Gators Serve Their Community

In Houston, there are many volunteer organizations that are always in need of more volunteers. Many of our students volunteer around Houston at various volunteer organizations. One of the most popular volunteering organizations visited by students is the Houston Food Bank. The Houston Food Bank is an organization that feeds thousands of starving families around Texas. They are always striving to end hunger in our beloved state.

There are many ways that you can volunteer at the Houston Food bank to continue their ongoing mission. During a volunteer shift, you can expect to be sorting and inspecting various foods that were donated from people around Houston, organizing dry-foods into family sized meal packs, or packing boxes of necessities for families during different types of disasters or emergencies. You can register as a volunteer and sign up for a shift on the Houston Food Bank website.

Another popular volunteering organization visited by students is Kids’ Meals, an organization that strives to end child hunger by feeding thousands of children across the Houston area. Some ways that you can volunteer for Kids’ Meals is by making different types of lunch foods that can be found in a child’s lunch box, packing different boxes for childrens meals for during their school lunch meals as well as their meals for the weekends, and you can also sort food donations by type and by weight into different bags and areas. You can sign up for a volunteering shift on the Kids’ Meals website.

An additional organization visited by students is A Shelter For Cancer Families. There are many different ways that you can help out with this shelter for the cancer patients, such as visiting with the cancer patients and their families on weekends and having coffee and donuts with them, planting and watering plants in front of and around different parts of the building, and helping clean up around the facility. You can sign up for a volunteering shift on the A Shelter For Cancer Families website.

Grace students also enjoy visiting Star Of Hope. Star of Hope is a Christ-centered organization that is mainly focused on helping many homeless women, their families, and their children by providing them with various items donated to the organization. One way you can volunteer at Star of Hope as a middle schooler is by sorting and distributing different items, such as food or clothing that were donated. You can sign up for a volunteering shift on the Star of Hope website.

You can find more information about these organizations in the section titled “Mentioned In This Article.”

If you want opportunities even closer to you, there are many ways you can serve your community by just helping out around your neighborhood. In the past, students have done many things around their communities to help out their neighbors with various tasks. Some of those things include caring for neighbors’ pets, houses, or yards.  Some ways you can help your neighbors with taking care of their pets include grooming, walking, feeding and watering, taking their pets to the park, or even taking them in while a neighbor is on vacation. Just remember, you cannot receive payment for these activities if you plan on applying them as service hours. Helping neighbors around the house may include such chores as doing laundry, cleaning bathrooms, organizing closets, bookshelves, cabinets, or pantries, or even cleaning out refrigerators. You can even help take care of people’s houses outdoors by mowing the lawn, pulling weeds in their yard, organizing their garage, taking out their trash, washing your neighbor’s car, watering plants, planting, or even power washing.

You can also go to a park close to your home and help clean up the recreational areas. Look into visiting the elderly in your local nursing home, or even just take some time to create cards or flower arrangements to deliver to them. You don’t know how much even the smallest gesture can mean to our homebound neighbors.

Click the link below to find a document that includes information from current Grace School students about their favorite places to earn service hours: Recommendations From Students