Room to Grow is an incredible organization that helps pregnant women in need. Women are referred by…read moretheir prenatal doctors and then begin check ins with RTG every three months starting from their third trimester. Check in includes everything from teaching women how to hold their child to making sure their child gets books/toys and age/weather appropriate clothing. The games and toys are not only fun but RTG makes sure that they help children through their developmental stages. Visits continue until the child turns 3. As a volunteer, I helped sort through donated clothes. To RTG, it's important that families get new or almost new clothing.. so anything with any kind of stains/rips are either donated to the Salvation Army or thrown away. To ensure privacy, clients are generally not around when volunteers go in to help. I thought the staff was super friendly and that time totally flew by while sorting. Mostly because I'm easily amused by children's clothing and you'll definitely see some costumes, fancy dresses, and outfits you wished were in your size. The space itself is filled with donations (although they could always use more.. heh) but it's also organized, well lit, and kind of puts a smile on your face as you look around. :) To help this amazing organization, contact them to donate, organize a drive, or even host a "baby shower". Their location in Back Bay is accessible by both the green line (Copley) and the orange line (Back Bay). http://www.roomtogrow.org/

Great place to volunteer and you'll always do something different. There are a lot of donations to…read moresort through and the coordinator has a heart of gold and will make the best of any situation. You could be sorting toys, clothes, organizing shelves, etc and at the end of the day the office area looks nice for the future/new parents to come into the next day.

I am thankful for the hard work performed by the entire staff to allow seniors with medical issues…read moreto eat. The Driver(s) are incredibly reliable, empathetic and helpful. Nutrition Services listen, make suggestions and are willing to make menus changes when I need extra help. The food is good and the portion sizes are huge. Without this service Id still be buying, and waiting, whatever I can afford, not necessarily health conscious decisions. If I had one suggestion re: Community Servings Id ask for menus medically tailored for IBD, softer, or pureed food easy to digest. Otherwise, 6 Stars. ​

very kind and accommodating as they can be to address individuals needs. I am grateful to have…read morehad the service while I needed it. Thank you

Kudos to the volunteers at Rosie's Place, however & unfortunately, the individual answering the…read morephones provided inaccurate information that wasted my time & wherewithal getting to Rosie's Place. Moreover, the employee working at the front or the intake area was extremely unprofessional with her assumptions that I should have known the protocol & procedures in donating. Clearly, I did not as I was following the incorrect instructions provided to me over the phone. Nor be told in a condescending manner to "walk down the street to Goodwill or Salvation Army"...I walk myself back to the parking lot & along the street blessing individuals who were in need as I waited for my Uber. I applaud the charge of any shelter nurturing the betterment of others, expressly as a former shelter occupier & volunteer. Nevertheless, all employees/volunteers should know the basic processes when representing a temporary housing environment, specifically if there are non-wavering guidelines to adhere to. After viewing Rosie's Place website, I unreservedly celebrate the overall mission on behalf of transitional individuals.

Rosie's Place has and always will be a needed place for women. Yes it's changed staff over the…read moreyears but the LOVE is still inside from the ladies who use the services to the staff and countless volunteers who have come thru the doors GOD BLESS I will never forget my times in here .

Volunteered here with One Brick and while it was kind of chaos at the start (putting the food in…read morethe appropriate boxes) it ended up going well and was nice to be able to directly see the impact that you're having. Overall you'll be sorting food then helping the people pick up the food that they want and figure out how much of each food item they can have.

I've been around a good deal of volunteer organizations in the greater Boston area. It breaks up my…read moredays when all I want to do is sleep in late and waste away in front of my computer playing games. Harvest Food Pantry is a small operation out of the Cambridgeport Baptist Church and it does it's best to serve poor in our neighborhood every first and third Saturday. I wake up (or at least try to) at 7am to get here for 9 in the morning. That in itself is a huge feat, mostly because as I said I'm lazy. But I really, do enjoy these volunteer opportunities as it makes me think I'm not being completely selfish with my free time. Usually, you come in the morning, let the volunteer at the front desk know you're here to help then you head down to the basement where there's never a shortage of things to do. I've been here with One Brick, Boston Cares also helps out here once and a while. But I've also been here by myself. You don't need to sign-up or register to help here, just try to get here on time and be ready to work. There is no commitment but, if you wanted to make one or do more than just Saturday help they've got other roles you can participate in. Anyways, after you sort food and bags and maybe some clothes you head up to the waiting area where all the people who came by for food are waiting. You then escort someone down to the basement who will then shop from the available food products available at the pantry. They've got a really good system setup and let people take food according to family size. During this time you're either carrying bags for the people shopping or downstairs restocking. It's all over pretty quick, usually it's an hour setting up, an hour helping the patrons and an hour breaking everything down. Now the reason for the 4 stars is because I think that because this is a volunteer run outlet sometimes the people working the administrative side forget to order stuff, like fruits and bread and this has happened on more than one occasion that I'd been here so that effects the families that need help more than my own volunteer experience but yeah there's room for improvement.

They also have a pretty big used book section. They have a person you can contact to set up…read moredelivery, I don't know the prices. The furniture varies on prices and some are pretty good condition, some are banged up or missing a chair ( table sets) but overall I think it's worthwhile to shop or donate there.

This is used to be such a fun place to shop, but when I was there recently the two bro-dudes behind…read morethe counter were too busy scrolling on their phones or making snide comments at the customers' expense to be of much help. There was one young woman on the floor who was working, and the folks around back at the dock were available to help us load things. But the behavior or the bro-dudes at the front was so off-putting that not only do I not want to go back now, I really can't recommend this location to anyone. As for value, only bother to go if you can afford to haul off the big ticket items on your own. This store contracts with a delivery service -- a man of one -- who is expensive and no so easy. His delivery fee alone makes "what a deal!" less of a steal. I really miss the Habitat for Humanity Restore that used to be in Peabody. Everyone who worked there was a gem. And their delivery service was affordable.

Admittedly, sometimes we need a fire under our asses to get up and do the things we want to do, be…read morethe people we want to be. OYFP is a match for all young profs that want to "do good" but are commitment 'tarded fools and/or don't want to get deep in the trenches. They host monthly events to benefit local charities by getting buzz going about these honorable endeavors. I recently attended a wine tasting event at an art gallery downtown and the crowd was smiling and supportive. Basically you pay a bit, get to drink and feel good about spending some scrilla knowing it's going to the right place. Plus their volunteer staff is a dynamic, awesome and gorgeous bunch!

It's because of On Your Feet Project that I've been able to:…read more Meet like minded people Meet NEW people Drink at their events around the city Learn how to make pasta and ravioli FROM SCRATCH(!) -- AWESOME Feel good about drinking and eating pasta and meeting people. Why? Why not? On Your Feet Project is a wonderful organziation that benefits local charites. What's not to like?

If you're looking to work hard as a volunteer, the American Red Cross Food Pantry is the place…read more Especially on days when they're distributing food to clients. I was here on a Wednesday morning. Including the other group of volunteers (that my group didn't know) I'd say there were about 25 of us. So if you're looking for a big group activity, distribution day is your ticket. And for the the 4ish hours that we were there, I think we were busy about 98% of the time.. which for those frequent volunteers out there.. isn't always the case on site. Just a little background, the food pantry is in Roxbury. Easily reachable by T or tons of buses. From their website, it says their clients include "senior citizen immigrants, single parents, families in transition, low-income families, homeless individuals, and those living with HIV." Those that qualify can come in for groceries once a month if they meet the USDA guidelines. They must present an ID for each member of the household. Being curious, I checked the USDA website and interestingly enough, post college and pre - full time job I could have qualified for food assistance. Hmm.. We arrived around 8 AM and the day started off with packing "wet bags". Those coming in for food get a wet bag (veggies/salad/etc.), a dry bag (cereal/pasta/Slim Jims/etc), a can bag (more veggies/tomato sauce/etc), and a protein (that day it was beef and whole turkeys for families of 2 or more). Families with babies may also qualify for baby food but everyone pretty much gets the same thing. Later on, I was in the distributing line. Clients check in to the computer and then they come over with a laminated card stating how many family members they have. So of course, the more family members.. the more bags. It can get a bit hectic and it takes some coordination but you get the hang of it. After 12PM, is lock down. Things get put away and the place gets a good sweeping. It was a very interesting experience. The people walking in didn't seem like they needed "assistance". It was generally a diverse population with mostly minorities but they weren't dressed in a certain way, a few had cars, and one guy was listening to an iPod. One of the coordinators said that people would come in and say that they just lost their job earlier that week or this little bit of groceries is what gets them by. Many come every month without fail. In these difficult times, I can definitely see how a few days of groceries can make all the difference. Especially for a family. The coordinators said they saw a record number of people this Thanksgiving. We actually served 400 people that day (and that doesn't include the 1-9+ family members they were picking up food for). So as you can see, every hour of your time can make a world of difference. You can volunteer by yourself or with a group. OR you can run a food drive at your school or job. See the website for details and contacts.

Wow! I had a GREAT volunteer experience here. I went on a Wednesday morning from 8:30a-12 with…read moreBoston Cares. It's (the Red Cross Food Pantry) one of the most efficiently run, friendly, "helping" organizations I've seen. They get the people in and out QUICKLY, and with bags of NICE, QUALITY foods, not just some old beat up cans and a bag of beans. The Red Cross Staff is wonderful, and they will have something for you to do- be it helping to distribute bags of groceries, assisting with line control, packing bags, etc. They begin ON TIME, and end ON TIME If you need assistance, this is also a GREAT place to come. Not a lot of hassle, just basic stuff to be sure you need services, you're treated with friendliness and dignity, and as mentioned, you don't get crapola, you get GOOD, healthy food. In order to feed as many people as possible, you can only come once a month. 5 STARS! BRAVO, Red Cross!

I agreed to be a Loader. A Loader, I was told, had to have the ability to lift at least 50-70…read morepounds for three hours. Naturally, I saw this as a challenge, and I accepted. The Greater Boston Food bank employs 14,500 volunteers and provides 19.5 million meals to 320,000 people in New England annually, not just Boston. Volunteers allow the GBFB to defer nearly $600,000 in payroll costs. Wow. Volunteers help in many ways, but mainly by inspecting, sorting and re-packing food at the Roxbury warehouse. Here is what my team accomplished in an afternoon shift: . Number of volunteers: 43 . Total pounds of food sorted: 10,412 (Ten Thousand Pounds!) . Total pounds of food salvaged: 8,330 . Pounds of food sorted per volunteer: 194 . Meals made possible per volunteer: 149 . Total meals made possible by NAIOP volunteers: 6,407 There are many ways to help. You can donate money. You can donate food. You can volunteer for a less physically demanding job. Just do something.

If you're looking for a place to volunteer, this is it. Good for singles or groups. Call ahead,…read moresign in, get ready to sort. Huge new clean place used to sort donated food. It's awesome. You get a rundown on food safety, what to look for, how the process works, then you're off to the main room to sort. It's actually kinda fun. And the facility is nice and new so it's definitely safe and good. Bonus - they feed you expired candy and crap after you're done! Yay!?