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Holiday and Thanksgiving Volunteer Opportunities in North Jersey

1. Meals on Wheels North Jersey – Westwood

Children 10 and older are invited to make tray favors of cards, cookies, or crafts to accompany the meals that are delivered daily.

2. NJ Veterans Memorial Home – Paramus

Youth volunteers are welcome to assist with daily recreation activities, including holiday events.

3. Elijah's Promise – New Brunswick

Volunteers at this community kitchen must be 16 years and older (under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian), but anyone can help bag hygiene kits, lunch, and snack bags, or wrap utensil bundles at home and then drop them off at specific locations.

4. PAWS Montclair – Montclair

Donations are welcome to fulfill ongoing needs for dog biscuits, leashes, dog and cat food, toys, and cleaning supplies. Kids can start a collection at their school or place of worship and you can bring the items collected to their drop-off location in Verona. 

5. Nourish.NJ – Morristown

Kids must be at least 14 to volunteer in person at this emergency food and social services provider, but there are other ways to help. Younger kids can pack breakfast kits for local children or help create a Purple Apron Meal Kit to drop off for those in need. 

6. Moms Helping Moms – Warrren

Host a diaper drive or donate your kids' gently used clothing and baby items to Moms Helping Moms, a foundation that provides low-income families with essential baby items. Families including kids 14 and up can also volunteer to sort baby clothes, count diapers, repackage loose diapers at their warehouse, and create literacy packets.

Holiday and Thanksgiving Volunteer Opportunities for Kids in Central and South Jersey

7. Kitkat Playroom – Woodbury

If you're a family of cat lovers, this opportunity will sound too good to be true! This organization rescues vulnerable kittens, nurtures them, and finds their forever homes. Volunteer opportunities include kitten snuggler (yes, you read that right), being a foster family, and moderating the YouTube channel.

8. ​United Way of Monmouth and Ocean County – Farmingdale and Toms River

An umbrella organization for helping Jersey Shore-area families, the United Way is always in need of help. Its volunteer portal helps connect you with current projects.

9. Bridge of Books Foundation – Rumson

You can donate books, run a book drive, and even host a "Books for Birthdays" party in support of this organization that provides ongoing access to books for underserved children.

10. Ronald McDonald House Southern New Jersey – Camden

Families are invited to cook or run an activity for the families staying at RMHSNJ. You can also pack family welcome bags and snack packs at home to drop off for the residents. 

11. Pajama Program – Middletown

Help create comforting bedtimes for kids in places like foster homes and shelters by collecting and donating new pajamas and books to the Pajama Program. There are several drop-off locations located across Hunterdon, Monmouth, Union, and Warren counties. 

12. Cathedral Kitchen – Camden

Duties include preparing and handing out to-go meals, setting up the dining room and serving people, picking up donations from local businesses, or manning the market stand, where people with food insecurity can "shop" for fresh food for free. All volunteers on site must be 16 or over, but if younger children want to get involved they request children to make and donate centerpieces for the 20 dining room tables. 

13. Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge – Medford 

Wildlife lovers with older children can volunteer at the wildlife hospital, greet visitors at the Nature Center, work on the grounds repairing wildlife enclosures, and help with events and festivals. Volunteers must be 16 years or older.

14. Animal Welfare Association – Voorhees

Dog walking, cat socialization, community outreach, and working at special events on the weekends are all ways that children 12 and over can help out. (Note: children ages 12-15 must have an adult present.) Even children 5 and up can volunteer by applying for the Tales for Tails program and reading to animals outside of their enclosures as a means of socializing and de-stressing them.

15. Alliance for a Living Ocean – Ship Bottom 

Volunteer opportunities include beach clean-ups and working a critter round-up to raise money through donations and educating people about the ocean.

16. Rancocas Nature Center – Westhampton

If your family enjoys the great outdoors, then check out the variety of volunteer opportunities here such as master gardening projects for those ages 16 and up and teen volunteer programs for kids ages 13-17 where they work on a stewardship project at the nature center. Other opportunities for people ages 13 and up include trail upkeep, animal care, educational assistance, and office and computer tasks just to name a few. Keep an eye on the events page for family volunteer opportunities that come up throughout the year. Children under 16 will need to be accompanied by an adult. 

Where To Serve Thanksgiving Dinner in New Jersey

Local soup kitchens provide Thanksgiving volunteer opportunities to serve meals and sort donated boxes and cans of non-perishable food. Teenagers can roll up their sleeves and serve holiday dinners, as many soup kitchens allow children ages 14 and older to help out on weekends and holidays. To schedule a shift preparing or serving Thanksgiving dinners to those in need, contact the following organizations. 

17. Community Food Bank of NJ – Hillside and Egg Harbor

Volunteers 12 and older are needed to sort and repack food for delivery to hungry families across New Jersey and to collect food, including turkeys, at community food drives around the state. Teens ages 12-15 must be accompanied by an adult, and you must be 16 or older to volunteer at Egg Harbor Township.

18. Family Promise – Hackensack

Family Promise serves up to 170 meals daily at the Bergen County Health and Human Services Center in Hackensack, 365 days a year. Special meals are served on Thanksgiving and Christmas. You must be 18 to volunteer in person, but kids of all ages are invited to collect ingredients needed to prepare Thanksgiving dinner and to make meal kits for families in need. 

19. Market Street Mission – Morristown

Market Street provides daily hot breakfast and dinner to thousands of individuals in Morristown. Volunteers aged 12-17 must be accompanied by an adult. 

20. Eva's Village – Paterson

Eva's Village's annual Thanksgiving meal service gives hundreds of food insecure or homeless area residents a hot holiday meal. Volunteer to serve or run a drive to collect non-perishable food to stock the kitchen. Volunteers in the community kitchen must be at least 15. 

21. Toni's Kitchen – Montclair

This food ministry of St. Luke's Episcopal Church will offer to-go meals for pickup on Thanksgiving. Children are welcome to volunteer with an adult by preparing food at home for the kitchen, whereas high schoolers are welcome to volunteer in person.  

22. Trenton Area Soup Kitchen – Trenton

You have to be at least 13 years old to volunteer on-site at TASK. Younger kids can still help with organizing a food drive, helping wrap utensils, or making sandwiches.

23. Food Bank of Southern NJ – Pennsauken

Both individuals and families can help feed the hungry in southern New Jersey with this resource. Volunteers 13 and older (under 17 must be accompanied by a guardian) may donate their time at the distribution center, events, or in the office. Plus, non-perishable foods are always needed.

This post was originally published in 2016 and is updated annually.