Returning volunteer here from located in Encino days. It's great place to volunteer except power tripping middle age women. I wanted to grab a cup of coffee before starting to volunteer. However, this middle age woman stopped me that it's not good time right now. Making or grabbing a cup of coffee is not good time!!!! Not sure who put her in charge of break room. Huge turn off, I am not in her house or personal space!!!! I will be returning to volunteer , but will avoid her. read more

When I saw Operation Gratitude's post on Facebook that they needed volunteer for sorting & packing supplies for Hurricane Harvey's victims... I AM ALL IN!!! This non-profit is so close to my heart. They have shipped thousands & thousands of care packages to our war soldiers for many years. But whenever our community needs help... they are always there for them!! Thanks to all the donors and volunteers for donating items and their valuable times to help out. It is all about "team work"!! Operation Gratitude brings our communities together, doing meaningful things for other people. read more

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Patriotism is alive and well at Operation Gratitude. I've been volunteering with OpGrat for about 3 years now and I love it. I started after my fiance got back from Iraq as a way to honor those who are still there. I saw what a toll it can take. Anyone can volunteer to help by visiting their website or Facebook page and getting the schedule. I go on "Assembly" days, usually a Saturday from 9am to 4pm. They have two shifts 9-12 & 1-4. Lunch is always provided - donated by local restaurants (Buca di Beppo, Sharky's, etc.). At the end of the first shift, Caroline Blashek, the founder of Operation Gratitude, takes a microphone and thanks everyone, reading some of the letters recently received by package recipients. I usually cry at some point during those speeches. They are so moving and touching. They do the pledge of allegiance (no longer done in schools) and sing the National Anthem. Everyone sings. It is so rewarding to be there surrounded by so much love and support. I really renews your faith in your fellow man. I like seeing the Disney "Volunt-ears", Boy and Girl Scouts, company people in their matching shirts, and just random people who often are going for the first time - parent & child, friends, just wanting to do something to help. The jobs aren't hard and it's really fun. They play upbeat music and I end up singing along and dancing as I push boxes down an assembly line, or fill out custom forms with the name of the lucky man or woman who gets the box of goodies. I also like to take a break by sitting down in a quiet area and write thank you cards and letters. They try to get at least one in every box they send out. You can also collect letters and cards at work, school, or just do them at home & bring them in. They have a list of needed items on their website. The boxes are filled with lots of cool things: DVDs, CDs, books, Girl Scout cookies, candy, toys, cards & stationary, toiletry items, chapstick, energy boosts, hats, handmade cool ties or scarves, and lots of other things. Thousands of boxes are sent out each day. It's exciting to see the mail trucks drive in and take the boxes out - packed and shipped the same day. They have also started a new program called "battle buddies" that sends a care package and stuffed toy to the children of deployed servicemen and women. It's a worthwhile and important organization and you will not be sorry you went. Hope to see you there! read more

I enjoyed my very first visit to Operation Gratitude about a month ago! I helped out in their warehouse with installing shipping boxes to ready them for putting items in them, and then later placing items in those care packages. It all took place over 3 hours. I was first very aware of the great things they do through becoming more familiar with veterans-based organizations at my workplace. I signed up to volunteer through the UCLA Volunteer Center for its December 2018 "One Bus, One Cause" event there. I was among about 800 volunteers from various groups who participated that day. Some things to remember before you go in to volunteer there: * Parking is limited, so you may want to carpool, be dropped off, or park down the street and walk up * Photo ID to show to security * Keep your possessions in your car; they don't have a place to store your items * Sign a release waiver (they have it on their website) * Lead volunteers in the blue shirts do provide handy tips to make your job easier, so do keep an open mind * Various jobs while there: Fill care packages (most popular), make paracord bracelets, stuff teddy bears for the kids of our troops, write letters to our troops, or perform a quality review of those letters I may try the paracord bracelets or stuffing bears on my next visit! read more

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Operation Gratitude is an amazing nonprofit organization based in the San Fernando Valley that supports all branches of the military by sending care packages to individual service members while they are stationed overseas. The care packages contains goodies donated from companies and individuals, such as candy, toiletries, magazines, CDs, as well as a handwritten letter by volunteers. In the summer, packages usually contain handmade cool ties to help keep service members cool in the hot deserts. In the winter, handmade scarves and hats are usually included. Each package is individually labeled to a specific deployed service member because the military will not deliver an package without a name because of security. It also makes the package more personal from sender to receiver. You can volunteer with as an individual or with a group. First, read their volunteer page (http://www.opgratitude.com/volunteer_hours.php), then contact OpGratVolunteer@yahoo.com to sign up to volunteer and get the physical location of the Armory (they do not include it on their website for security purposes). Of course, you can always help by donating money. Each care package costs $15 to send USPS, and sometimes crates of packages sit waiting to be funded for shipping. They're a responsible nonprofit, and you can even view their financial statements on their website if you're that curious. To find out ways to help in the efforts of Operation Gratitude, visit www.OpGratitude.com, and click on "How You Can Help." Personally, I've been working with them for years now... I have family and many friends that have served in the military. Operation Gratitude makes a difference to those receiving care packages, and those working on the assembly of them. My favorite jobs are writing letters and writing packing slips. It's emotional expressing gratitude in a letter to a person you've never met. It's moving seeing the names of the service people to whom the packages are being sent. Over the years, Operation Gratitude has had a lot of success, but they're always grateful for more help. Take the time out to learn more and stop on by during an assembly weekend. It's so fun, and so rewarding! read more

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Large facility. Seems pretty well organized with their storage warehouse. Their volunteer organizing could use improvement to be more efficient for large groups. The event I went to had over a thousand volunteers. And one "job" was to take a box and walk around the center of the warehouse holding the box to be stuffed with goodies for the troops. I'm sorry but couldn't we be doing something more? Also, there needs to be more consistent training for their crew members. One guy told us one way, a lady told us another way, then a more outspoken lady overruled it all and basically scolded us that we were doing a process wrong. I'd understand if it were a process to help with safety or efficiency. But we were just stuffing mailers for the troops! Volunteering is supposed to be fun not bootcamp. Kept the rating at four star because it's a great cause. But I hope they have more training on people skills and efficiency management. read more

Responding to Kim F. you clearly were not there because I did neither of those things unless on break. Sure everyone uses their phone, the entire place is texting half of the time instead of working. I was doing my volunteer service and was told to do things which required physical labor when I brought paper work stating I had a injury. I was told to do that labor or "Find another place " by Tina the director of volunteers. You have to have me mistaken with someone else, dont accuse people if you are not sure. I like their organization and respect them, but their director of volunteering is careless and rude, and respectfully this is not your business anyway this is between me and the organization. read more

have been reading some reviews of people volunteering and it sounds like someone should pay attention to the person that is getting all the complaints. That type of personality doesn't need to be working with the public, especially people who are working for free. Also there aren't many current reviews and they are mostly good. To me that says that the sproblem has not been addressed but the bad reviews are being deleted. You are to good a project to handle things this was. I had reported a problem with the Amazon wish list...I got a nice reply explaining some items had been added by hackers..Okay then correct it, as of 2 wks later nothing had been done. As long as its like that I won't be sending any products...soldiers loss..What a shane I hope they get there act todether after al this is over. I appreciate this Opertion so much and love to contribute and want to keep helping. I'm in IN and can't personally help but I do it in my own was Please don't abuse your volunteers or let someone who's using it as a power trip turn away te good people who are wantig to help read more

This amazing wonderful charity prepares packages for the military and First responders, provides battalion buddy bears for children of deployed troops and provides services and goods for wounded Warriors, veterans and even their care givers. This wonderful charity is so worthwhile that I love volunteering for them. Their website provides a wishlist for donations as well as assembly days and everything you wanted to know about them. Their YouTube videos are amazing and touching. www.operationgratitude.com, #operationgratitude read more

I had the opportunity to volunteer at Operation Gratitude today as part of what my company calls 'We Care Give Back'. They give us 4 paid days a year to volunteer & give back to the community. I was really excited to volunteer at this event in particular because the cause is dear to my heart; I have friends & family that have served and still serve and I felt that in some small way I'd be saying THANK YOU to all the service men, women & their families for all that they do for us. The day started with us filling care packages with candy (yes, candy)...tons and tons of candy. I've never seen so much candy in my life! There were HUGE bins filled with it. I love how everyone just rolled their sleeves up and got to work, filling in where needed. Such great teamwork! I loved it. So once the candy was gone (we filled over 1,000 boxes with it) they took out huge bins filled with t-shirts to sort through (to weed out the inappropriate ones). Not as much fun as the candy, but interesting nonetheless. There's so many other items that go in the packages such as dental kits, hand knitted scarves, beanie babies, personal hygiene kits, calendars, books, etc. Good stuff. They welcome donations & volunteers 12 years of age and older with open arms, so do check out their website & stop by and volunteer when you can. As for me, I can't wait to do it again. I have a newfound respect for hard labor, I'll tell you that much! haha. :) read more

I supported this wonderful cause by helping pack supplies for the troop during operation gratitude event!!

If you ever get a chance to volunteer here, just say yes. This group sends care packages to military personnel to say thanks. Sometimes you will be unpacking the goods into big bins, but it sounds like most of the time people come to pack the care packages. They set it up as a huge assembly line and they usually have a ton of volunteer groups. The day I went, which was the saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, there was over 600 people in the morning and a bit less in the afternoon. There were two long lines of people walk across tables with boxes getting the items to put in them then another set of tables where they were taping the boxes up and labeling them with the addresses and stickers from Operation Gratitude. Then there was another set up outside where they were filling out the customs forms. Luckily it was a rather mild day in May, so it wasn't too hot in the warehouse, but my co-workers that came the year before (the same Memorial Day saturday) it was over 100 and they were dying from the heat, so keep that in mind if you are really sensitive to overheating. They had little cups for water out of big coolers, but there is no food available on the premises, except when the food trucks arrive. You cannot bring any bags, I did see some ladies with small crossbody bags, but basically if you can't put it in your pockets, leave it at home or in the car. read more

The amount of love at this place is wonderful and contagious. We dropped off a few cases of trick or treat candy that we didn't give out. They had about 30 people all pitching in to help support our troops in all branches of the military. If you get a chance - they have a wish list. What a nice place to help make a difference. If you have left overs from your company give aways - think of these people. It's a nice way to say 'thank you.' read more

Operation Gratitude is an amazing organization. Assembly days (where volunteers come in to assemble thousands of care packages for deployed troops, first responders, and/ or veterans) are truly amazing experiences. From the research I've done, the percentage of every dollar donated that goes toward the care packages (as opposed to salaries and travel) is very high, compared to other nonprofits. These are great people. There is so much love that goes into these care packages. I would encourage anyone to come out and volunteer and donate to this great cause! They really take pride in showing the military how much complete strangers take pride in their service and value all of their hard work and sacrifices. read more

And, away we go!! After moving to a new location, come and see the new setup. Currently during assembly days, there have been three lines running. Waiting lives have been shorter (I think). Please check out the web site for volunteer opportunities. read more

Operation Gratitude - 8000 packages! - Community Service/Non-Profit Near Me - Chatsworth, California

I really don't like writing negative reviews for a community service experience but this was very disappointing. I give it 2 stars instead of 1 just because it's for a great cause. My wife and I had signed up a week before and arrived on a Saturday. They had their own parking lot, something their website failed to mention which would have been nice to know, but it was full anyway so we had to park 10 minutes away, which was fine as I was sure there would be lots of people volunteering. As we enter the compound, there's a huge line of people just to get into the building so we join the line not knowing where it leads to and hoping this is the right line as other first timers seem just as lost as us and follow everyone else. It would have helped of someone was there guiding people where to go. After waiting 45 minutes in line we finally reach a point where other people were grabbing boxes, some took 2 each some took one so we just took one each not knowing how many we could take (again, no one was there to tell us what we were supposed to do so everyone just followed each other grabbing boxes). Finally after almost an hour, volunteers are lined up across a long table filling our boxes for us as we take our boxes across each table and then once our box is filled they handle the rest and our job is done. That's it!!! After an hour of waiting that's all we get to do. We walk outside and saw other people lining up to do it all again. No way were we going to wait another hour just to fill one box. Not only was this poorly organized but the communication was terrible from the beginning. This was a complete waste of time and we won't be returning but instead going to other volunteer opportunities where we can actually volunteer. read more

If you haven't donated any items to this amazing place yet, you gotta do it soon! I just adore these people and all their hard work. We yearly participate in the Halloween candy drive. Each year we are welcomed with a smiling face and thanks for all our collecting. But, our thanks is to these great people who work so hard getting these packages packed and sent out to the troops! If you drop items off, take a look around and see all the hard work that goes into all these packages! You are amazing people and we are so thankful for all that you do! read more

I have never been spoken to so rudely as I was by CINDY at operation gratitude. Her choice of words was in inhumane, degrading, illegal and sexist. She is a horrible face of such a beautiful operation. She is barely competent, computer illiterate and has no control over her emotions. She is definitely not someone that should have any authority over other human beings, as she can't even get a grip on herself. read more

I have volunteered many times at Operation Gratitude. Their staff and other volunteers are very helpful, polite, and great to be around. I have worked in the warehouse, made paracord bracelets, quality controlled battalion buddies, and a variety of other tasks during the week. I have also volunteered on their assembly days. I always feel grateful after I volunteer there. I have read some other reviews and I saw the one Shant A. posted. I was actually there one day when you volunteered. Doing community service by playing on your phone and eating and walking around is not volunteering. All the other volunteers that day were working hard to make a difference and help out this great organization. It looks like this was not the place you wanted to be. read more

A very well organized and popular event for families. Unfortunately it's probably too popular. You line up and grab two boxes, walk it down an assembly line as things get dumped into it. The line is usually out the door and around the corner sometimes. Go to the second shift if you want less of a wait. Or go into the back and assemble other bracelets or cards. It would also be nice if they could have more then a couple of lunch trucks so you could be volunteering instead of waiting in a line for 30-45 minutes. It would also be nice if they could switch out the people behind the assembly line every hour or two so that they don't have all the fun. read more

I have to thank Carolyn and Rich Hernandez for supporting the 40thmp company with tons of candy that was donated to our troops! The kindness and generosity that was shown was amazing. I had the opportunity of visiting and I was treated so kindly with a tour of the operation. It is truly a wonderful experience to see what the volunteers do to get packages out to the Soldiers. Thank you for all you do!!! read more

Fun place to give back!!! The staff is friendly and they provide great clear instructions to get the job done. You might even be lucky and hear the National Anthem being sung by a local veteran, brought tears tears to my ears. Thank Operation Gratitude for giving me the opportunity to help our veterans, servicemen, women and children who get affected during war. read more

Want to volunteer and give back to U.S. military come volunteer here. Care packages assembled for all the military branches and sent all over the world. A package sent with love and best intentions. Bring kids 12 and older . Met great college students from UCLA a dad with his two sons and sat and talked with my UPS partners Lori and Raquel best 3 hours spent totally relaxing and happy! God bless the USA! read more