I volunteered for the 'Disney Give a Day, Get a Day' program, and painted a house with Hands On…read moreOrlando. I used to volunteer a lot, then got out of it as I got older, and was happy to have volunteering put in the forefront of the news with Disney. I knew the volume of people signing up for events, and was pleasantly surprised when I painted a house with Hands On Orlando. The day consisted of painting four houses, with 100 volunteer expected. The HOO coordinator was very organized, arrived early and was very friendly. There was a HOO coordinator for each house, and one who monitored the whole project. They were very clear in their directions, and made a very humid day painting a house in not a great neighbor hood a great experience. Being an annual passholder for Disney, I wasn't worried about the processing time for the receipt of the Disney voucher, and yet it was in my email by Tuesday. Its kind of sad, the coordinator said that the month before, for the same event they had only twenty volunteers, and now all their events are full. While we appreciate all the Disney is doing to help communities, I sure wish more people would volunteer without having to be bribed, and I can't wait til we do it again!

Amazing organization! I love the Hands On network!…read more When I lived in Nashville, I frequently volunteered with Hands on Nashville to sort and create bags of groceries for those in the area living with AIDS. I was also a captain for Hands on Nashville Day, where we painted and spruced up a local high school, and even helped out at the animal shelter a few times. When I moved back to O-town I was super excited to find a local Hands On chapter. There is truly something for everyone here. Whether you like to work with your hands and get dirty, or just sit and hang out with some at-risk kids, or play with the puppies and kitties at the local shelter, Hands on Orlando has a huge network of opportunities, linking you with others who share your passions and organizations that run on the support of volunteers. To sing up, they keep things super simple. Log on to www.handsonorlando.com, create an account, then click on the calendar, and click on the event you wish to volunteer for. A quick sign up and print off of the waiver (or your coordinator can give you one at the time of the event), and you are good to go! The volunteer coordinators are super fun and work well with the organizations to ensure a smooth-flowing but fun volunteer experience. Since I've been back in Orlando, I have had the pleasure of volunteering with Coalition for the Homeless, Clean the World, and even the City of Casselberry through Hands on Orlando. This is a great way to get to know all the awesome local groups that take care of our community. I encourage everyone to find at least one Saturday morning a month to give back in 2015!

I wish I would have read all of the terrible reviews across various platforms, apps, and websites…read moreabout this rescue before I contacted them. I had the most bizarre, backwoods, deliverance music interaction with Pam. There aren't enough characters allowed in a Yelp review to even grace the surface of what a disaster this rescue is. They are highly unprofessional, they don't do what they say they are going to do, they have zero consideration, empathy, or respect for potential adopters, very unorganized, not thorough when assessing adopters, they do not do their due diligence, and Pam is an absolute nightmare. The things she said to me truly blew me away and left me speechless. Her behavior and comments were wildly inappropriate and disturbing. I can say from experience, all of the reviews about her are 100% accurate. She lacks considerable knowledge about dog behavior, dog health, animal rescue in general, and backyard breeding/puppy mills. She was erratic on the phone, oddly hyper and agitated, and jumping from passive aggressive to laughing at her "jokes". It was wild. There is something very, very wrong with this rescue and Pam.

I received a call from Gail. She is the foster for the dog I was interested in. I want to preface…read moreby explaining that I have worked in rescue all of my life. I know how things work, policies, procedures, etc. I have been looking for a new dog to adopt for nearly 3 months. I have talked to dozens of rescues in that time on the phone and have had many meet and greets. All have been professional and friendly. To my surprise, this was not my experience with Gail. It was clear to me right away that she had not reviewed my application which is strange. I told her I was two hours and 15 minutes away because she didn't search my address to see where I lived. I told her what I did for work, who lived in the home, etc. I have a list of questions that I ask. These are simple questions like "how does she do with grooming? Noticed any aggression?" These are just some examples. After just a few questions, I asked another question and Gail snapped, very irritated, "you could be asking these questions at a meet and greet, but" and then went on to answer the question. This response took me back a bit. It was maybe 5 minutes in. Things seemed fine up until then. I acted as though she didn't say it and proceeded with my questions. Foster to potential adopter conversations are for asking questions. The meet and greet is to MEET the dog. Rescues that are reputable and responsible want potential adopters to ask as many questions as possible before the meet and greet for dozens of reasons. Some of the top reasons are to see if you are serious, to see if they even want to do a meet and greet with you, to see if they are wasting your time or there's, to see if you are truly a good fit, etc. Questions should be encouraged. Adopting a dog is a huge decision. Gail kept pushing me, not subtly, to stop asking questions and just come to her house. It was weird. You want me to drive 4 1/2 hours round trip to take time out of your day to ask you simple questions about a dog that you are fostering that could be asked right now? This is what I was thinking to myself. One simple question that she answers or I answer could tell us right now if it's a good fit or not. That's the point of the phone call. I continued to redirect these abrupt, passive aggressive, and unusual comments back to the dog. The purpose of the phone call. To get information about the dog. The entire time I was on the phone, the dog was whining. At one point, Gail called her an idiot which made me uncomfortable and feel sad. I asked Gail one more question, how has the dog been with her cats? Gail said, "fine, they just ignore each other". As with all other rescues I've spoken with, I requested video of the interaction to be texted to me to ensure my cat's safety. She laughed out loud for several seconds. Over the top, belly laughing. Like it was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. I feel bad for her cats if that's how little she thinks of a cat's life and safety. I love my cat and the least I can do as her mom is to ensure that a dog that I am bringing into our home will not hurt her. I said nothing. Just sat there waiting for the madness to be over. She said, while still laughing, "I can, and I will take the video, but I just told you that she is good with cats. I have 9 of them." Instead of saying everything this miserable and angry woman clearly needs to hear, I said, "thank you so much". She said that she would send it now and to make a decision now because she needs the dog gone now. Her words exactly. I get this very grainy and fuzzy video of the dog and a cat. Just one cat in her lanai. The dog is VERY interested in the cat to the point that you can see in the video Gail actually takes her foot and nudges/kicks/taps her in the butt to get her to stop interacting with cat. There was no ignoring, it was a lot of interest. Gail's voice got very irritated with this poor dog and it was clear to me that there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. The video ended as she went to go into her house, saying that she's looking for more cats to record. Never got a second video thinking that this tiny grainy video surely wasn't all. It was. After my bizarre interaction with Gail I went online and did some digging on this rescue. I found some interesting things. A very concerning article from a news source and dozens of negative reviews about Gail and Pam in particular which did not surprise me in the least. Lots of negative reviews about how they are running this "rescue" as well. I've copied an article. It documents many instances of the county and officers having to intervene and question the rescue on a variety of issues, policy violations, and illegal activity. https://www.wftv.com/news/9-investigates/9-investigates-animal-rescue-under-review-by-orange-county-animal-services/486214273/?outputType=amp There is something not right with these people. I am genuinely worried about this dog's safety and wellbeing and the other animals in their care.

I saw that Northland's Serve Day this spring had a project to help NHFK and signed up right away -…read moreI've heard of them but never had any details. So about 18 of us went over a Saturday morning in March. Gloria took us on a little tour and explained more about what she and her organization does. The big part of their work is with grieving kids who have lost a loved one in the family. The big house they have in Maitland would host these kids and their family, with professionals helping with counselling, grief-/anger-management, and recreation that will give their souls a measure of respite. The other, smaller, part of their work is along the lines of "Make-A-Wish", where kids with serious/terminal illness and their family go to NHFK to have a wish come true. Very touching, meaningful, work. I would encourage you to seek out their website at NewHopeForKids.org. Perhaps you'll have a heart to support them with your time/energy/resources. I hope I still have my photos...

Sign up to volunteer with a group or as an individual. Today in less than 3 hours my women's…read morehistory month group was able to package 13,000lbs of food which will impact over 11,000 people next week. The staff and volunteers are amazing, the work they do is needed and the systems they have in place makes it simple and easy to make a difference!

Went for an event here today and couldn't have been more impressed. Ian showed us the facility and…read moreexplained the breadth of 2nd harvests' outreach. As a group us yelpers relabeled and organized 4 pallets of cereal. It was a well organized and impressive undertaking. I am so excited to Geri evolved with this great organization. 10/10 go on their website and sign up to help out, and if you don't have time to donate consider giving financally. Every little bit helps. You will be glad you took the opportunity to give back to your local community in a truly meaningful way

We had a work event here after eating lunch at Cafe Boutique which was 0.2 miles away. I made a…read morequick passby when heading to lunch to ensure there was enough parking and there was. I walked in and was directed to one of the large conference areas in the rear area which had plastic chairs all set in place for the large bunch of our group. The bathroom was very interesting in that they offer a lot of stalls but the handing washing basins are all on the outside, two for the women and two for the men's side.

Came here for a single basketball game! 15 dollars to watch one basketball game! You can get UCF…read moretickets for cheaper! For it to be called a community center charging people these outrageous prices is a shame!

My kids have a heart to help the community and unfortunately, we missed the cutoff to fill shoe…read moreboxes for Operation Christmas Child, I just had to find something else we could participate in! I visited Feeding Children Everywhere's site, and saw an event at their headquarters in Longwood. I easily signed up my family of four for a one hour slot this past Saturday morning. We arrived a few minutes before our designated time. We were greeted at the door and immediately provided a hairnet. We killed a few minutes by looking at the merchandise available at the front. After a short briefing, we were divided up and sent to a table. We were given simple tasks and trained quickly. The meal we were assigned to put together was Hamburger Hero. It consisted of pasta noodles, vegetables and a special seasoning. I love that this is a volunteer opportunity the whole family can participate in. Kids get to scoop, pour, fill bags through a funnel... my boys both were in charge of weighing the bags after they were filled. They either had to add food, or remove it depending on what the scale said. They had a blast! The fun part was that their was Christmas music blasting and a friendly competition of who could fill up the most boxes. Each time a box was filled, we would ring a bell and the whole room would cheer. So much fun! We felt good that we did at least a SMALL part of helping fight hunger. Please do the same and sign up when you can.

I had the opportunity to volunteer with a wonderful non-profit organization that works to create a…read morehunger free world. We started with placing hair nets on, taking our jewelry off then cleaning our hands and those handling food placed on gloves. We assembled meals which included chicken flavored seasoning, carrots, lentils and pasta. This day we prepared over 2,000 meals. We worked in groups following the instructions of measuring the food portions and placing the food in separate serving bags. The staff was friendly and helpful. They can around often to see if we needed anything or had any questions. This organization also has an international focus working to help areas with extreme poverty towards self sustainability. Locally tbeir efforts work to support children, veterans and seniors with meals. Donations can be made or by purchasing t shirts, cups or other items. There was a lot of energy and positive reinforcement during our volunteer hour. Other opportunities are available like internships or participating with other programs. We are looking forward to participating again.

This lovely little memorial is tucked away in a small park in Altamonte, adjacent to Lake Orienta…read moreElementary school. The Angel of Hope represents a memorial for parents who have lost children. A few times a year groups of parents and families come together to have a candlelight vigil at this park. It's peaceful and quiet, tucked in a subdivision.

My deceased daughter owned a Habitat for Humanity home in Sanford Fl. She committed suicide and the…read morelives of my 2 grandkids were also taken. in the midst of this unspeakable loss- Habitat, who doesn't own the home- illegally changed the locks to keep me from gathering the sentimental items left of my daughter and grandkids. Penny Seater and Kelly P were instrumental in making my tragedy a bigger pain by having the locks changed illegally. The bank that holds the mortgage confirmed that Habitat had no legal right to change the locks. they did so in spite and it's very illegal and hateful. I would never donate or do business with this chapter of Habitat for Humanity- these are horrible people

I was provided with a nice shirt to wear that matches our team our team got fed a very nice Publix…read morebox lunch however that was the hardest work I've ever had to do physically. I physically was putting a house up with blocks of wood that were very heavy and my nail gun well, I will say I was scared of it. This was in July I was roasting and got a little overheated and had to rest. I'm happy to help again when a team gets together but I now know what to say yes to and what to say no to. Don't get me wrong I love doing the hard stuff but I don't think I was physically fit enough to really do a good job. So next time I need to be like inside the house painting the walls and air-conditioning.

I work Mon-Fri until late & Mustard Seed is far from my home but I needed to donate some blankets…read moreand comforters. So grateful for the drop off containers. There are two right outside the gates. This makes it easier for all who can to help out with donations. Times are hard & everyone needs a little help.

Very friendly, helpful staff. I did not know that they took furniture, clothes, food items,…read more toiletries any thing a family could use. They made me feel so good about donating I wanted to bring more.