The holidays are often a time to give thanks and to give back to one’s community. While there are many organizations where someone can donate or volunteer, here are four organizations that St. Louis teens can contribute this holiday season:

Ronald McDonald House 

Around the world, the Ronald McDonald House offers families a safe place to stay while their children undergo treatments at nearby hospitals. The Ronald McDonald House attempts to support these families by providing them with meals, place to sleep and somewhere to take care of household needs, so that they can concentrate all of their attention on helping their child get well. Additionally, there are Ronald McDonald Family Rooms in the hospitals, like the one in Mercy Children’s Hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

Nicki Island works at the Park Avenue location of the St. Louis Ronald McDonald Houses. As a receptionist and member of the House Operations Team, she answers calls, emails, doors, checks in families and maintains the waitlist.

“I see the relief of families who finally have a bed to sleep in and a comfortable place to stay,” Island said. 

With around 59 families in the house each night, and around 12,000 in the family rooms throughout the year, monetary donations are always encouraged and appreciated. The “Holiday Card Tribute Program” gives donors the opportunity to make donations in an individual’s honor or memory. Then, a little card in the shape of a heart with snowflakes is sent out with the message, “Happy Holidays,” to inform people of the donation given in their name. 

Additionally, non-monetary donations are also needed. Currently, the local Ronald McDonald houses are seeking new and unopened items, with the exception of Apple products, including: sweet snacks, lunch-size items, family-size high-efficiency laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, multi-purpose cleaner, disinfectant spray and dishwasher detergent.

People who stay at the Ronald McDonald house can also go to the McGift Shoppe during December, and are able to get no cost gifts for their family members during the holiday season. 

“Our families really enjoy getting to shop for their loved ones. Each family member gets to shop for one another and then wrap the gifts. It gives families a feeling of autonomy to be able to pick gifts and give them themselves instead of being given gifts from someone else…we need gifts for all age groups including adults,” Island said.

Items contributed to the McGift Shop must be new. There is also a holiday wish list, including musical toys, action figures, and gift cards to stores like Amazon, Target, iTunes and small crossbody purses. 

Lastly, community members may fill out an online application in order to volunteer for one of the Ronald McDonald Houses of St. Louis. People 18 and older may be house volunteers or family room volunteer. Those younger than 18 can collect Tab Tops, create different types of artwork like holiday cards and art for the table, blankets and help make dinner.

To donate to the St. Louis Ronald McDonald House Charities, go to rmhcstl.com and click on “Donate Now.” Donations can also be mailed to: 3450 Park Ave., St. Louis, 63104. To volunteer and for more information, go to rmhcstl.com. 

Heifer International

For over 70 years, Heifer International has provided 30 million families living in 125 countries with animals like goats, chickens, llamas and water buffalos. The organization donates other gifts to support irrigation and clean water, female education, vegetation growth and more. Heifer International also teaches people in the regions where donations are sent, how to utilize the resources, allowing them to become as successful and self-sufficient as possible.

Cindy Sellers Roach, a Community Engagement Manager for Heifer International, works in Little Rock, Arkansas at Heifer International’s global headquarters.

“Our goal is to help marginalized communities to achieve sustainable living incomes on their land and improve not only their income, but their environment,” Sellers Roach said.

Donors can contribute money, pick an animal or choose other gifts to donate, and if they choose to, they may honor a holiday of their choice at the same time. These gifts are all sent to where they have the greatest need, out of Heifer International’s numerous projects. Some of these project locations include Bangladesh, Bolivia, Honduras, Senegal, Ukraine, the United States and Zambia. In addition, honor cards can be sent to inform people if a donation has been made in his or hers name.

“Any gift to support our work at any time is so appreciated,” Sellers Roach said. However, the end-of-year holiday season is so important for many people of various traditions, and as a result it is, of course, a vitally important time for us when generous gift-givers include us in their shopping list. Much of our work throughout the year is funded by giving during this time of year.

The structure at Heifer International includes the 12 Cornerstones. Designed to equip participants in the projects with the skills to better their lives and positively change their communities, the Cornerstones are spelled out in the acronym, “PASSING GIFTS.”

“We have developed the 12 Cornerstones as key values that have to be included in order for a group to be successful…Passing on the Gift [one of the Cornerstones] has the awesome effect of making our recipients into donors, and that is a very dignifying thing for them – they are a part of the solution. It also strengthens communities for their members to assist each other and plan together for the sharing of the gifts of not only animals, but also training,” Sellers Roach said.

In order to sustain the wellbeing of the recipients and the project where the donations are sent, Heifer International supports a boost of women’s rights and roles, food security and nutrition as well as social capital, that is the cooperation of people working together to enhance the economy and social relations.

Heifer International also welcomes volunteers. People may visit the learning center farms in Arkansas and Massachusetts. Also, volunteers may hold personal fundraisers, with sponsors, to raise money or with silent auctions within high schools.

“Young people are creative and excellent ambassadors for our work,” Sellers Roach said.

Finally, Heifer International strongly believes in the importance of progress. For this reason, projects are continuously monitored, in order to ensure a well run model.

“I love where I work. I love that our model works, that we really help people help themselves…we have incredibly talented people in every country where we work that know how to make the lives of their people better, and we get to help it happen. That’s pretty exciting,” Sellers Roach said.

To Donate to Heifer International, visit https://www.heifer.org, and choose the “Gift Catalog” tab. Then, you can either choose to donate an animal, to promote women’s empowerment, to support sustainable farming, to fund a project, to provide basic needs, buy a gift card, or let Heifer choose where your monetary donation is needed most. For each gift of $10 or more, you may request an Honor Card be sent to your family and friends. Donations may also be made for a certain holiday, more information can be found by clicking on “Gift Catalog,” and “Holidays.”

St. Louis World Food Day

St. Louis World Food Day is an organization whose primary purpose is to diminish world hunger. The organization collects donations throughout the year and holds an annual food packaging event, sending thousands of packaged meals to Tanzania, Africa, where an estimated 1,000 people per day are fed, in a school-based feeding program, for approximately one year. Meals are also distributed locally to feed hungry families.

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center held the first St. Louis food packaging event to honor World Food Day in 2010. However, after learning that the 2012 event was no longer going to be held, Donald Soffer, a junior board member of the Danforth Center, and his family decided to take over. The Soffers established St. Louis World Food Day, Inc. in 2012, with the mission to, “Feed the Hungry; To Educate About Hunger; and To Empower People to Take Action to Alleviate Hunger.”

“Since 2012, over 2.2 million meals have been distributed to local and international communities, helping to feed hundreds of thousands of people in need,” Mary Beth Soffer, treasurer and secretary of St. Louis World Food Day, Inc., said.

This year’s event was held just over a month ago on Friday, November 3rd, 2017. Together, over 2,000 people from the St. Louis area, joined together to package a record 505,806 meal packages. Each meal package has the capability of providing a well balanced meal for six children or four adults.

“Registration for St. Louis World Food Day 2017 opened on August 1st and, by early October, the event sold out,” Soffer said.

Each meal package either contains whole wheat macaroni & cheese with vitamins or rice grown in Missouri, dried vegetables, soy protein and a vitamin and mineral packet. Each packaged meal costs around 25 cents.

“Registration fees ($20 adults; $10 students) along with donations from individuals and corporations are used to offset the cost of the meal ingredients (our largest expense each year). Given that the cost of each meal is 25 cents, every dollar raised has a big impact. The generosity of area corporations, charitable foundations, and individuals make it possible for us to pay for the meals assembled each year. Our organization is 100% volunteer driven and has no paid staff,” Soffer said.

Donations made throughout this holiday season or the months leading up to St. Louis World Food Day 2018 will help fund the event.

“During the holiday season, life is even more challenging for people who are hungry. For people experiencing food insecurity, buying presents or gathering together for celebrations often isn’t an option…the effort and hard work of many packagers and volunteers, along with our corporate sponsors, have helped to make the holidays brighter for many people in need,” Soffer said.

While there are only a certain number of volunteers who can participate in the actual packaging event each year, Leadership Volunteers are always needed. They may sign up for four hour shifts, during which time they help to set up, greet people, restock supplies and otherwise support packaging the meals. Both packagers and Leadership Volunteers have crucial roles in making St. Louis World Food Day a success.

“My favorite part about the St. Louis World Food Day is witnessing people of all ages, from all walks of life, joining together in service to help people in need. The energy in the Packaging Center is inspiring and everyone has a great time participating in a fun team-building experience that has a measurable impact,” Soffer said.

Anyone can make a tax-deductible gift by going to the stlwfd.org website, and clicking on “Donate Now.” One can also send a check made out to St. Louis World Food Day, Inc. to the address: St. Louis World Food Day, P.O. Box 31156, St. Louis, MO 63131. All donations are helpful, of any amount. To become a volunteer for St. Louis World Food Day, from the website please select “Get Involved,” and choose which role in which you would like to participate. 

Greater St. Louis Book Fair

Each year, the Greater St. Louis Book Fair sells books, movies, music, and more at its annual fair. The proceeds earned go towards helping non-profit education and literacy programs.

Donated items, which are sold at the event and are tax-deductible, include some of the following: hardback books, paperback books, CDs and DVDs, comics, graphic novels, records, and limited magazines. These items must be either unused, lightly used, in good condition, or “rare and best loved treasures.”

Marilyn Brown, has been a member of the Greater St. Louis Book Fair Board for nine years. Brown helps organize volunteers at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair warehouse and has also co-chaired the event in the past.

“We hold one event each year, and we are the largest charity used book sale in the midwest…this is our only event, and it’s huge.” said Brown.

In order for this event to be successful, volunteers are needed to fulfill various roles, including: greeters, baggers, setup and cleanup duty, and more.

Donations enable the Greater St. Louis Book Fair to hold its annual event. In 2018, the 69th Book Fair will be held in the Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Queeny Park, May 3rd-6th.

“I really enjoy watching people at Book Fair find something they really want to read. And it’s especially gratifying to see children devouring books at Book Fair,” Brown said.

Proceeds from the event are then donated to non-profit education and literacy programs, which aid in helping to expand educational opportunities to a variety of organizations, including: Ready Readers, Cardinal Ritter Senior Services, MindsEye, Books for STL Kids and many more.

“All donations come from the St. Louis community, and all the money we make at Book Fair is returned to that same generous community,” Brown said.

People can donate their items to the “Little Book Houses” at a variety of locations, including those in Clayton,  St. Louis Galleria, South County Center and West St. Louis County. More details on the precise location of these houses can be found on http://www.stlouisbookfair.org.