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.

I have to these folks a shout for doing solid work. There's a lot going on here to help low-income…read moreresidents in Cobb and Douglas Counties. Well-thought-out solutions that do more than offer simple hand-outs. There is education happening here. Job placement. Family support. Access to healthcare and other necessary resources. And yes, food. It's a well organized effort. A well-oiled machine. And there are plenty of success stories to tell. But there is always more to do. You guys know I'm not religious. Sweetwater's success is defined by the service ethic of a fantastic staff and many dedicated volunteers. They could use more help in the effort to help others. If you volunteer there, please tell them I said HI.

Great place. All volunteers. Can get free food and clothes. Have to come early. Get a number to be…read moreserve. Only serve certain number of people a day. Clean and very nice people. Always crowded. Sometimes standing room only

The Junior League of Cobb Marietta is focused on impacting individuals throughout the Cobb Marietta…read morearea. This is a strictly volunteer based nonprofit aiming to support the local community through education and action. Great efforts to better women through leadership and service.

Heartbreaking to write this... They currently have an…read moreelderly dog that I am interested in meeting. So few people want to adopt older animals, so I expected a positive experience. What I got was...NO EXPERIENCE AT ALL. Did not respond to multiple emails/contact through the website/multiple phone calls. Literally no response at all. And they don't let you come by in person without an appointment. How do you get an appointment when no one will return your calls/emails??? Heartbreaking. For potential adopters and for the precious animals in their care.

Don't Forget Our Four Legged Friends during the CoVid-19 crisis…read more I recently dropped off 50 pounds of food and a few other items. It was super easy - I just left them near the back porch. They have a Wish List of needed donation items on their website. * Please Help These Poor Animals * The Humane Society of Cobb County is an independent, nonprofit, NO-KILL shelter. It is Not affiliated with Cobb County government, or any other local or national humane society or animal welfare organization, and they are funded primarily from donations.

We are so blessed to have Ms. Jillian share her gift and passion with our young learners at Smyrna…read moreMontessori School every week for years now. We LOVE FreedOM Youth Yoga. Jillian is full of light and it shines through every class! Our students adore her positive energy and look forward to her yoga classes every week. Jillian is joyful and energetic, playful and creative. She takes her craft very seriously and believes in the power of yoga fully and it truly shows.

From the owner: FreedOM Youth Yoga, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c) 3, organization dedicated to bringing the practice…read moreof yoga to all youth in Smyrna and Greater Atlanta. We are a mobile studio, which means we bring the yoga to wherever the participants are, specializing in Family Yoga, Preschooler Yoga, Kids’ Yoga, Teen Yoga, and Goat Yoga.

If I could give negative stars I would. This is the most poorly run operation I have ever seen…read more Getting scheduled for driving is a joke. We asked for 3 driving times, the instructor replied with 2 times, I agreed, I was then told only one was available. It took another few weeks to get my final 2 dates. We are now waiting on the certificate of completion. We were told it takes 3-5 days. SO DISAPPOINTED IN THIS PROGRAM. It is offered through our high school and it is a joke.

I signed my teenage son up and have been disappointed with this program. They are disorganized and…read moredo not clearly communicate with their students. What they don't tell you is the behind the wheel driving portion requires a separate registration from the classroom, and the driving portion is very hard to sign up for. One entire classroom day was spent with a driving simulator, except only four students got to try the simulator making it a wasted day for everyone else. The person who answers the phone cannot answer any questions and just asks you to call later. It is very poorly run. I would not recommend this program for teen drivers.

Good choice of clothes. Nice friendly staff. Good selections. Nicely organized. Clean and a safe…read moreshopping environment. Lots of parking. Spent a bit of time checking it all out. Prices good. Please donate here, it's a good one for a good cause.

I have found some really good finds at this thrift store. Stay consistent and visit often…read more Furniture seems to be a good category here.

Clothes are reasonably priced. However, you'd be better off going to an antique mall for…read morehousewares. Their prices are insanely high for a thrift store, especially one who is trying to help others. I support the mission, but I've compared prices in antique stores with the prices in that thrift store, and the antique stores have better prices. They would sell more if they lowered their prices to thrift store prices. They would make more money for their mission. I will no longer donate to this organization because I don't like what they do with their pricing.

What more is there to say. Awesome humans working there with wonderful deals to be found on some…read moreamazing items. AND all this to benefit the fight against homelessness in our communities.