10 volunteer and donation opportunities to aid Philly’s hungry this holiday season

In Philadelphia, there’s no shortage of need to help people facing economic hardships. See: the stagnant poverty rate, increasing hunger, a difficult-to-navigate affordable housing crisis.
Thankfully, there are also a wealth of nonprofits and other social service organizations eager to step in year-round — and especially on holidays associated with meals, comfort and community.

But it takes a heck of a lot of time and planning to make such events run smoothly.

In preparation for each year’s Thanksgiving service, Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission (SBRM), for instance, begins its outreach to local business, churches, schools and community partners in late July to begin coordinating sites for its food drive to stock the Thanksgiving pantry.

“Each year, we refine the plan made the year before, so this year we have 140 years of planning invested into our food drive and Thanksgiving meal,” said Elizabeth Hefner, SBRM’s director of advancement. (The nonprofit was founded in 1878.) “In early September, we share our shopping list and all of our food drive partners begin collecting items. This is also when we share our food drive needs on social media, in emails, and with all of our supporter to really get the word out.”

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Dominique “Peak” Johnson is a North Philadelphia journalist. He is one of the founding editors of the North Philly Metropolis. Currently he freelances for WHYY, Billy Penn and Citywide Stories. Click here to learn more about Peak.