself
Adult Day Care Center of Las Vegas
Purpose: Provides support to senior citizens and their caregivers by a team of professionals that help families avoid or postpone nursing-home admission by bridging the gap between home and nursing-home care.
Needs: Volunteers to visit and assist clients, provide entertainment, event planning, fundraising, construction, facilities or other support, lead a class or serve on a committee.
Volunteer: (702) 648-3425, adultdaycarelv.org
Aid for AIDS of Nevada
Purpose: Provides medical case management, medical transportation, education and prevention, housing and nutritional services for adults and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Nevada.
Needs: Donations of new, unwrapped children’s toys and games for children up to 15 for its annual Kid’s Toy Drive, and volunteers to assist with gift-wrapping and annual Kids’ Holiday Party benefitting children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.
Volunteer: (702) 382-2326, afanlv.org
Baby’s Bounty
Purpose: Provides new and gently used infant clothing and gear to babies born to victims of domestic abuse, teen mothers and low-income families.
Needs: Volunteers to help collect, sort, clean and prepare clothing donations and fill diaper bags with receiving blankets, bottles, toiletries and any other vital equipment for distribution.
Volunteer: (702) 485-2229, babysbounty.org
Best Buddies Nevada (5)
Purpose: Creates opportunities for friendships through socialization programs; job coaching; and tools in leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Needs: Individuals in corporate and civic communities, colleges, high schools and middle schools to develop a friendship with a Best Buddies participant, as well as those who’d like to become an email pen pal with a Best Buddies participant.
Volunteer: (702) 822-2268, bestbuddiesnevada.org
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada
Purpose: This donor- and volunteer-supported mentoring network provides children facing adversity with enduring, professionally supported positive relationships that have a direct effect on their lives.
Needs: Volunteers to shape a child’s future by enjoying fun activities together such as playing sports, hiking, reading, etc.
Volunteer: (702) 731-2227, bbbsn.org
Blind Center of Nevada
Purpose: Assists the blind and visually impaired by focusing on personal development, social interaction and meaningful employment.
Needs: Volunteers to greet and welcome members, serve lunch, shop and help with various daily programs and activities, such as ceramics, music, keyboarding and more.
Volunteer: (702) 642-6000, blindcenter.org
Clark County READS
Purpose: An initiative of The Public Education Foundation, Clark County READS offers literacy programs to children and families to improve student attitudes toward reading.
Needs: Volunteers to provide reading tutoring for struggling students, help with general clerical work and pick up and deliver books.
Volunteer: (702) 799-1042, thepef.org
Goodie Two Shoes Foundation
Purpose: Provides disadvantaged children and children in crisis with new shoes and socks, as well as other items deemed essential for good health and positive development.
Needs: Volunteers to staff two or three distribution events per month during the school year, assist participating children in their selection of a properly fitted pair of shoes and complete distribution process. Minor volunteers ages 13-17 accompanied by an adult to assist with backpacks, lunch, etc.
Volunteer: (702) 617-4027, goodietwoshoes.org
Help of Southern Nevada
Purpose: Assists more than 1,200 families to receive a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and more than 19,000 children in need to receive holiday gifts through its three signature programs: Adopt-A-Family, Turkey-A-Thon and Toy Drive/Holiday Assistance.
Needs: Volunteers to adopt a family for the holidays, provide toy donations or donations of turkey and food/nonperishables.
Volunteer: (702) 369-4357, helpsonv.org
Jewish Family Service Agency
Purpose: Supports people of all backgrounds by providing professional social services, including counseling, senior services, adoptions and emergency assistance.
Needs: Volunteers to assist with daily administrative tasks, food panty, driving seniors and more, as well as to help with several events and fundraisers throughout the year.
Volunteer: (702) 794-0304, jfsalv.org
Lutheran Social Services of Nevada
Purpose: Provides professional social services to people of all backgrounds, including counseling, senior services, adoptions and emergency assistance.
Needs: Volunteers to help assemble and distribute Thanksgiving dinners to seniors and families in need; for Christmas Adopt-A-Family program; sponsors to support an individual or family in need by purchasing gift items on a supplied wish list; and volunteers to help organize and distribute the gifts. Ongoing, volunteers to work in the emergency services food pantry; assist in office answering phones, determining client eligibility for services, entering client information into the record-keeping system and general duties such as data entry, bookkeeping, filing, copying, etc.; clean the pantry and offices; perform maintenance at housing units and keep the grounds clean; work at one of numerous holiday food drives assembling and delivering baskets; and fundraise in support of numerous programs.
Volunteer: (702) 639-1730 ext. 510, lssnv.org
Marine Toys for Tots
Purpose: Collects new, unwrapped toys and distributes them as Christmas gifts to needy children to send them a message of hope.
Needs: Toy donations and volunteers to assist in the transportation and storage of donated toys; to provide warehouse assistance; to help with meals and more.
Volunteer: (702) 632-1520, las-vegas-nv.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/local-contact-us.aspx
Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth
Purpose: Provides youth services, including street outreach, 24-hour crisis intervention, full-time drop-in center and independent-living program.
Needs: Feel Good Fridays volunteers to set up a table and hand out information about Safe Place, NPHY programs and other community resources that can help end homelessness, homemade goodies, toiletries, snack food items, water, lip balm, lotion, soap, shampoo and other basic need necessities; volunteers to canvass neighborhood and pass out informational flyers about events and other NPHY services.
Volunteer: (702) 383-1332, nphy.org
Opportunity Village
Purpose: Serves people with severe intellectual and related disabilities by providing vocational training, community employment, day services, advocacy, arts and social recreation to help them seek independence.
Needs: Volunteers to work with men and women with intellectual disabilities or assist with one of the organization’s events, including its largest, the Magical Forest, which requires 70-90 volunteers, such as ticket takers, food and beverage servers, forest greeters, elves, train conductor and more, nightly for the 50-day event.
Volunteer: (702) 259-3741, opportunityvillage.org
The Ronald McDonald House of Greater Las Vegas
Purpose: Provide lodging, transportation and support to families while their children receive medical treatment.
Needs: Volunteers to help with cleaning and organizing of house, family transportation, office work, building and grounds maintenance, hospital lunch program, dinner program, weekend breakfast program and clean up, special events, professional services and Wish List Drives.
Volunteer: (702) 252-4663, rmhlv.com
The Salvation Army
Purpose: Offers adult rehabilitation, emergency disaster, family, homeless, human-trafficking victim and veteran services, as well as vocational, prayer requests, summer camp and youth club programs.
Needs: Volunteers to sort and wrap donated Christmas gifts. Ongoing, to unpack, sort, store and bag food pantry donations; wallpaper, paint and clean kitchen; provide and install updated kitchen equipment, including ice dispenser, sneeze guards and so on; paint common areas, halls, lobby and bathrooms; sort, organize and pack donated items; build shelving, wooden racks and wood bins for storage; organize two clothing rooms; provide and install additional landscaping for patio and playground areas; provide shade cover over playgrounds; visit senior care centers; serve food, pass out cups and utensils and help clean up at community homeless meals.
Volunteer: (702) 870-4430, salvationarmysouthernnevada.org
The Shade Tree
Purpose: Provides a safe shelter for homeless and abused women and children in crisis, and offers life-changing services promoting stability, dignity and self-reliance.
Needs: Volunteers to help prepare and serve daily dinners, tutor, organize art and craft projects, sort donated items, provide transportation to appointments, help with cleaning, paint and do yard work, and assist with special events.
Volunteer: (702) 385-0072, theshadetree.org
Spread the Word Nevada
Purpose: Advances early childhood literacy by giving books to children in at-risk, low-income communities.
Needs: Volunteers to clean books, become a Books & mentor, reading companion and “model” providing individualized attention, help with Breakfast with Books event setup, sign-in and distribution of snack and books, assist with storytelling or lend a hand at one of many community events.
Volunteer: (702) 564-7809, spreadthewordnevada.org
St. Jude’s Ranch for Children
Purpose: Transforms the lives of abused, neglected and at-risk children, young adults and families through residential foster care; pregnant and parenting teen, transitional living, housing and services for homeless 18 to 25 year olds, child-focused sibling preservation, emergency placement and USDA child-nutrition programs.
Needs: Donations of holiday decorations, such as light-up figurines, prelit trees, garland; and volunteers with tools to hang lights and decorate the outdoors of the ranch for Christmas on Nov. 17.
Volunteer: (702) 294-7152, stjudesranch.org
YMCA
Purpose: Provides personal and social change through Christian principles and opportunities to learn, grow and thrive side-by-side, regardless of age, income or background.
Needs: Volunteers to assist in the sorting and wrapping of toy donations, set up the facility for its annual Reindeer Rock event and distribute toys at the event. Ongoing, volunteers to lead the board of directors and committees; raise funds; coach sports teams and teach classes; motivate youth to build skills and relationships that lead to positive behaviors, better health and higher education; help adults who want to do more and live healthier.
Volunteer: Las Vegas: Centennial Hills, (702) 478-9622, Durango Hills, (702) 240-9622, Bill and Lillie Heinrich, (702) 877-9622; North Las Vegas: SkyView, (702) 522-7500, ymca.net