As we reflect on gratitude during this giving season, we must educate ourselves about the potential acts of kindness that can be performed throughout the city. Whether it is volunteering your time to Denver nonprofits, giving money or donating food, these acts can help many charities stay afloat and continue to help those in need.
The city and county of Denver are experiencing a record high of 9,977 unhoused people and charities are feeling pressure. The Denver Rescue Mission services have never been in higher demand. The organization serves approximately 3,ooo plates of food per day across its three locations.Â
“The need to help people experiencing homelessness in the city has increased drastically,” said Denver Rescue Mission’s PR Manager Stephen Hinkel. “The cost of living keeps going up and that makes the need for our services go up as well—that means we need more volunteers to help people who are experiencing homelessness.”
The mission offers 93 volunteer opportunities each day, most of which are in the meal service division, where volunteers help serve plates to those who visit their kitchens. Its meal service has the greatest need for volunteers; anyone 16 years or older is welcome to sign up and help make a change in the community.
“If you take 365 days—times three times a day—times three locations, it adds up!” Hinkel said. “ The meal service is a big part of how the community can get involved and the simplest and easiest step—to just come and serve a meal.”
The Salvation Army is also seeking volunteers. To continue providing up to 1,800 nights of shelter and more than 3,000 meals per day, the Salvation Army is looking for volunteer bell ringers to help collect funds at their Red Kettles.
Bell ringers are typically found in storefronts, collecting change and greeting everyone who passes by. The funds raised are critical and enable the organization to provide food, shelter and disaster response services to families and individuals throughout the year.
“Friends and families are encouraged to volunteer to bell ring—it’s a fun and rewarding way to give back to the community, knowing you are helping to do the most good for our neighbors in need,” said the Salvation Army’s Director of Communications, Jennifer Forker, in a press release on November 14th, 2024.
Standing outside a Walmart in South Denver, a volunteer who did not want to give his name, cheerfully greets customers as they enter the store. He is one of the four volunteers in the area and fully agrees there is a need for bell ringers this season.
“It doesn’t take much—just a couple hours can make all the difference,” he said. Volunteers can sign up and select their location and hours.
For nonprofits like Bienvenidos Food Bank and Joy’s Kitchen, the lack of volunteers isn’t the issue. They do, however, need funding to continue feeding communities. Joy’s Kitchen feeds 5,000 families per month with the help of nearly 600 volunteers while operating on less than $150,000 per year.
“We have plenty of food but no funding,” said Founder and Executive Director, Kathy Stanley. “We’re the lowest-yielding nonprofit in the state of Colorado and have one of the biggest impacts.”
By partnering with retail outlets, the organization rescues food that would otherwise be thrown away and gives it to the community without questions or qualifications. Upon entering the food bank, one is welcomed by the cheerful volunteers who are committed to combating hunger and minimizing waste. Kim Rudd keeps an eye on the food bins to ensure there is enough food. For the past year, she has been volunteering twice a week.
“The community needs it,” said Rudd when asked why she volunteers her time. “People need food—there’s so much need and I’m retired now and can donate my time.”
Joy’s Kitchen is raising funds for Colorado Gives Day to help sustain its operations. “We do a lot with a little but we are about ready to close because we can’t keep up—consider donating to us and helping this impact,” Stanley said.
This holiday season, the BikerDown Foundation is assisting families through its Adopt A Family For The Holidays program.
“While we’re all beginning to get excited about Thanksgiving and the holidays, there are people that are living paycheck to paycheck,” said Laurie Montoya, founder of BikerDown Foundation.
“Our program is to give that hardworking family or that family suffering health challenges and not being able to work; a place where they can lay their head down at night and not have the stress of knowing they are going to be able to provide Christmas.”
Each family is given a $275 Walmart gift card and $150 worth of food to prepare a holiday dinner. To make this possible for families, the program is limited to 25 families per year. Each family must complete an application process to qualify. Donors can find families on their website and are welcome to donate to various aspects of the program, including a lunch with Santa event, which allows adopted families to meet their donors.
“Our community, especially in Denver, is so giving,” Montoya said. “But sometimes you don’t know where to go or who to trust—that’s one of the reasons when you donate to our program you get to meet the family and sit down for lunch with them.”
Volunteers are also welcome at blood banks and animal shelters throughout the city. Regardless of how you decide to volunteer this holiday season, it is important to realize that many of these organizations need year-round support. These volunteer opportunities could include spending time with loved ones, discovering a personal passion and overall doing good for the community this holiday season.
“It really is very helpful—it goes a long way,” Hinkel said. “Every year roughly 60,000 hours of help gets donated to us [Denver Rescue Mission] and without that help, it would be a lot more challenging to do the work that we do—when volunteering, you can play your own small part in helping people who are the communities most vulnerable.”