Holiday Volunteer Opportunities

Thanksgiving

Washington DC Jewish Community Center

The Washington JCC sponsors an annual event, "Everything but the Turkey," which brings together over 400 volunteers to prepare 10,000 servings of food for people in need in the D.C. metropolitan area. All are welcome to participate. On the Monday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, volunteers are needed to help prepare stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, deserts and more.

On Thursday (Thanksgiving day), volunteers are needed to help serve Thanksgiving dinner to the 2,000 residents of the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) homeless shelter, which is just down the block from the Law Center. D.C. Central Kitchen distributes any leftovers to local homeless shelters, transitional housing facilities, and community kitchens in D.C.

Food and Friends

Food and Friends provides nutritious meals to support men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses. Volunteers are needed Monday through Wednesday of Thanksgiving week to prepare food during two-hour shifts starting at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. and to deliver the "Turkey Boxes" throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia. On Thanksgiving Day, volunteers are needed to prepare and deliver holiday meals.

SOME (So Others May Eat)

SOME is an inter-faith, community-based organization that serves D.C.'s low-income and homeless residents by offering food, clothing, and health care. Donors are needed to prepare holiday food baskets for elderly D.C. residents and volunteers are needed to deliver these baskets.

On Thanksgiving Day, SOME also holds an annual Trot for Hunger beginning at 8:30 a.m. in downtown Washington, D.C.

Capital Area Food Bank

CAFB is the largest public non-profit hunger and nutrition education resource in the region. Holiday activities include a food drive, a cash drive, and a and telethon to benefit the Capital Area Food Bank. Monetary donations and canned goods can be dropped off at any time.

Spring Break Opportunities

Habitat for Humanity

Each year Georgetown Law's Habitat for Humanity chapter organizes a spring break trip for students looking to get out of DC, roll up their sleeves and perform some hands-on service work. Trip locations in previous years have ranged from North Carolina to Georgia to Panama. Students spend spring break learning how to effectively wield hammers, lay foundations and build houses, while engaging with the local community and bonding with each other.

Georgetown Outreach

Each year Georgetown Law Outreach organizes spring break service trips to cities with distinct legal services needs. For instance, every year since Hurricane Katrina Georgetown Law has sent a delegation of students to New Orleans to provide pro bono legal services at various organizations, including the Orleans Public Defenders. Likewise, this past year a group of Georgetown Law students went to New Jersey to assist with recovery efforts related to Hurricane Sandy.