WELLINGTON COUNTY – Organizations supporting locals through the upcoming holiday season can connect with community members looking to help out through an annual online guide.
The Holiday Giving Guide lists non-profit and charity groups in Wellington County and Guelph, along with their specific needs over the winter holidays.
These needs could include cash donations for presents or celebrations for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other winter festivities, officials state.
Needs could also be essential items such as toiletries or clothing.
The guide will include volunteer opportunities such as gift-wrapping, meal serving and assisting at community events.
Until 2022, the People and Information Network created and distributed the annual Holiday Giving Guide.
“In the wake of its closure last year, Student Volunteer Connections (SVC), at the University of Guelph, took over and published our take on the guide” last December, said SVC co-op student Grace Seminara.
“Given last year’s success, we have decided to continue with the tradition.”
Seminara described SVC as a “hub for volunteering,” where people interested in volunteering but not sure where to start can connect with organizations seeking volunteers.
Seminara studies criminal justice and public policy, and said the co-op placement has opened her eyes to the realms of volunteering and non-profits, where the work is not easy but “so insanely rewarding.”
Part of the SCV’s mission is to create a “seamless integration” between students and the wider Guelph community, she said.
Seminara said she hears from a lot of people, both students and community members, who “want to give – want to do something” during and leading up to the holiday season.
The idea behind the Holiday Giving Guide is to help charities and non-profits “get the word out in a really accessible fashion,” she said.
Finding ideal volunteer opportunities can be a barrier to volunteering, she noted, and the guide is meant to make it easy for potential volunteers to find a role that fits what they want to offer.
Organizations can also list item and monetary donations they’re seeking.
“Student Volunteer Connections is trying to get the word out to as many organizations across Guelph-Wellington as possible, to encourage them to share their needs through the Holiday Giving Guide,” officials state.
Non-profits and charities are invited to contact SVC with information about their organization and its needs by Nov. 8, in order to be included in the guide.
SVC officials are aiming to begin circulating the guide in late November.
“It will be shared widely across Guelph-Wellington so folks who are considering the ways they can give back to our community have a one-stop-shop of organizations in need,” officials state.
“Last year, the guide had more than 35 local organizations [and] we are hoping for even more this year.”
