How to Support the Akron Community this Holiday Season

By Megan Delong-Borick, Everyday Akron team member

There are many ways to help our fellow Akron-area neighbors during the upcoming holidays (and beyond). Whether you are able to give money, make a meal, donate your time and volunteer, anything helps. 

The best thing to do is find your niche and work within the current structures available to fill gaps! Which means you don’t have to start from scratch, and you’ll be supporting the folks who have already laid the foundation. If you have skills in a certain area, use that to your advantage and help where you can. There is space for everyone.

With that being said, let’s get into some options to volunteer in and support the Akron community this holiday season. (Or at a different time of year if you stumble across this blog post later on.) This isn’t an exhaustive list, so use this as a starting point. 

Volunteering

Note: We recommend visiting the organizations’ websites or social media or reaching out first to see how they would like potential volunteers to connect with them.

• Emergency Overnight  Warming Center – Community Support Services often coordinates volunteers when the emergency shelter is open
• Akron Snow Angels
• The Steak Club Foundation – Monthly service days
• Hope and Healing Survivor Resource Center – Monthly volunteer opportunities and food giveaways
• Friends of the Akron-Summit County Public Library – Every branch location has a Friends group that could use help with sorting donations, setting up book sales, and more throughout the year. 
• Food pantries – Love the Heights posted an image of a paper list of all food pantries in the area. Reach out to one near you. 
• Annunciation Akron Greek Church – Hosts both food pantries and toy drives during this time of year
• Good Samaritan Hunger Center
• Relentless 330 – Also looking for food and clothing donations

Donate Money 

• Akron Canton Regional Food Bank
• Peter Maurin Center
• The Homeless Charity 
• Akron Hope – They’re also asking for toys this holiday season 
• Forever R Children – Support the non-profit shower bus
• Hope Farm, Inc. – Offers weekly dinners, a Friendsgiving, and an annual day of Remembrance for Homeless friends we’ve lost

Hot Meals & Groceries 

There are a ton of places in and around Akron that are doing food giveaways this month and next. Many of them are looking for food, monetary donations and volunteers. 

Following some of these organizations will get you in touch with other organizations, as most groups share each other’s information to spread the word. Plus, you can find even more food programs near you on the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank website.  

• People Feeding People – Find them Wednesdays at varying places. They also need help on Tuesdays canvassing the area so folks know they’re coming the following day.
• Serve the People – Make a meal for or bring harm reduction goods, Sundays at Grace Park
• Free Food Akron – Facebook Page that shares daily updates on places in Akron that have food giveaways
• Visitation of Mary – Offers lunch every Monday and Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., located at 55 Broad St. in the Middlebury neighborhood
• Open M Ministry – Hosts Mountain of Food every third Friday; also offers  an on-going pantry.
• New Hope Baptist Church – Food pantry offered every fourth Saturday from 12–2 p.m.; located at 1706 S. Hawkins Ave., Akron
• Family of Faith Church – Donate food, clothing, blankets, toiletries, hats, gloves, anything new or gently used that you wish to gift to others on December 6, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Located at 800 E. Market St., Akron.
• Equip Church Food Pantry – Every third Thursday of the month from 5–6:30 p.m.
• Mama’s Kitchen – Every Tuesday and Thursday from 5–7 p.m. at Zion Temple Baptist Church
• Kathy’s Kitchen – Offering a community Thanksgiving Day dinner at Bill Denton Center, 490 E. South St., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Akron Sanctuary Church Food Pantry – Sundays at 12 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at 847 Lakewood Blvd., Akron
• ASIA’s Emergency Food Assistance & Food Pantry – The second and fourth Tuesdays of the month from 12–3 p.m. at 370 E. Market St., Akron 

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Megan is an Everyday Akron team member that loves birdwatching, the Middlebury neighborhood, and hanging out with her spouse Sam, puppy Roz, and cat Scully.