2008 Thanksgiving and Christmas Volunteer Opportunities

• Holiday Food Donations
• Thanksgiving
• Tons of Turkeys
• Christmas
• Adopt-a-Brother
• Adopt-a-Family
• Quilts of Hope
• Token for the Broken
• Resident Toy “Shopping” Day

Holiday Food Donations

On both Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, Hope Ministries will serve hundreds of meals on-site and deliver more than 1,500 off-site! We welcome generous community members to provide the following items for our holiday meals:

• One or more pans of pre-cooked and picked turkey
• Green bean casserole
• 1 or 2 gallons of 2% milk
• 1 or more dozen of eggs
• Pumpkin or other pies
• Dinner rolls

Thanksgiving

Hope Ministries will celebrate Thanksgiving Day by giving our residents and members of the community something extra special to be thankful for: a warm, festive meal. We plan to serve hundreds of meals on site to our residents and meal guests. We will also deliver more than 1,000 meals to shut-ins, the elderly and others throughout the Greater Des Moines Area. We invite you to participate by donating food and assisting with meal delivery.

Click Here to register to volunteer on Thanksgiving Day.

Tons of Turkeys

We need tons of turkey in order to provide warm meals for our residents and meal guests on Thanksgiving Day. You can help supplement our Thanksgiving meal by providing one or more turkeys. Please deliver your turkey donation to our Bethel Mission facility at 1310 6^th Ave. Click here or a link to our facility map.

Christmas

We celebrate Christmas Day in a BIG way at Hope Ministries through more than 1,200 on-site and off-site meals. Our Adopt-a-Brother and Adopt-a-Family programs provide our residents and guests with special Christmas gifts. And our Quilts of Hope program means that all families on Christmas Day take home a warm blanket. We need more than 100 volunteers to make our Christmas celebration possible.

Click Here to register to volunteer during Christmas-time.

Adopt-a-Brother

An estimated 150 homeless men will spend Christmas at one of Hope Ministries’ two shelters this year. These men do not have family to be with on Christmas Day or are not able to be with them for a variety of reasons. You can help bring a smile to their faces on Christmas Day by providing the contents for a Christmas Gift Bag.  

Adopt-a-Family at Bethel Mission

For more than 40 years, Hope Ministries has reached out to homeless and near-homeless families on Christmas Day. You can help local families celebrate by providing the contents for a Christmas Hope Box. You, your family or group are invited to collect items for Christmas Hope Boxes to be presented to local families in need on Christmas Day.

You can join us in bringing comfort and joy to the hurting on Christmas Day by donating a hand-made quilt of any size. Your quilt will be given to homeless and near-homeless individuals and families. Drop off your quilt donation at Hope Bargain Center located at 4950 Old E. University Ave. in Pleasant Hill.  For directions click here.

Give the gift of transportation

Finding transportation can be difficult for the men and women who stay at our emergency shelter and recovery centers. They need a way to get to jobs, visit family, make it to doctor’s appointments, travel to job interviews…and for many, it’s a financial burden they’re unable to bear alone. That’s where you come in! You can provide a special holiday blessing for our residents and support Hope Ministries by purchasing and donating bus tokens for the Dart bus system in Des Moines. Adult bus tokens come in packs of 10 for $15 and can be purchased at participating Hy-Vee Food Stores, Dahl’s Food Marts, Younkers and a number of other locations around Des Moines. For a full listing of bus token sales outlets, please visit www.dmmta.com/allfares_pass.html.

Bus token donations should be delivered to Hope Ministries on December 20 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at our Bethel Mission Chapel at 1310 6th Ave.  Or, you can deliver bus token donations to our Administrative Offices at 5075 E. University, Suite B, Pleasant Hill, prior to December 20. Thank you!

Resident Toy “Shopping” Day

Hope Ministries’ shelter and recovery residents are invited to shop for free toys and gifts for their children during our pre-Christmas “shopping” event at our Bethel Mission facility. Volunteers will be needed to assist residents in picking out items and wrapping gifts during this daytime event on December 15. Please call (515) 265-7272 for more information.