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.
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.”
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.
- Make a Wish Washington and Alaska
- Pike Place Market Foundation
- Friends of Youth (Kirkland)
- Hickman House Giving Tree: Pick up star tag at Capers (West Seattle)
- Pacific Crest Scout Shop Giving Tree
- Vision House (Renton)
- Wellspring (Seattle)
- Salvation Army Teen Angle Tree
- Lake City Holiday Project
- Native Action. Network
- Herbs House Ballard
- Everett Aquasox
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 other organizations will gladly accept the fruits of your family’s toy-collection labor and get them to kids.
Adopt-a-Family & Gift Card Giving
Adopt One 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.“
Volunteer to Collect Gift Cards for Families in Need
Proceeds go to help support senior services. 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, Federal Way Cares for Kids, Bellevue LifeSpring, Wellspring Family Services, Hopelink, 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 Gift Wrapping
Sometimes the best part of a gift is the wrapping. Sign your family up as volunteer wrappers during Compass Housing Alliance’s 2025 holiday giving campaign. Your family may also want to lend its support to The Forgotten Children’s Fund — they need volunteers to raise funds to purchase, wrap and deliver gifts to kids and their families who might otherwise go without.
Food Bank and Meal Support
Every year, the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County (EFP) provides more than 420,000 meals throughout King County. 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. Additionally, food or money donations are greatly appreciated. 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 for St. Francis clients.
Provide or Sponsor a Holiday Meal
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: volunteer@compasshousingalliance.org.
Cookie Baking & Treat Donation
Holiday Cookie Drop-Offs & Sorting
The Ballard Northwest Senior Center is always looking for tasty home-made treats to sell at it’s annual Bazaar & Bake Sale, with proceeds going to support senior services.
And while you’re on that 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 cookies 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.
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. Dates for the 2025 cookie drop-off have not been announced, but The Christmas People is looking for volunteers to receive and sort the goodies Dec. 23-25 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 pm. Kids are welcome to help with the sorting. To learn about cookie drop off or volunteer, emil Pialley@jps.net.
Bake for Teens
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.
Volunteer with Babies / Kids Giving Back
Even Your Baby Can Give Back!
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.
Give Back to Santa
Vancouver mother of two Lindsay Backous Rayomond says her children have been giving back to the jolly old gent since day one. “They put toys and books they no longer use out for Santa on Christmas Eve, and then Santa takes 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.
Decorating, Flowers, and Neighbor Help
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.
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.
How to Find More Opportunities
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.
Make sure to check ‘Doing Good Together’ family volunteer opportunities
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.”
