Holiday Family Giving and Volunteering Guide

Looking for meaningful ways to give back as a family this holiday season? Whether your crew loves packing food bags, baking cookies, wrapping gifts, or choosing presents for another child, there are countless opportunities around the Seattle area to make a real difference together. Volunteering doesn’t just help local families — it gives kids a hands-on way to practice generosity, empathy, and community care.

Below, you’ll find a wide range of holiday volunteer opportunities for families, from toy drives and giving trees to food bank shifts, cookie donations, and simple acts of kindness that even the youngest helpers can do. Many of these activities are kid-friendly, one-time commitments, and perfect for building a new family tradition of giving.

Gifts, cards and toy drives & giving trees

Many Seattle-area families are in need of many things. Toys and gifts for kids are one area that can really tug at the heartstrings, but lots of good people are working hard to make sure that kids will get gifts during the holiday season. You can help by donating toys and cash. In most cases, this is not a time when you go through your closet and get rid of hand-me-downs (here are ideas for that). Instead, it’s an opportunity to think about a child or perhaps a few kids and purchase a specific present with them in mind. Check out where to turn to help in our article, “How to donate to holiday toy drives around Seattle.”

Toys for Tots annually collects toys through efforts by local fire departments, military groups and other organizations. Check the Seattle Fire Blog for locations and dates.

Below is a list of businesses and organizations hosting holiday giving trees, where you pick up a tag with a child or family’s gift request, purchase the gift and return it wrapped with the giving tag attached. Some programs, like those run by the Pike Place Market Foundation and Wellspring Family Services, provide Amazon Wish Lists or a Spark Good Registry where you can purchase gifts online and have them shipped directly to the organization.

• Wellspring Family Services Giving Tree
  Host a gift drive, display Giving Tree tags with QR codes linking to family wishlists, or volunteer to sort holiday gifts. Deadline: Check website. Deliver gifts to 1900 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle. 
• Pike Place Market Foundation
  Help provide gifts and warm winter gear for downtown Seattle families, preschool students and others in need through online wishlists, direct donations or gift cards. Deadline: Check website (CHECK DATE). Mail gift cards to 93 Pike St. #310, Seattle. 
• YMCA of Greater Seattle
  Support young adults in transitional and shelter housing by purchasing items from virtual Amazon Giving Trees or donating gift cards. Deadline: Dec. 15. Ship gifts directly or drop them off at participating YMCA branches. 
• South Seattle College Giving Tree
  Help provide holiday gifts for children of students attending the West Seattle, Georgetown and New Holly campuses. Giving Tree tags are available on campus beginning Nov. 9. Deadline: Dec. 4. Drop off unwrapped gifts with the original tag attached at the Welcome Center, 6000 16th Ave. SW, Seattle. 
• John Stanford International Elementary & Beacon Hill International School
  Select a gift tag from the Giving Tree near John Stanford’s main office or use the online Giving Tree sign-up. Deadline: Dec. 18. Return unwrapped gifts labeled with their tag numbers to 4057 Fifth Ave. NE, Seattle. Monetary donations for gifts and grocery cards are also welcome. 
• Friends of Youth Giving Tree
  Help provide holiday gifts for young people and families served by Friends of Youth. Host a gift drive, select Giving Tree tags, shop the Amazon wishlist or make a financial donation. Gifts can be shipped or delivered to 13116 NE 132nd St., Kirkland. Deadline: Check website for 2026 deadline. 
• Vision House Giving Tree
  Help provide holiday gifts for children and families experiencing homelessness. Individuals and groups can participate in the Giving Tree program, including hosting a Giving Tree and purchasing requested gifts. Deadline: Check website for 2026 deadline. 
• The following organizations have also historically hosted giving tree campaigns. Check their websites for information: Make a Wish Washington and Alaska, Salvation Army Teen Angle Tree, Lake City Holiday Project and Native Action. Network.

Host a toy drive as a family

Donating toys can be a fun holiday activity for the whole family. Send out an email blast to friends and family and invite folks to drop toys off at your house or offer to pick them up at theirs. Organizations like Seattle Children’s Hospital, Toys for Tots, and many of the organizations above will gladly accept the fruits of your family’s toy and gift care collection labors and get them to kids and teens.

Adopt a child or a whole family for the holidays

“Adopting” a child or a whole family in need during the holidays by purchasing gifts and providing other forms of support is one effective way to teach your kids about looking out for others in the community. When everyone in the family participates in choosing gift cards or specific gifts, kids learn lessons about showing empathy and generosity beyond their family and friends. Learn about local programs and organizations around Seattle that will set you up with a family or child to “adopt” in our article. “Adopt-a-Family: How to give gifts and support families at the holidays.“

Help a child or family elsewhere on the planet

Federal Way-based World Vision is global humanitarian organization that works with local churches and communities to address the root causes of poverty and injustice. During the holiday season or any time of year, go to the World Vision catalog, choose the gift you want to give (for example, you want your dollars to support providing clean water, health care, farm animals and other essentials that help kids and families in places where such items are need but no easily aquired. Then send a card to your grandparents saying you and your kids donated a goal or chickens in their name.

Volunteer to collect gift cards for families in need 

Your family can help a foster family or a family experiencing homelessness or other crises by collecting and donating gift cards. The cards you collect allow families to choose their own gifts for their children and purchase other essential items.

Reach out to organizations such as YWCA, Lake City Holiday Project, Atlantic Street Center, Federal Way Cares for Kids,  Bellevue LifeSpring, Wellspring Family Services, Compass Housing Alliance, Treehouse, The Forgotten Children’s Fund, Mary’s Place, and Make a Wish Washington and Alaska to learn more about gift cards needed and how to deliver them. 

Volunteer to wrap gifts

Sometimes the best part of a gift is the wrapping. Pull out the scissors, tape and enthusiasm and put your hands to work:

• The Forgotten Children’s Fund needs volunteers to raise funds to purchase, wrap and deliver gifts to kids and their families who might otherwise go without. 
• Compass Housing Alliance, which provides essential services, emergency shelter, and affordable housing to people and families experiencing homelessness and low-income households in the greater Puget Sound area needs volunteers to wrap gifts for its clients. Wrapping events are festive and fun. Sign up to volunteer starts in November so check the website.

Help put food on tables or into bellies

• Every year, the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County (EFP) provides more than 420,000 meals throughout King County. Beginning November 1,  EFP invites families to join it’s 12 Days of Feeding campaign—12 days of giving, sharing, and making an impact. Located in Renton, the EFP is always looking for volunteers of all ages to help pack food bags, provide help at distribution sites, and host food drives. 
• St. Francis House is also eager for volunteers to help meet the basic and immediate needs of its 13,000 clients struggling to make ends meet. Your family can volunteer to make sandwiches, sort food, or help with other tasks for St. Francis clients. 
• Nothing says Happy Holidays like sharing a meal! Partner with Compass Housing Alliance by helping sponsor a holiday party or by providing a meal at one of its 20 programs. Contact Sam at: [email protected].
• Host a family food drive: A food drive is something in which your whole family can be involved. Many organizations even provide resources such as printable flyers and food-collection containers to help your drive succeed. Here are just a few of the organizations that you can partner with for a family food drive: Food Lifeline distributes donations to 275 member agencies across Western Washington; Northwest Harvest uses donations to provide more than 2 million meals to Washingtonians every month; Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County works with 200 partner agencies across King County to provide food bags to anyone in need; Hopelink provides food bank, food delivery, and emergency feeding services to families in crisis in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Shoreline and Sno-Valley.

Bake and drop-off holiday cookies

• While you’re on a holiday baking roll, why not stick some sheets in the oven for Compass Housing Alliance’s holiday Cookie Extravaganza. Cookies can be homemade or store-bought and should be bundled in sets of 24. All homemade goodies must have a recipe card with a full list of ingredients. If your recipe contains nuts of any kind, please make a clear note. They can’t take baked goods that need refrigeration. Deliver to the Compass location on Dexter (756 John Street, Seattle) between Dec 15 – Dec 17. Call 206-719-9137 to be let into the building. Early drop-offs are always welcome, so please contact Sam at 206-719-9137 or email  to coordinate. Sign up to deliver cookies starts in November so check the website.
• And each year The Christmas People Foundation has put out a call for more than 7,000 home-baked cookies as the organization brings a small experience of “home” to unhoused Seattleites during the winter holidays. Homemade cookies will be accepted at West Seattle Coworking and Artisan Community Kitchen and several other sites. The 2026 cookie drop-off will be Dec. 22-24 at West Seattle Coworking, 9030 35th SW. For information, email [email protected].
• Want to help teens in need have a better holiday season? Volunteer to CupcakeUP & MuffinUP for Teen Feed. Bake off-site with your family and drop off goodies to Teen Feed’s dinner location. Traumatized young digestive systems sometimes require gluten-free, high-protein, vegan or diabetic-friendly foods. This event partners with the ROOTS young adult shelter for breakfast support.

Support for Foster Youth

Treehouse, a Seattle-based nonproft supporting kids in the state foster care system, has many needs. They are looking for families interested in hosting a donation drive and collecting winter clothing, toys, books, and other items needed by kids in care. Visit the Treehouse to get started. Your family may also purchase items from Treehouse’s Dream List. This list is kept up to date with the items most requested by youth and their caregivers.

Host a family food drive

A food drive is something in which your whole family can be involved. Many organizations even provide resources such as printable flyers and food-collection containers to help your drive succeed. Here are just a few of the organizations that you can partner with for a family food drive: Food Lifeline distributes donations to 275 member agencies across Western Washington; Northwest Harvest uses donations to provide more than 2 million meals to Washingtonians every month; Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County works with 200 partner agencies across King County to provide food bags to anyone in need; Hopelink provides food bank, food delivery, and emergency feeding services to families in crisis in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Shoreline and Sno-Valley.

Let kids give back what they no longer use

• Even your baby can give! Were you inundated with gifts at your baby shower? Do you have extra unopened boxes of diapers that your baby outgrew? Westside Baby is happy to accept your baby’s donations of new (unopened) baby hygiene products, as well as gently used clothing, equipment (no furniture) and other essentials. Or, make a donation or shop the gift list at Babies of Homelessness. Check out our article “These two organizations have your babies covered.”
• Consider giving back to Santa. Vancouver mother of two Lindsay Backous Rayomond says her kids started giving back when they were very young. Each year, the kids put toys and books they no longer use out for Santa on Christmas Eve. Santa would take them away for other children who would love them. Santa has partnered with numerous organizations to receive your gifts, since he is quite busy. Among them are KidVantage on the Eastside, Goodwill Seattle, Salvation Army Thrift Store & Donation Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital Bargain Boutiques, and Wellspring’s Family Essentials Store.
• Then there’s the Elf on the Shelf letter: Print out the letter and place a basket at the foot of your holiday tree or somewhere kids can find it. The letter invites them to add anything (clothing, toys, supplies) in really good shape that they no longer use so that another child can benefit from it. Click here here to print the Elf on the Shelf donation letter.

Decorating, deliver flowers, and other neighborhood joy

• Help hang holiday decorations. Do you have an elderly person or an assisted living home in your neighborhood? Ask if your family can help others deck their halls this year by hanging lights or volunteering for other decoration duties. 
• Drop off holiday flowers or Poinsettias. Many local nursing homes and senior centers try to keep the spirit light and holidays bright for the elderly. Consider bringing holiday flowers or poinsettias to a cancer or an eldercare facility near you and dropping them at the front desk. Include a note inviting the staff to give them to a resident who may need extra cheer during the holidays. Or leave a bouquet or plant anonymously on a senior neighbor’s stoop.
• Register for Compass Housing Alliance’s “Deck The Halls” events: Your family can make someone else’s holiday by sponsoring or participating in putting up festive decorations for the holiday. Sign up: Registration to deliver cookies starts in November so check the website.
• Offer some soap for hope. Collect unused soaps or other toiletries from neighbors and friends and deliver them to the annual AAA Washington Soap for Hope drive. The drive takes place November through December, but donations are accepted year round. Items are distributed to local charities throughout Washington.

Smile: The Simplest Way to Give

It’s hard to see someone in pain or need. But looking away can make those who are struggling feel invisible. Teach your children to offer a simple smile when they encounter homeless people or others struggling in our midst.

Or invite them to draw a smile as a way to cheer up people who are far from home or without extended family, for example, military personnel or forgotten seniors. Go to Color a Smile to learn how you and your children can make cheerful drawings that the non-profit will then distribute to folks who need a boost.

Need help finding a good volunteer opportunity for your family? 

United Way of King County and Volunteer Match offer searchable databases to help you find a great giving fit for your clan. 

Don’t miss the ‘Doing Good Together’ family volunteering column!

Each month, Seattle’s Child partners with the national nonprofit Doing Good Together, to give readers a list of family-friendly volunteer options (with age specifics). Just go put the words DO SOME GOOD TOGETHER in the search box at Seattleschild.com

Check out the Doing Good’s “12 Tips for Family Volunteering During the Holidays.”