Happy Thanksgiving, Greater Washington! If you’re looking to support or volunteer with an organization in your neighborhood on this coming holiday weekend, we have the list for you. Check out what’s needed and what you can do at some of CFP’s human service nonprofits. (And we’ll be back to our regular GoodWorks programming on Monday)

Carpenter’s Shelter: Alexandria, VA

Each family, more than 100 in total, in the Aftercare program receives a basket full of essential ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner. Items needed range from boxes of stuffing to mashed potatoes to ziploc bags. Full list right here:

Doorways for Women and Families: Arlington, VA

Doorways, which strives to end domestic violence and homelessness, offers 6 ways to help out throughout this holiday season, including sponsoring a family and purchasing cards drawn by a child in the housing program.

FACETS Cares: Fairfax, VA

Seeking cooks for Turkeys and side dishes (ingredients provided) on November 22-24, volunteers to assemble and deliver food on Thanksgiving, AND food drive assistants that weekend! All info is right here.

Food for Others: Fairfax, VA

A full calendar of volunteer opportunities from 9 AM to 5 PM today and tomorrow includes directing truck traffic, sorting food, and distributing it to clients. Interested? Read the full schedule here or email nclifford@foodforothers.org.

Lorton Community Action Center: Lorton, VA

In serving clients of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, LCAC is not seeking the traditional American Thanksgiving provisions. A complete list is right here. The drop-off date was last Sunday, but give LCAC a call (contact info below) to see if they have everything that they need.

Manna Food Center: Gaithersburg, MD

Check out Channel 9′s report on Manna’s “need for turkeys” (and other protein items) from earlier this month. You can drop off food donations from 8 AM to 4 PM today and tomorrow, but locations are closed on Thursday.

Miriam’s Kitchen: Washington, DC

All volunteer spots are booked for Thanksgiving, but do check out the coverage of Miriam’s Kitchen on USA Today. This holiday, Miriam’s will be serving 150 homeless people its first all-organic or local Thanksgiving dinner (turkey included).

Our Daily Bread: Fairfax, VA

Every Saturday, November 5 through December 10, Our Daily Bread and Combined Properties host a fall food drive; full list of locations here. You also can sponsor a family through the holiday season.

Have a good weekend, Greater Washington! We have a bundle of events coming right up …

Help the Homeless Walkathon (National Mall between 9th and 12th Street)

On Saturday morning, join in the nation’s largest walk and benefit a CFP nonprofit: Samaritan Inns, The Dwelling Place, Miriam’s Kitchen, and Bright Beginnings are all taking part. Register here — it’s a great way to give back just before Thanksgiving.
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Welcome to mid-November! Just one week ago today, we introduced you to our new class of CFP nonprofits. So now, we’d like to show how you can learn even more about them online.

First, head to the “Our Nonprofits” section of the CFP homepage and click on any of the five categories. Let’s go with “Nature.” From there, let’s get to know one of our new organizations: Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment. And if you scroll down on ACE’s page, you will see this menu:

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Happy (almost) Halloween, Greater Washington! Before trick-or-treating on Monday, consider spending a weekend day with one of our non-profits. We have great events coming up at …

Earth Sangha (at Rocky Run Stream Valley Park, Awbrey Patent Drive, Centreville, VA)

Enrich this stream-buffer site with a planting of native wildflowers and other herbaceous & small woody plants around Rocky Run on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. More volunteer info available here.

Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture (at Glen Echo Park’s Bumper Car Pavilion, 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD)

“Fall Frolic” is a FREE public Halloween-themed festival on Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Activities include hands-on crafts, face painting, pumpkin decorating, costume parade, and studio visits. Full schedule right here.

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So … what would you like to do in this final weekend of September?

Support A Non-Profit:

Enjoy a Taste of Arts, complete with festive music and dancing, to benefit the Alzheimer’s Family Day Center tonight (Friday) at 6:00 at Westwood Country Club in Vienna. On Saturday at 6:30, ASHA for Women (Asian Women’s Self Help Association) hosts their annual gala dinner in Fairfax; learn about Hope Through Empowerment here. And on Sunday at 11:00, Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) will hold their 14th Annual Fall Brunch at the Mandarin Oriental in DC; you can support LGBTQ youth, who face discrimination everyday in their homes, schools and communities.

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By Jade Floyd

This is the second post in a two-part series by Jade Floyd. Ms. Floyd works in international public affairs in DC and serves on the Board of the DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative. Follow her on Twitter: @DcThisWeek. Read the first part of the series here.

Preparing for an international volunteer experience can be daunting. But paying for it is the hardest part — and once you have tackled that, you are well on your way. (And remember: keep all you receipts because many of these expenses can be tax deducible.) My program required nearly $6,000 when you factored in program fees, flights, buses, immuniztions, taxis, supplies, gifts for family and friends, hotels, guest houses, and gifts for myself. Luckily, I had a very good friend who worked for an airline, which made a major difference. You can also consider using your Airline miles or those of a family member or friend if they will donate them to your cause. Read all »

Hope that you enjoyed the fall weather this weekend! This month, let’s check out another cool feature of the online Catalogue: creating your own CFP account.

We’ve kept it nice and simple: you can sign up in one quick step (really — I just checked!) and you can let us know what interests you.?Moreover, when you sign up, you have access to some great features of our site:

– Saved Favorites: create a list of your favorite CFP nonprofits, so you easily can check back for opportunities to volunteer or donate.

– My Catalogue: print your own catalogue of the nonprofits that interest you most.

– Donation History: track up to three years of donations (we’ll archive the rest), so you have an easy record for tax and personal purposes.

– Especially for Kids: check out our list of charities that are particularly cool for kids — from those working to save the environment to those giving kids access to dance and theater. Kids can also pick their favorite nonprofits and make their own Catalogue.

So sign up and start exploring!

Busy, busy weekend at CFP nonprofits. So … what interests you?

Volunteering!

All day Saturday, the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia will be training teaching volunteers for the ESOL Learning Centers or Family Learning Program; email volunteers@lcnv.org to sign up. Or from 10:00 AM to noon, join the “Weeding Divas” of Earth Sangha for a round of invasive plant removal at Marie Butler Leven Preserve; a team from George Mason University’s Circle K International will also be working away at Rutherford Park in Fairfax.

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DC Youth Orchestra (at Eastern Senior High School, 1700 East Capitol Street NE)

A full day of rehearsals, masterclasses, and sectionals for advanced students on Saturday at 8:30 AM. You can sign up right here. Musicians will perform a free concert for the public at 7:00 PM the same day.

New to music? From 9:00 to noon, visit the Open House & Petting Zoo — meet the instruments and try them out.

The Posse Foundation (at Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, 701 Mississippi Avenue SE)

The Posse Foundation identifies, recruits, and trains incredible young leaders from urban public high schools and sends them in “posses” to top colleges. Volunteer to help out with Posse’s first stage of Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP) and identify young people who have outstanding leadership qualities on Saturday at 8:30 AM. Call Andres Maldonado at (202 ) 347-7071 x221 for more info.

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By Jade Floyd

This is the first post in a two-part series by Jade Floyd. Ms. Floyd works in international public affairs in Washington, DC and serves on the Board of CFP non-profit DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, a non-profit devoted to providing free arts education experiences for DC public school students and teachers. Follow her on Twitter: @DcThisWeek.

International Volunteering

My arrival to Bangkok was filled with trepidation and butterflies. I thought to myself on the plane that I was completely nuts and had lost my senses. Had I just flown around the world to a country where I knew no one to volunteer with children for a month teaching them art? Surely they had perfectly good teachers there who could give them instruction. I had spent months planning for this international volunteer program. From the onset, I knew that I wanted to partake in a program that focused on children. And after serving for four years on the board of directors for a DC-based arts education nonprofit, two years volunteer teaching at a children’s art center for two, and countless hours fundraising for similar organizations, I decided it was time to take a plunge and expand my reach outside of the US.

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