THE CITIZEN BLOG
THE CITIZEN BLOG
Make it a Day for Mental Health
Take advantage of your Sunday and get to know those around you. Visit a neighborhood farmer’s market, attend a local festival, take a walk through the park or simply take some time for you to relax and recharge for your next volunteer opportunity.
Take advantage of your Sunday and get to know those around you. Visit a neighborhood farmer’s market, attend a local festival, take a walk through the park or simply take some time for you to relax and recharge for your next volunteer opportunity.
If you’re thinking of sticking around the house and enjoying some downtime, check out some of our virtual volunteering opportunities you can join.
more ways to do something good
Pack Wellness Kits with Black Girls Smile!
Volunteers are needed to sort inventory of 1000+ items, organize and pack Wellness Kits to empower women & girls to lead mentally healthy lives.
Become a Mind Bubble Tutor
New volunteers will be introduced to Mind Bubble staff to get oriented to the program, and learn the process of how to tutor a student.
HANDS ON ATLANTA WEEK
Join Atlanta’s biggest week of service Sept. 20 - 27, 2022! Explore more in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities and events here.
Fight Food Insecurity + Hunger
Our partner organizations on the frontlines of the fight for food security (often working on shoestring budgets) rely solely on volunteers to collect, organize and distribute food. Join us today to support their work.
According to our partners at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, food insecurity describes a household’s inability to provide enough food for every person to live an active and healthy life.
Before the pandemic, 1 in 7 children in the metro Atlanta area were identified as food insecure – but as a result of COVID-19 and it’s ripple effects, those rates have increase by around 20%. Since March of 2020, the Atlanta Community Food Bank experienced a 300% surge in requests for food assistance. In the same timeframe, Hands On Atlanta volunteers helped distribute almost 16 million meals to families across metro Atlanta.
Food is an urgent basic need – and those who struggle to feed their families, feel it each and every day. Students are unable to concentrate in the classroom, families who are food insecure experience more frequent and severe health issues, and socioeconomic growth is affected. The good news is, you can help. Our partner organizations on the frontlines of the fight for food security (often working on shoestring budgets) rely solely on volunteers to collect, organize and distribute food. Join us today to support their work.
more ways to do something good
National Black MBA Atlanta
As a volunteer with the National Black MBA Association 44th Annual NBMBAA® Conference, you can expand your network, share your skills, gain experience, and have an impact on the efficient operation and continued success of the Conference. Learn more and sign up!
Castleberry Farmers Market
Help vendors set up and break down, greet participants and vendors coming to the market and even provide info about who is participating.
Meal Distribution Registration
Volunteers will use tablets to register food pantry guests at our drive up distribution. You’ll answer general questions about the food pantry and more!
Food Sorting and Distribution
Help pack food boxes, sort food, load food into our clients' cars, assist in Farmers Market & clothing room. Answer phones making client appointments.
HANDS ON ATLANTA WEEK
Join Atlanta’s biggest week of service Sept. 20 - 27, 2022! Explore more in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities and events here.
Celebrate 8 days of service!
It’s time to celebrate! Today is the 8th and final day of the 2022 edition of Hands On Atlanta Week, and it also happens to be Atlanta legend, Arthur Blank’s 80th birthday! Sign up to serve before it’s over.
It’s time to celebrate! Today is the 8th and final day of the 2022 edition of Hands On Atlanta Week, and it also happens to be Atlanta legend, Arthur Blank’s 80th birthday! We’ve been working side-by-side with our presenting sponsor, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, all week long - tackling our city’s most pressing needs.
Today is your last chance to get in on all the action. Click below to find a project and get out there and do something good!
last chance to join hands on atlanta week
Books for Africa
Volunteers help us to sort and pack books for shipment, spreading literacy and education all over Africa.
Oakhurst Community Garden
The Oakhurst Garden is our flagship greenspace. We have a mini-farm, chickens, bees, and plots for community members to grow food.
Food Sorting and Distribution
Volunteers are needed to restock inventory on pantry shelves, replenish refrigerators and freezers, and prepare emergency bags for families.
HANDS ON ATLANTA WEEK
Join Atlanta’s biggest week of service Sept. 20 - 27, 2022! Explore more in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities and events here.
The 2022 Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellows Graduate into Civic Leaders
On Tuesday, June 14 at the Wild Heaven West End Brewery and Gardens 19 Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellows, completed their commitment to making Atlanta more engaged and equitable with a graduation ceremony. Now Civic Leaders, these outstanding changemakers have developed the leadership skills to take their service and careers to the next level!
On Tuesday, June 14 at the Wild Heaven West End Brewery and Gardens 19 Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellows, completed their commitment to making Atlanta more engaged and equitable with a graduation ceremony. Now Civic Leaders, these outstanding changemakers have developed the leadership skills to take their service and careers to the next level!
The Hands On Atlanta Civic Leadership Program, powered by Constellation is 10-month, immersive professional development/leadership training program that builds community leaders while supporting the needs of nonprofit and school partners. Civic Fellows get hands-on experience and also participate in leadership training and mentoring provided by Hands On Atlanta staff, program alumni and partners.
Civic Fellows were partners with the Hands On Atlanta Disco program (working with students across several elementary schools), HOPE Atlanta, Medshare International, YMCA of Metro Atlanta, InCommunity, Out of Hand Theatre, EcoAddendum, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, and the Clarkston Community Center. The 2022 class of Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellows represent diverse backgrounds and industries including education, entrepreneurs, engineering, law enforcement, marketing, technology, and more! Get to know all of them here.
The graduation ceremony included a recap of the year and featured a memorable and inspirational keynote from the iconic, Ann Cramer. The impact created by the fellows was also a big focus on the year, looking back at what all their hard work had accomplished - like engaging over 900 volunteers and as a cohort raising more than $13,000 for Hands On Atlanta. Awards were given to the top fundraisers and the recipients of this year’s Impact Award.
We are now accepting nominations for the 2023 Civic Leadership Program and applications will officially open to the public on Monday, July 4th. Click here to nominate a fellow or here to learn more.
Make the Assist | Help1 million meals get packed
The Atlanta Hawks are rallying the Atlanta community to pack more than 1 million meals for Georgia families facing food insecurity. The Million Meal Pack happens July 16 at State Farm Arena and we need about 200 Support Staff volunteers to help ensure the meals get packed so families get fed.
It’s no secret, we’re passionate about fighting food insecurity across metro Atlanta. With more than 22% of Atlantans living below the poverty line, food insecurity is a growing concern in our community. In fact, hunger will impact 1 in 4 Atlanta children at some point this year.
The Atlanta Hawks are rallying the Atlanta community to pack more than 1 million meals for Georgia families facing food insecurity. The Million Meal Pack happens July 16 at State Farm Arena and we need about 200 Support Staff volunteers to help ensure the meals get packed so families get fed.
As a Support Staff volunteer, You will NOT be packing meals. You’ll be assisting the event, leading groups of volunteer meal packers as a Table Captain or by running food, replenishing supplies and packing boxes as a Logistics volunteer. We’ve outlined roles and responsibilities below.
P
Volunteer Perks
Those in attendance will be volunteering alongside influencers from the worlds of sports, entertainment, government, and business, during a fun-filled day with music, performances, free swag and more! Everyone who completes a volunteer shift will receive a voucher for a pair of free tickets to a select upcoming Hawks home game. Exact game dates will be available following the release of the 2022-23 season schedule. Volunteers will also get an event t-shirt and a meal at the start of their shift.
Support Staff Roles + Responsibilities
Table Captains
As a Support Staff volunteer, you’ll be a part of the production team that supports and assists the 5,000 Meal Packing volunteers to ensure we hit the total meals packed goal. As a Table Captain, you’ll be assigned to a table and lead the 10-15 volunteers in packing meals. You will train the meal packing volunteers, oversee the packing process for their table for the entirety of the event and be responsible for cleanup in between meal packing shifts. You should be comfortable speaking in front of and instructing groups, comfortable with ensuring that safety protocols are followed by all volunteers (provided by Meal Pack partner), and ready to help keep energy high and atmosphere fun during packing. You’ll be on your feet and moving throughout your shift.
SIGN UP NOW —>
Operations + Logistics
As a Support Staff volunteer, you’ll be a part of the production team that supports and assists the 5,000 Meal Packing volunteers to ensure we hit the total meals packed goal. The Operations + Logistics volunteer will fill and refill meal ingredients from their bags, keep a continual supply at individual packing lines, and work with Table Captains to ensure efficient/proper packaging of individual bags into boxes and onto the pallets. This is a very active role where volunteers need the ability to lift 50 lbs and be on their feet and moving throughout their shift.
Shifts
6:30am – 1:00pm: Breakfast and training provided on-site before you volunteer
11:00am – 5:30pm: Lunch and training provided on-site before you volunteer
Impact from 2019’s Million Meal Pack
Are you ready to fight food insecurity and have some fun with the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena? Make the assist and sign up now!
A Smashing Success: Reviewing the 2022 Spring for Service
For Hands On Atlanta, spring is the season where we take time to recognize the people, the organizations and the events that make Atlanta a little more engaged and equitable and fundraise to continue our essential work. In celebration of Global and Georgia Volunteer Month, this past April, was one of our best spring’s ever! Here’s a recap of what happened.
Spring in Atlanta can be a lot of things to a lot of people. It can be a season of anticipation - the kick-off to festival season, the World Champion Atlanta Braves, and the 17’s favorite, Atlanta United and every students’ favorite - the end of the school year. Spring in Atlanta can also be pretty miserable if you’re the kind of person who’s into consistent weather and prefer to live pollen free. 😜
For Hands On Atlanta, spring is the season where we take time to recognize the people, the organizations and the events that make Atlanta a little more engaged and equitable and fundraise to continue our essential work. In celebration of Global and Georgia Volunteer Month, this past April, was one of our best spring’s ever!
In total, we mobilized close to 3,000 volunteers to serve more than 15,500 hours across metro Atlanta throughout April, 2022.
Here’s a quick recap of what happened.
As a result of the pandemic, last year we pivoted to an online, peer-to-peer fundraiser. In addition to it being safe, it was also a great alternative to the rather off-brand “gala” style events we’ve hosted in the past. We learned a lot and with the help of a huge match from our board, we smashed our fundraising goal, bringing in over $140,000 from close to 400 donors!
The dollars raised will help us continue to address food insecurity and further close the education gap by mobilizing the volunteer workforce that powers Atlanta’s nonprofit sector. In total, the campaign will generate more than $850,000 in economic impact across metro Atlanta.
Watch to learn what more volunteers mean to our nonprofit partners, Urban Recipe and Truly Living Well.
Special thanks to our Spring for Service campaign sponsors!
Throughout April, we celebrated some huge, annual days of service, and hosted a few large projects - in addition to over 1,000 volunteer opportunities on our calendar! We kicked off the month with Good Deeds Day and supported a “women’s build” event with 48in48 and settled into National Volunteer Week before closing out Global Volunteer Month with Earth Day, Global Youth Service Day and a massive skills-based opportunity at the 2022 DECA International Career Development Conference.
Other notable projects included some fun and impactful meal packs with 100+ employees from Mingledorffs and LexisNexis Risk Solutions, who packed 1,200 meals. All the meals packed will benefit students and families at our partner schools.
As if it wasn’t enough, our team also worked tirelessly to pull of a massive effort in partnership with the Atlanta Braves Foundation, to celebrate Hank Aaron Week (May 3-7). The Braves front office staff volunteered at Browns Mill Urban Food Forest, planting gardens with all kinds of vegetables, repairing the greenhouse and building little “free libraries,” all while celebrating a chance to serve the community. In addition, they installed an edible wall, where the vines of raspberries, blackberries and other fruit will grow vertically, giving Browns Mill Park neighbors more healthy food options. Learn more here.
Throughout the month, nominations poured in from nonprofits, corporations and individuals, recommending we spotlight a special volunteer who’s made a difference for Atlanta. We’ve shined a light on students, community activists, teachers and others doing good. Explore ALL of these volunteer spotlights, highlighting the incredible efforts from volunteers across metro Atlanta here!
BUILDING A BELOVED COMMUNITY WITH CAPTAIN APRILLE MOORE
KIP THOMPSONA IS RUNNING FOR INCLUSION AND INSPIRING THE NEXT GEN
Ready to do something good?
If you’re feeling inspired by the impact donations can create, the projects and events that support our community or the people doing the work, we’ve made it easier than ever to get involved. Click here to donate or explore our volunteer calendar, where we have 200+ weekly opportunities waiting for you to sign up for!
Leo Flemming on fueling Flavor Foward
Leo Flemming is passionate about fighting food insecurity as a volunteer and experimenting in social entrepreneurship through an effort called Flavor Forward. Next year, Leo will leverage his passions as a Civic Engagement Fellow at Westminster - a program that offers volunteer service opportunities on and off campus throughout the year for all ages, including special Family Service Days, an annual Habitat for Humanity build, fundraising, and special projects.
Learn more about Leo’s efforts to feed those in need and how you can help.
Leo Flemming is passionate about fighting food insecurity as a volunteer and experimenting in social entrepreneurship through an effort called Flavor Forward. Next year, Leo will leverage his passions as a Civic Engagement Fellow at Westminster - a program that offers volunteer service opportunities on and off campus throughout the year for all ages, including special Family Service Days, an annual Habitat for Humanity build, fundraising, and special projects.
Learn more about Leo’s efforts to feed those in need and how you can help.
What impact areas or pressing needs facing Atlanta do you care about most? Why?
I started our Flavor Forward program to help combat food insecurity, and that is what we care about most. Through this Flavor Forward initiative, volunteers prep meals and deliver them to various FREE99Fridge locations around Atlanta. I think that food is an absolute human right, and that everybody should have access to a healthy fulfilling meal every day.
“The COVID pandemic made me realize how many people in the community needed help when no help was able to be given to them. Part of the reason we volunteer is to make sure people get the help they need, especially in making sure they have food at home.””
What do you love most about the organization you volunteer with? Why do you volunteer with them?
I love Flavor Forward because I am in charge of what I can do, and I can see the results pretty quickly. Preparing meals for Flavor Forward is a very tangible way to volunteer and I really enjoy it.
How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your volunteering efforts?
The COVID pandemic made me realize how many people in the community needed help when no help was able to be given to them. Part of the reason we volunteer is to make sure people get the help they need, especially in making sure they have food at home.
Can you share a memorable highlight or moment you've experienced that might motivate others to volunteer?
One memorable highlight of mine was was packing 60 total meals in a restaurant and driving out to different fridges to drop them off. It was memorable because of how lots of people in the restaurant worked together to cook the food and pack it, which made me feel like we were really making a difference.
Volunteering in April? Share where, when and if others can join you or how they can get involved.
If you would like to prep meals (in batches of 25+ similar to what our friend @soupbelly_atl did), reach out to us and we can give some guidance on how. We can reimburse you for the ingredients and containers and can arrange to pick the meals up and deliver them to the fridges. If you are a student, we also can keep you busy in helping to package and deliver the food.
Inspired by Leo’s story?
Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like his, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.
Krista Pierce is out to prove that actions big and small can change lives
Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellow, Krista Pierce, tackles homelessness and food insecurity across metro Atlanta by volunteering with Hope Atlanta, Make a Wish Georgia, Atlanta Mission and Citizens of Georgia Power.
Learn more about Krista’s commitment to a more equitable and engaged Atlanta.
Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellow, Krista Pierce, tackles homelessness and food insecurity across metro Atlanta by volunteering with Hope Atlanta, Make a Wish Georgia, Atlanta Mission and Citizens of Georgia Power.
Learn more about Krista’s commitment to a more equitable and engaged Atlanta.
What impact areas or pressing needs facing Atlanta do you care about most? Why?
Homelessness and food insecurity. These two needs have grown exponentially over the last few years. These are two of the most basic needs everyone should have access too. My dream is that we can all work together to make this happen one day.
“That smile is why you volunteer. We are lifelines and sometimes lifesavers for those in need. No matter how big or how small the gift is, we change lives.””
What do you love most about the organization you volunteer with? Why do you volunteer with them?
During my time as a Hands On Atlanta Civic Fellow, I have been honored to work with Hope Atlanta. As mentioned earlier, food insecurity is one of my main areas of focus. Being a part of Hope Atlanta’s mission, to feed families thru the food box packing and to feed children thru their Super Pack program has been such a joy.
Knowing that so many families will not worry about having food on their table or knowing that children can leave school on Fridays with food in hand so they do not go hungry over the weekends, just makes the day brighter. Also, the passion you feel from the volunteers who give up three hours on a Saturday to help feed others is immeasurable. They want to help as many as they can during their time at the center. No words can describe that feeling of seeing all of them come together for one common goal, to feed those in need.
How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your volunteering efforts?
I had to learn how to think outside of the box. Just because the world had to pause, the needs did not. I looked for virtual opportunities whether that be simply donating to food banks close by or by participating in Zoom or Teams events where we colored pictures for senior citizen homes or wrote thank you notes to first responders. There’s always a way to give back regardless of circumstances.
Can you share a memorable highlight or moment you've experienced that might motivate others to volunteer?
Three weeks ago, Make a Wish Georgia sent me an email about an upcoming wish they were trying to grant. The 17 year old girl has a very serious auto immune disorder. Her mother, eight siblings and herself had been homeless most of her life. Despite all of that she has graduated high school early and is currently pursuing a nursing degree.
Her mother was able to purchase their first ever home in February and they were ready to move in. The wish she wanted was to set up their new home. I presented it to our chapter and everyone jumped in on it. We provided silverware, dish towels, mixing bowls, towels, and many other basic necessities one would need to make a house a home. Plus, she received two gift cards from Target so she could purchase items for her new bedroom. Seeing the smile on her face as she unwrapped this gifts was all we needed. That smile is why you volunteer. We are lifelines and sometimes lifesavers for those in need. No matter how big or how small the gift is, we change lives.
Volunteering in April? Share where, when and if others can join you or how they can get involved.
I will be working with my Citizens of Georgia Power chapter for Earth Day events in April.
Anything else you think our community should know about you, your volunteer service, or your commitment to Do Something Good!
I have been so blessed throughout my life. I have never had to know what it means to be without any basic necessity. It’s because of that, I serve. I know I can’t help everyone, but I want to help as many as I can in my lifetime.
Inspired by Krista’s story?
Help us engage and highlight incredible efforts like hers, by making a donation to Hands On Atlanta. It takes hard work AND financial support to tackle Atlanta’s most pressing needs. When you let our hands be yours, every $1 invested turns into $6 of economic impact! Donate now and help ensure a more civically engaged and equitable Atlanta.