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Giving Back During Thanksgiving: Dallas Edition

 - November 19, 2019
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Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy the presence of family, friends, and loved ones. It’s a time for gathering around a table, having your fill of turkey, dressing, and pie, and reliving some of your favorite memories together from years past. Additionally, Thanksgiving is a time to pause, be intentional, and give. While the holidays can be such a sweet time for many people, they can also be pretty tough for a lot of folks as well. There are thousands of people in our city who are experiencing extreme poverty and/or homelessness this Thanksgiving season, and one key way you can harness the spirit of giving that Thanksgiving naturally invokes is by finding a unique way for your team to band together and serve others as a company.

If giving back and supporting your community is something that you’d like to partake in this year, we’ve provided a list of organizations below who are all more than worthy recipients of your time and care. There are options that include simple donations, as well as options that involve actually going out and volunteering your time together. Whatever you do, big or small, know that you and your team can truly do something special to lift up fellow Dallasites in need this Thanksgiving season.

If you would like to get together with your coworkers and give back during the Thanksgiving holiday, here are just a few ways of how you can make a difference!

Donate blankets and warm clothes to OurCalling

What OurCalling does:OurCalling is a team of volunteers who reach out to the needy in our city and offer them true friendship and meaningful support. They work to make available to the friends they meet the resources they need—spiritual, material, and emotional—to build a solid foundation for a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.

What they need: With the cold weather coming in so soon this year, OurCalling could really use blanket and warm clothing donations to help keep their friends, who are experiencing homelessness, warm. They can also always use volunteers to assist with various needs.

Get together as a team and: Gather warm clothing such as coats, socks, sweatpants, and underwear and lots of warm blankets and drop them off at OurCalling’s facilities. You can also reach out to learn more about specific/ current needs by contacting info@ourcalling.com.

Volunteer with DallasLife

What DallasLife does: DallasLife is the largest homeless shelter in North Texas. 

What they need: DallasLife could always use volunteers and donations. Volunteer opportunities range from helping prepare a Thanksgiving meal, decorating tables, serving meal trays to the residents, and helping with post-meal cleanup.

Get together as a team and: apply to volunteer online for the annual Thanksgiving meal at noon on Thursday, November 22! Or reach out to pculbertson@dallaslife.org to find out more ways your team can help serve the homeless community.

Make a meal for Dallas 24 Hour Club

What Dallas 24 Hour Club does: Dallas 24 Hour Club hosts an Annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the residents and community of Dallas 24 Hour Club, which is a safe, sober transitional living for homeless men and women. Dinner will be served from 1:15 pm to 3 pm on Thanksgiving Day. Community members are invited to enjoy dinner and stay for the Cowboys game.

What they need: Prepared Thanksgiving dishes ready to be heated and served. Volunteers may sign up to set up, serve, and clean up the meal.

How you can help: Individuals can sign up to bring a dish by clicking here. To volunteer for one of the shifts, please email info@dallas24hourclub.org.

Help out at the SPCA

What the SPCA does:The SPCA is the leading animal welfare agency in North Texas and serves as an active resource center providing an array of programs and services that bring people and animals together to enrich each others’ lives.

What they need: Volunteers are needed Friday, November 16 through Sunday, December 2, to assist shoppers, answer questions about the silent auction, lightly clean the doghouses, and monitor the cash donation box for their Home for the Holidays event.

Get together as a team and: volunteer at their Home for the Holidays event by contacting Caitlin Savage, Volunteer Engagement Specialist, at csavage@spca.org or click here.

Donate or volunteer with The Stewpot

What The Stewpot does: The Stewpot offers a safe haven for homeless and at-risk individuals of Dallas, providing resources for basic survival needs, as well as opportunities to start a new life. 

What they need: The Stewpot could use volunteers to assist with serving meals, youth & family programs, and client services. They are also always accepting donations of food, clothing, or money.

Get together as a team and: check some things off their wish list by clicking here to see what their current donation needs are. Or reach out to volunteer@thestewpot.org to find out specific dates you guys can volunteer. 

Prepare or deliver a meal with Mission Arlington

What Mission Arlington does: Mission Arlington is a faith-based organization which utilizes hundreds of volunteers and a multitude of services to assist people with their physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs. Each year, Mission Arlington puts together Thanksgiving baskets and meals for families in need and this year, they plan to deliver them to more than 25,000 people. 

What they need: Mission Arlington needs volunteers to not only prepare the food but also to deliver them on Thanksgiving day.

Get together as a team and: meet up at the Mission’s headquarters at 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving day to deliver meals and turkeys until well into the afternoon. All you have to do is show up.

Grab a coworker, or your whole team and make the decision to give back this year! It doesn’t have to be anything crazy big; even the smallest donation or effort will go a long way. We hope that by providing you with specific places and specific needs, that we can make giving back a little bit easier this season!

If there’s another organization that is near and dear to your heart and that could use donations or volunteers during the holiday season, let us know, and we’ll be sure to add them to this list!

We hope you have a feastful and festive Thanksgiving!

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Common Desk isn’t just a coworking space; it’s a tight-knit community of game-changers, difference-makers, and global influencers.

Common Desk isn’t just a coworking space; it’s a tight-knit community of game-changers, difference-makers, and global influencers.
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