Five fun ways to volunteer over this Christmas in Bucks County... and hang with horses
Many of us want to give back at the holidays, though not all can afford to give money.
Fortunately, a handful of area nonprofit organizations offer opportunities to be charitable without whipping out the checkbook.
Here's a look at some of the ways you can give back this season without opening your wallet:
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How to volunteer with United Way
At Bristol Pike and Route 413, volunteers are folding clothes, sorting toys, and arranging kitchenware.
In Bristol, the HELP center is a faux retail store and volunteers labor to create the most natural shopping experience for visitors who cannot afford to buy food, clothes, and other items.
Some volunteers spend an afternoon folding and sorting children's clothing. Others help unload boxes and stock shelves of donated food. The more aestheticly-inclined set up up holiday displays of Christmas lights, dancing Santas, and ― of course ― toys.
The HELP Center was opened at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Bucks County Opportunity Council, Saint Mary Medical Center, and the United Way. Many of the products are donated by area stores. The center is a 8,000-square-foot storefront in the Bristol Commerce Park. Struggling families are asked to make an appointment with the United Way and can pickup everything from cleaning supplies, clothes, personal hygiene products, and food.
For more information about the HELP Center, visit UWBucks.org To volunteer, contact Sheri Ratner at sherir@uwbucks.org
Meals on wheels in Bucks County
Every week, more than 400 volunteers deliver free meals to thousands of older residents in Bucks County who can't get to the grocery store. To participate, you must have your own car and a valid drivers license.
The Bucks County Area Agency of Agency, a government program, asks that volunteers be available for at least 90 minutes one day per week. The government provides a mileage reimbursement to help with your travel costs. The hours are from 10 a.m. to noon on weekdays.
Most of the clients are in Bensalem, Falls, and Lower Southampton. For more information, visit the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging or call 267-880-5700.
Drive a golf cart at Grand View hospital
Grand View Health needs volunteers to provide emotional support in the emergency room, help manage the hospitals "Recovery Room Thrift Shop," and drive golf carts.
Golf cart drivers transfer patients to wings of the hospital and vehicles in the parking lot.
The 200-bed nonprofit hospital is located Sellersville and regularly posts volunteer opportunities at VolunteerMatch.com
Shelter the homeless in Bucks County
On the coldest nights of the season, volunteers are needed to drive buses and transport the homeless to temporary shelters for a warm meal and soft cot.
The Coalition to Shelter and Support the Homeless will host online and in-person training events for drivers to assist with transport in some of the most rural spaces of Bucks County, where it can be nearly impossible to reach a shelter via public transport.
Temporary shelters operate from churches in central Bucks County between December and March. For more information, visit www.co2ssh.org
Care for therapeutic horses
In 1998, Regina and Lee Graser created the Ivy Hill Foundation, a therapeutic equestrian center, for their autistic son. Twenty five years later, the nonprofit continues to seek volunteers to help tend the barns, feed, and work with the horses.
Hundreds of kids with mental and physical disabilities ride the horses off Mill Road in Perkasie. In addition to barn duty, you can volunteer to work with the children and help them become more comfortable around the horses. Equestrian volunteers are asked to help for about three hours a week.
The organization said it helps build the confidence of more than 100 children a year with the assistance of a dozen horses. The "barn staff supervisor" is an over-sized cat named Brookes.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Volunteering in Bucks County at Christmas with nonprofits
