My wife and I visited Open Hand Atlanta to volunteer our time for a couple of hours to prep meals…read more Open Hand provides nutritional meals for those with chronic diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, different forms of cancer, etc. These nutritional meals promote and prolong healthier way of life. Once you arrive and sign in, you'll be taken to a waiting room area, where Open Hand staff gives you a rundown of their history and what their mission is. You also get the rules of the prep room and are gifted a one of a kind hairnet, plastic apron, and men with facial hair gets face masks. No jewelry may be at any time. Rings, necklaces, earrings, facial piercings, watches, etc. can NOT be worn. There are different things that you can do at this space, but I wanted to do meal prep. We washed our hands and grabbed plastic gloves. Keep in mind, the gloves are different sizes. The meal prep was like an assembly line. The meal we prepped was Beef Stroganoff on Noodles with Green Beans. With a scale, the first person weighed the appropriate number for the noodles, the second person weighed the right number of beef stroganoff, and the third person weighed the right number for green beans. There is then a fourth person who wipes off any excess food from around the rim of the food container. This is important so the plastic cover will seal appropriately. It's then put in this contraption that holds multiple containers and a person press seals it and puts it to the side. This is definitely quite a process, but once you get into the flow of it, it becomes easier. Some people make it a challenge against another group to see who can make the most meals. Side note: THIS PLACE IS FREEZING! The ENTIRE BUILDING IS COLD! Bring a jacket or hoody. Overall, this is a great place to come with a group or by yourself and do some charitable services. Fortunately, we came with a large group of my wife's coworkers, so we were able to knock out over 2,500 meals which was awesome! I'd definitely come back.

I volunteered at Open Hand two weeks ago (Saturday, July 22, 2017) and had a lot of fun. I didn't…read moreknow what to expect as far as working conditions, the general environment, and exactly what we would be doing. Would I be in some freezing cold meat locker? Would I be inside an insanely hot warehouse? Would I be breaking my already broken back moving heavy objects around? Would I be doing some mundane task for hours and be bored out of my mind? Fortunately, the answer to all those questions was no. I went with a big group to celebrate someone's birthday (a neat idea). Half of us did meal packing and the other half did market basket packing. I signed up for meal packing. Our meal packing session involved packing meals into bags and portioning food into individual containers (think frozen TV dinners). The food was already cooked and just needed to be heated up to be eaten. Market basket packing involves packing nonperishable foods. In this case, the food wasn't cooked and the recipients would need to cook it themselves. We signed up to work from 1pm to 4pm. Each of us had to register on Open Hand's website. After registering and reserving our spots, we received confirmation emails with information, reminders, and dress code requirements. One of the dress code requirements in my confirmation email said, "Long pants are preferred. Skirts or dresses must be shin length." I wore shorts. When standing, those shorts touched the top of my knees. My girlfriend, who also signed up for meal packing, wore shorts too. Her shorts were shorter. She ended up getting moved to market basket packing because of the length of her shorts. This wasn't a big deal, but the dress code requirements listed in the confirmation email should have been more clear about shorts or simply just said that long pants are required for meal packing. There was at least one other person in our meal packing group with knee-length shorts. When you arrive to Open Hand, the volunteer entrance is clearly marked. Each volunteer must sign in and sign out using a computer just inside the entrance. We arrived right around 1pm, checked in, and were ushered into an orientation room. The orientation was quick, about 10 minutes. A short video about Open Hand was played and then we got some in-person instruction. After that, we were whisked to our volunteer work areas. For meal packing, we had to wear hair nets and aprons. First, we helped prepare bags to place meals in, then we moved into the meal packing work area. This was a cool, clean room with various tables and assembly lines. One group was already sealing TV dinner trays when we arrived. We washed our hands and helped assemble bags with four meals in them: Monday lunch, Monday dinner, Tuesday lunch, and Tuesday dinner with cornbread and condiments (ketchup and mustard). It was pretty easy. Each person was assigned to place one or two items into each bag and pass it down. I was responsible for the ketchup and mustard. After a bag had four meals, cornbread, and condiments, it was tied and placed on a tray which was later stacked and carted off. We assembled 126 of these Monday-Tuesday meal bags. Two of our meal packing group were broken off and sent to the cornbread station where they individually bagged and sealed cornbread. The cornbread was already cooked and cut. After assembling the meal bags, we took a short break in the break room and then were called back into the meal packing room for another job. This time, we had to portion food into TV dinner trays which would later be sealed. This task was harder than the last because we had to handle food directly with our hands (wearing gloves of course) and measure correct portion sizes using scales. We packed 285 meal trays filled with chicken, mushroom risotto, and peas and pearl onions. The hands of the people scooping and portioning out the risotto and peas got tired. I helped a little bit with the peas and organizing and stacking the meal trays on bigger trays, but I mostly was responsible for placing a piece of chicken on top of the risotto. We ended up spending almost our full 3-hour allotment at Open Hand. The market basket packing group ended up finishing early, in under 1.5 hours. Volunteer Services Manager Julie Barwig was the person who oversaw our group. In the meal packing room, Andre led us for the meal bag packing and Shameka led us for the meal tray portioning. Everyone was nice and friendly. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm now considering signing up to do meal delivery. Open Hand's mission statement: "Open Hand helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life." The campus is located in the industrial Armour neighborhood of Atlanta near SweetWater Brewing Company and the Armour Yard rail yard on the southern edge of Buckhead.

Beautiful peaceful garden with paved paths to walk through and admire the trees, flowers, and…read moreplants.

While visiting Atlanta, I was looking to kill some time…read more And I needed a excuse To write another rhyme. With a name like Woodlawn Gardens, I almost expected a cemetery. But instead what I found, Was a park fit for fairies! The area was once privately owned. But they've donated the land. The well kept grounds, I'd describe, As nothing less than grand! There's many paths to wander, And little gardens to see. There's even a makeshift playground Made from the trunks of trees! Such an adorable little park, In the middle of the city. Atlanta isn't the same as I remember, It's actually quite pretty!

Love them so much, can't really afford clothes right now and they always make sure I'm taken care…read moreof! Shoutout to the ladies that run this thrift store!

Pricey, poor selection, Cant comment on service because I…read moretook Big U TURN after perusing the store

We attended the tribute to Sarah Vaughn show and THOROUGHLY enjoyed it!…read more Such a beautiful location and conveniently located on the square. We were able to snag free street parking right next the theatre, greeted promptly and kindly upon arrival and checked in just a few feet from the door. We bypassed the concessions stand - which stemmed quite popular - and were escorted to our seats. Comfortable seating, possibly not a bad view in the house. Beautifully maintained. Great acoustics. And an AMAZING show! I cannot wait to return!

Most recently, I attended the Simon and Garfunkel tribute concert and loved the music, the…read moreperformers, the atmosphere and the amenities. I think it is a bit pricey considering there was 40 minutes of what I would call jibber/jabber. I paid to hear the music not so much commentary. I don't think I received my moneys worth this time.

The Compassionate Friends is a nonprofit which offers support to bereaved families suffering…read moreintense pain, hopeless and isolation when a child at any age dies. TCF's mission is to "provide comfort, hope and support" to every family experiencing the death of a son or daughter, sibling or grandchild. There are 600 chapters across the country, the Atlanta chapters are in Lawrenceville, Marietta, Tucker, Duluth and Sandy Springs. Each chapter meets once a month on different days so you can attend as many as needed. There's an online newsletter and several active Facebook groups. So if you need support in the middle of the night, chances are someone else is also awake and available to chat. TCF is a group that no-one wants to belong to because you've experienced heartbreak and unspeakable tragedy. But there are people who understand because they've been there. There are no counselors, only those speaking from their own experience. It's free and even though the meetings are held at a church, it's not religious based. The Tucker chapter is the only one with a separate sibling group but siblings are welcome at any chapter meeting. When you come to your first meeting, you may see a table decorated with pictures and mementos. That means someone is celebrating their child's birthday or "angelversary." There may be a table with their sibling or grand-childs favorite dessert on it to share. You might see members wearing photo buttons with their loved one on it, provided by TCF too. A name tag might say 'Tina's sister' instead of her own name. You stand in a circle holding hands and if you are able, say why you are there. You're told that everything is confidential and that you aren't there to give advice but to share what works for you. Then, you are split up into small groups to share, cry or be silent and comforted. Because the first group can be immensely hard, you're encouraged to visit at least three times. There is a lending library with helpful resources on grief and people often make bookmarks or gifts for holidays, they may give a rose or send a card on your loved ones birthday. There is a candle light vigil in December. There is an amazing annual convention every year that is reasonably priced. An Amazon Smile page allows you to choose TCF Atlanta as your charity so a percentage of the proceeds will go there. As a nonprofit, it's entirely donation based and it's a lifeline to families in need. In short, TCF offers no judgement for grieving families, only comfort, love and support. "There are no strangers at TCF meetings, only friends you haven't met yet."

Valene Ashia is an exceptional web designer. She is attentive, helpful and very easy to work with…read more She communicates well and is dedicated to getting the job done correctly. She listened to exactly what I wanted and added her own ideas which were fantastic. With super-fast delivery and great end results, she even made modifications upon request and in a very timely manner. You will not be disappointed! High quality work!

Beautiful re-design of our nonprofit website that communicates our mission, tells our story and…read moreprovides a better experience for our visitors. Seamless integration of a donor software that allows us to collect donations directly from our website as well as implementation of SSL that provides us with a more secure site for our donors. Valene Ashia created a more modern, impactful and user-friendly design for our site. We are extremely satisfied with the level of professionalism, customer service and on-time delivery that was provided. Our dedicated designer communicated with us every step of the way. We love the new site! Thank you!

Difficult to find & apparently NOT open on Sunday despite Yelp & Google saying otherwise. No sign…read moreon the door with actual hours. GPS leads to Chevron, but the store is right next door (I drove in circles thinking I was missing it).

From the owner: Thrift It Atlanta is a 501 C3 nonprofit. We help with domestic violence and homelessness. Your…read moredonations and purchases help make our greater Atlanta area a better community. The founder of Thrift It Atlanta was a domestic violence victim for 17 years. This affected her in a tremendous way. Women and domestic violence are often stuck or end up, homeless to get out. She opened Thrift It Atlanta to help others like herself.