The holidays are a time for giving, and what better way to spread joy than by volunteering with your kids? Beyond the gifts and celebrations, it's the perfect season to teach your children the true spirit of kindness and community. However, finding opportunities where kids can actively participate can be tricky. That’s why we’ve gathered family-friendly places where you can volunteer together this holiday season. From serving meals to helping animals, there’s a way for every family to get involved.
Note, these places could use volunteers all year round, not just during the holidays!
1. Volunteer at a Food Bank
During the holiday season, food banks are busier than ever. Help sort, package, or distribute food to families in need. Many food banks welcome children as volunteers, allowing them to see the impact of their efforts firsthand.
Common Pantry, Roscoe Village
Common Pantry established a program called Common Kids in 2014 to address the desire of parents to get their kids involved in volunteer work. Common Kids is open to kids ages 5-12.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository, Archer Heights
One Saturday per month, the Depository holds a Kids Day, in which families with children between ages 5-11 can help repack donations for Chicago-wide distribution. Groups of up to 8 volunteers are welcome with one adult per every two children. Additional Kids Days are held during winter and summer breaks.
Nourishing Hope, Various Chicago Locations
Nourishing Hope, (formerly known as The Lakeview Pantry) welcomes kids ages 9-15 to volunteer with a parent guardian. Kids ages 9-12 may be tasked with online market packing, home delivery prep and packing, or Saturday hub restock and clean. Kids age 13-17 may be involved in food distribution.
2. Deliver Meals to Those in Need
Helping to deliver meals to those in need is especially meaningful during the holidays when many people face isolation. Your family can volunteer with programs that bring food to homebound individuals, such as Meals on Wheels, or connect with local community centers or shelters that offer meal delivery services. By delivering meals, your family can provide both nourishment and a sense of connection to those who may otherwise feel alone during the holiday season.
Meals on Wheels, River North
Kids can accompany their parents while they drive around making food deliveries.
 Antoni Shkraba | Canva via Pexels |
3. Volunteer at an Animal Shelter
The holidays are also a time when animal shelters need extra help. Whether it’s reading to dogs, playing with cats, or donating items on the shelter wish list, your family can make a difference for animals in need of love and care.
Anti-Cruelty Society, River North
The Kids Who Care program invites families, with kids ages 2 and up, to join on the first Saturday of the month from 10-11:30 am to help prepare snacks for the animals, create pet toys, or decorate adoption posters. The program teaches kids the basics of pet care and animal safety. The Youth Who Care program gives tweens (ages 10-12), the opportunity to work in the shelter with the animals. Kids of any age can be a Reading Buddy. The Reading Buddy program is a drop-in volunteer program where kids read aloud to the animals to help them relax in a busy shelter environment. The Anti-Cruelty Society also has a Teens Who Care program.
Canine Therapy Corps, Logan Square
Teens ages 16 and older can bring in their own dogs to provide animal-assisted therapy to over 5,000 clients across Chicago, from hospital patients to veterans, and children with autism. If they do not have an eligible dog, they may volunteer on their own by helping with certification testing on Saturday mornings and weeknight evenings.
Equestrian Connection, Lake Forest
Volunteers can begin at age 13 walking by the side of a horse and its rider providing added comfort and security. As volunteers become more acquainted with the facility and clients, they may grow their responsibilities.
PAWS Chicago, Lincoln Park and Little Village
Volunteers ages 12 and up may join with their parents in cleaning areas of the medical or adoption centers, assist with laundry and dishes, help socialize animals, and other special projects or administrative tasks.
Treehouse Humane Society, Rogers Park
The Treehouse Humane Society is a cageless shelter for homeless cats. While on-site volunteers must be 18 years old, children are encouraged to volunteer by crafting homemade toys and enrichment supplies.
4. Participate in a Community Trash Pickup
The spirit of giving extends to caring for your community and the environment. Join a local litter cleanup event or organize your own! You can also make it a family habit to bring a trash bag along on your walks or hikes. Not only will you beautify your surroundings, but you’ll also spend meaningful time together outside as a family during the holiday season. Kids can also get involved in recycling programs.
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Families can volunteer with The Forest Preserve District of Cook County by helping remove invasive plants or harvesting native seed on Ecological Stewardship Days, or by initiating a Litter Obliterators Group Cleanup. Tools, gloves, bags, onsite safety training, and supervision are provided where necessary. Families can even Adopt-A-Site. Have a favorite grove, river, or trail you visit often? You may adopt that site by committing to visiting the site eight times between April and November to clean litter. You can visit on your own schedule. What's really fun about it, is that once you have visited three time, you may have a sign installed recognizing your family as having adopted the site.
Friends of the Chicago River, The Loop
Kids age 12 and up can become Centennial Volunteers with The Friends of the Chicago River. Spend time outdoors together while clearing the brush, and picking up litter alongside the Chicago and Calumet Rivers
The Recyclery Collective, Rogers Park
Volunteers starting at age 11 can bring in their bikes and learn how to fix them. They can then help recycle donated bikes which are distributed to refugees, low income families, and the homeless. As volunteers become more experienced, they in turn teach newcomers bicycle mechanics.
High School students should keep track of their service hours for use on college applications.
5. Donate Toys or Clothes to Kids in Need
The holiday season is the perfect time to teach children about giving by going through their wardrobes and toy boxes to find gently used items they no longer need. Encourage your kids to select toys and clothes they’ve outgrown to donate to local shelters, community centers, or organizations that support children in need. Many charities run special drives during the holidays, making it easy for families to give back and make a difference in the lives of other children. Kids and families can also put boots on the ground to help sort and distribute donations.
Cradles to Crayons, Northcenter
Kids age 5 and up can accompany their parents or guardians to The Giving Factory®and assist in the donation processing. The best part of volunteering for Cradles to Crayons is that you learn who the specific children you are helping are, and at the end of the day you get to know exactly how many local children and families you have impacted. Teens in 9th-12th grade can join the Teen Leadership Corps., which is a structured leadership program where they may coordinate events and/or collection drives in additional to working in The Giving Factory®.
Share Our Spare, Old Irving Park
Volunteers, as young as 6 years old, help sort through the donations and assemble kits of items on Open Volunteer Days. Children can even add a personal note to the kits they assemble.
6. Visit Elderly Residents at Nursing Homes
Many seniors feel lonely during the holiday season. Brighten their days by visiting a local senior center or nursing home. Whether it’s reading holiday stories, singing carols, or simply chatting, your visit will bring joy and warmth.
CJE SeniorLife, Deerfield, Evanston, Skokie, and Chicago locations
Kids can volunteer alongside their parents at any age. They may volunteer unaccompanied starting at age 12.
Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly, West Loop
Children are welcomed to volunteer alongside their parents/guardians in visiting senior citizens and giving the gift of companionship.
Lutheran Home, Arlington Heights
Kids starting at age 12 can volunteer at Lutheran Home to simply spend time with residents. This could mean reading with them, playing games, making a craft, or going for a walk.
 Krzstof Chrostowski | Canva via Pexels |
7. Donate Hair to Help Kids in Need
If your child is due for a haircut this holiday season, consider donating their hair to an organization that creates wigs for children who have lost their hair due to medical conditions. Several nonprofits accept hair donations to make wigs for kids experiencing hair loss from treatments like chemotherapy or conditions like alopecia. It's a simple yet meaningful way for your family to make a difference during the holiday season.
8. Help Build or Support Community Projects
Many organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, host family-friendly holiday builds and special events to support those in need. Whether you’re helping to construct homes, repairing community spaces, or providing meals for volunteers, your family can make a lasting impact. These opportunities are a great way to get hands-on and contribute to meaningful projects this holiday season.
American Red Cross, Various Chicago Locations
High school students can get involved in service and educational projects that directly impact their school or community.
Habitat for Humanity, Pilsen
Habitat for Humanity exists in over 70 countries, with the goal of ensuring all citizens have access to safe and affordable housing through a number of different programs. There are volunteering opportunities for ages 5 to 40.
9. Promote Reading in Your Community
There are many ways to spread the gift of reading this holiday season. Your family could organize a book drive for local schools, shelters, or community centers, or even host a neighborhood book swap. Another fun option is creating literacy kits with books and reading-related activities to donate to children in need.
10. Comfort Kids
A simple act of kindness can go a long way. Who better to deliver kindness to kids than kids themselves? Volunteers will gain a real appreciation for all they have.
Cards for Hospitalized Kids, Edison Park
Cards for Hospitalized Kids delivers handmade cards to Children's Hospitals and Ronald McDonald houses all across the country. Kids of any age can create a card that will lift up the spirits of another child who has been hospitalized. Chicago children in 7th grade and up can even volunteer to help with card-sorting and card-distribution operations in their Chicago office. These volunteer sessions occur twice a month on Saturday mornings.
Chicago Challenger League, Horner Park
Volunteers act as "buddies" to the athletes (ages 4-18), helping them to run the bases or field the ball.
KEEN Chicago, Bridgeport
High school students at least 15 years old can volunteer as a "Coach" at KEEN. Coaches are paired with one "athlete" with limited capabilities, and are responsible for assisting that athlete in whatever sport activity they choose.
Project Linus
Project Linus “blanketeers,” provide new handmade, washable blankets to be given as gifts to seriously ill and traumatized children, ages 0-18. Creating no-sew fleece blankets is an easy, hands-on project that your family can do from home.
USPS Operation Santa
Truly get into the holiday spirit by adopting letters to Santa. Together, the whole family can read through letters online, select the ones to adopt, and then shop for & ship an item (or items) on the letter writer's wish list.
11. Write Letters or Make Care Packages for Service Members
The holidays can be a tough time for those serving away from home. Writing cards and letters to active-duty military personnel is a simple way for kids to share holiday cheer and show gratitude, and it's something you can do from home.
Other National Volunteer Programs
The Honeycomb Project
Kids That Do Good
Operation Christmas Child
Points of Light
Ronald McDonald HousesTeenLife
Volunteer Match
Make Giving Back a Holiday Tradition
Volunteering with your family is one of the best ways to embrace the true spirit of the holidays. Whether you’re helping at a local event or taking on a project at home, you’ll be making a meaningful impact on your community. So this holiday season, don’t just give gifts — give back.
