Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Tomorrow, New York Public Radio will host a blood drive in the Greene Space. You can sign up by going to nybc.org/wnyc. I understand the 12:00 to 1:00 hour has some slots. Go down there, listen to All Of It. This got us thinking about giving this holiday season and all the ways you can do it. We reached out to our friends at New York Cares and asked them to put together a list of charity and volunteer opportunities in the city. We want you to help spread the love. Call in and tell us where you volunteer or where you're planning to volunteer this season. Our phone number is 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. Or tell us where you're giving, what causes are important to you? Our number is 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Joining me now with some suggestions is New York Cares Executive Director Sapreet Saluja. Hi, Sapreet.

Sapreet Saluja: Hi, Alison. Thanks so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: We are so glad to have you on the show today. Your first recommendation is a coat drive, which New York Care has been organizing for almost 40 years. I need to know where can I go to donate my coat?

Sapreet Saluja: Oh, we would love for you to reach into your closet, find that coat that has another life that you are ready to share with another New Yorker. You can go to our website, newyorkcares.org, and on the website, we have a public collection site. All the fire battalion houses across the city, as well as some of the transit hubs and a number of other buildings, churches, nonprofits, schools where you can drop off your coats. What happens then is our partners at UPS and piece of cake, moving in storage, go around the city and collect all the coats and get them to our warehouse where volunteers come and sort the coats. They check them for dignity. We have folks who launder the coats if they need a little extra love. Then, nonprofits across the city come with their shopping list, if you would, and pick up the appropriate sizes and genders for their community and distribute them across the five boroughs of New York. Head to the website newyorkcares.org, and you can see where the closest public collection point is for you to drop off your coat.

Alison Stewart: If my fire station is nearby, if they're on the list, I can just go in there and drop off my coat.

Sapreet Saluja: That's right, all the fire battalion houses. Yes. If there's one right near you, they are happy to see you and collect those coats.

Alison Stewart: All right. I get to meet a fireman. In the meantime. For clothing distribution, you can also recommend the organization RMM. What does RMM stand for?

Sapreet Saluja: It's the Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries. They have a whole bunch of volunteer opportunities that are now focused on a winter clothing distribution. Volunteers come, they set up, they help the clients that come in select the right outerwear and other clothing that they need for the winter. It's a really fun project where you get to help people right away and those clients that come leave with things that they need.

Alison Stewart: How can someone get involved with RMM?

Sapreet Saluja: Again, you can go to our website. If you go to newyorkcares.org and click on volunteer, what you'll find is that you can sort by organization, you can put the organization in, you can sort by day of week, borough, time, issue area. You choose the cause, and you be the effect. You sort, and you sign up right there on the website, and everything comes to you. Where to show up, what time, what to bring. It's pretty simple.

Alison Stewart: I'm speaking to New York Cares Sapreet Saluja about ways to give and volunteer this holiday season. We are taking your calls. Where do you donate? Where do you volunteer? Text or call 212-433-9692. That is 212-433-WNYC. By the way, if you're looking for a way to give this week, WNYC, we're hosting a blood drive tomorrow in the Greene Space. Stop by at 44 Charlton Street between 9:30 and 2:00 PM tomorrow.

We got a text here that says, "I volunteer at Fabscrap, the recycled textiles from the fashion interior design industries, for three hours of helping sort fabric for recycling, you get five pounds of fabric for free from their store. It's an incredible organization, staffed by the nicest people, and allows me to give back while feeding my hobby." Thanks for texting in.

Next on your list, Supreet is related to food insecurity, a huge issue. West Side Campaign Against Hunger is one of those organizations. What kind of services does West Side Campaign Against Hunger provide?

Sapreet Saluja: They're an incredible partner of ours. They provide access to healthy food as well as supportive services. Volunteers show up to sort, pack, and distribute food to New Yorkers in need. They also help a number of their clients with their SNAP benefits, with housing, with healthcare. It's actually very uplifting experience to spend time there and know that you're helping families put food on the table.

Alison Stewart: Where are they based?

Sapreet Saluja: They're on the Upper West Side.

Alison Stewart: What kind of volunteer opportunities are there for people?

Sapreet Saluja: Oh, there's so many different things to do and incredible shifts that you can do that fit into your schedule, whether that's during the week or on the weekend. Again, you can go to our website, and you can either search in your neighborhood for partners that are in food insecurity, or you can even put in West Side Campaign Against Hunger, and you'll see all the volunteer slots that are available. You can choose the one that works best for you, even maybe grab a friend to go with you.

Alison Stewart: Another hunger-related charity on your list is New York Common Pantry, which is described as using holistic, whole-person approach. What does that mean?

Sapreet Saluja: It means that they distribute pantry packages and hot meals, but they also support their clients in financial and wellness education. They help them enroll in benefits, and they do some case management work. If you are a New Yorker who's food insecure, there are chances that you have some other support that you need as well. They try to round that out, really looking at the individual holistically, as they say, to make sure that they're getting the wraparound support that they need. In addition to pantry packages and hot meals. Another great organization.

Alison Stewart: We got another text in that says, "I volunteer at Newark Associated Humane Society. I pet the adorable cats for a few hours each week. You can also walk really sweet dogs. Animals need the human love until they find their forever home." Thank you for the work you do. This text says, "Secret Snowflake is a citywide program that connects people with in-need youth organizations to fulfill children's holiday wishes. You receive a letter with a child's name, age, sizes, along with their hobbies, holiday wishes, and future goals."

Listeners, we love hearing these stories. We want to know how you are volunteering this season or where you want to give. Our Phone number is 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. I'm speaking to New York Care's Executive Director, Supreet Saluja, about where to give and volunteer this holiday season. Let's talk about youth programming since someone mentioned it. KEEN it stands for Kids Enjoy Exercise Now. What does KEEN offer?

Sapreet Saluja: KEEN is a really fantastic partner. We hear such positive feedback from our volunteers over the years about how much they enjoy it. They provide free, non-competitive one-on-one physical activity and recreational programs for youth with disabilities. You get to hang out with these fabulous kids and just have a blast. Everyone who goes and works with the youth at this particular nonprofit is smiling and laughing, having a great time, and ready to come back for more.

Alison Stewart: Do you need to have experience with young people to do it?

Sapreet Saluja: You do not necessarily have to have experience with young people. The team leader on the project will guide you, give you some information up front. There are others usually on the project, who aren't first timers. There are lots of folks to wrap you around and support. In fact, I would say that about all of the projects we've been talking about today, you might wonder, like, "What could I do for a couple of hours that would actually make a difference in this city?" I'm telling you, there is so much you can do. You should just take the plunge. Go to the website newyorkcares.org, find a project that's speaks to you, and go for it.

Alison Stewart: It also helps that there's a team leader who knows what's going on, because I think some people are probably, honestly, a little shy or a little scared.

Sapreet Saluja: Yes, and you might not know anyone. You're like, "I'm going to go to this nonprofit, and I've never been here before, and I don't know anyone." There is a New York Cares team leader there, warm and welcoming, and they know exactly how it should run. What I hear from our volunteers over and over again is that they're surprised that they actually get to make a difference and experience so much joy at the same time. They get to feel connected to clients, to other volunteers, to the beating heart of the city. Benefits all around.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Margit from Manhattan. Hi, Margit. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Margit: Hi, thanks for taking my call. I volunteer with LiLY, which is Lifeforce in Later Years. It's on the Upper West Side, and it helps the elderly stay in their homes. It is fantastic. They don't have enough volunteers. They have seniors waiting for volunteers right now, so Google it, please. It's fantastic. I've helped people with their phones. I've taken people to medical appointments. You can just sit with someone that's lonely. You can walk their dog. It's amazing.

Alison Stewart: Thank you so much for what you do, Margit. Let's talk to Zoe in Long Island. Hi, Zoe. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Zoe: Hi, I'm in Long Island City, and my favorite group here is Culture Lab LIC, and they have loads of free programming and all of the arts, performing and visual. They love having volunteers. It's a great place to volunteer. I always sculpt something major for their gala every year. I am actually the sculptor who made the homeless Statue of Liberty for the New York Cares Coat drive back in 1991.

Alison Stewart: Holy cow, Zoe, what's your last name?

Sapreet Saluja: Amazing.

Zoe: Morissette.

Alison Stewart: Zoe Morissette. Thank you for the work you do. We really, really appreciate it. Wow, that was an interesting call.

Sapreet Saluja: Yes. Amazing.

Alison Stewart: This says Toy Box NYC just launched. The owner of a beloved Upper West Side store called Westside Kids has started this organization to pair local toy stores with local toy drives. We've already gone on a few selected toys to donate to local toy drives. Awesome concept. This says, "I volunteer with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. They have various fundraising initiatives throughout the entertainment community to support various health and hunger-related causes. Let's go to another one on your list. You have Students Success. Who do they serve and how?

Sapreet Saluja: This program works with kids in the third through eighth grades across different low-income neighborhoods in the city. It's really about supporting educational and emotional development. Volunteers come in, and they work in small groups, they work through lesson plans, they coach kids through problem solving, really helping kids build that resilience. What we find is, in addition to the academic support, this really prepares students to meet the challenges academically and succeed.

Again, so much fun to spend time with kids in the classroom. You might wonder, "Well, I'm not a teacher," or "Can I really do that math?" What I'm here to share with you is it really is that simple. For so many kids, just knowing that there is an adult who wants to work with them, who sees them, who values them, who thinks that they matter, it can make a huge difference in a student building academic confidence and having another caring adult to learn alongside, with great offerings, including student success. Many different programs across the city working with kids from literacy to math to the arts; it's time really well spent.

Alison Stewart: This says, "This is Nikki from Montclair. I volunteer year-round at our local soup kitchen and thrift store called Toni's Kitchen and Toni's Closet. They're often local organizations that need people to sort items. You're not particularly social, you can do that task. It really benefits other people." This says, "Out on Long Island, Island Harvest is a large food pantry, and they are great."

You also have one here. "I want to get this in Music for Autism. It offers concerts for people with autism." Tell us a little bit more.

Sapreet Saluja: Really cool program. They are fully subsidized autism friendly interactive concerts for people who have autism across the spectrum and their families. When you look at their website, Music for Autism, and you see all of these people really connecting with the music and having a great time, it's magical. There are lots of different ways to volunteer with them. It's, again, a really joyful experience.

Alison Stewart: It says, "I want to send a shout out to St. Luke's on 46th street between 8th and 9th Avenue. They have a soup kitchen that feeds anywhere from 125 to 300 people every Tuesday and Thursday. And they've been doing it for 20 years. I volunteer on Thursdays. It's a great group of people. They also have a coat drive for the homeless on the 16th. It's a great place to volunteer as well." In our final moments, you want to shout out New York Care's financial aid assistance program. This is a donation opportunity, or is this a volunteer opportunity, or both?

Sapreet Saluja: You can always volunteer to New York Cares through newyorkcares.org, but our financial aid assistance volunteer project is really about helping high schoolers and their families fill out the FAFSA form to get financial aid to attend college. What we find is that kids sometimes then cross over the hurdle of academic success, cross over the hurdle of SATs, cross over the hurdle of applying to college, and then it's, "How is the family going to afford to do this?"

There's so many pathways through the CUNY and SUNY systems here in New York that the first and most important step is filling out the FAFSA. You could be one of those volunteers that really makes a difference in a family's trajectory.

Alison Stewart: That is huge. We've been speaking to New York Care's Executive Director, Sapreet Saluja. Sapreet, thank you so much for joining us this holiday season. Happy holidays to you.

Sapreet Saluja: Thank you. Happy holidays to you and all the listeners, too.

Alison Stewart: That is All Of It for today. I'm Alison Stewart. I appreciate you listening, and I appreciate you. I will meet you back here next time.