Category Archives: Volunteers

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• Important to us

  • Evening Volunteering .. Thursday, May10, 5-8pm. Put it on your calendar!

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  • #GiftsToGiveThanks

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  • Adult Volunteers NEEDED!

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  • Saturdays, 9am to 2pm! Thrift Store MAGIC!

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• Stories – Youth Philanthropy

  • Student Interns Wrap Up Their Summer

    

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    Summer Intern Wrap-up Party Luncheon: Ice cream cake and water balloons in the conference room!
    

    Our summer intern story is a story of: service learning,  small, medium and large challenges, heartbreak, immaturity, revelation, love, hope, mentoring, education, relationship, service, giving, daily Khan Academy math, frustration, maturity, modeling, customer-service, schedules, disappointment, hard projects, easy projects, hard work, being lazy, meeting hundreds of new people from all over, honor, consequences, integrity, reading, inspiration, fun, open heart surgery, wisdom teeth extraction, poison ivy, sunburn, “what-if”, public relations, marketing, communication, non-communication, truth, independence, explicit instruction, fetching, leadership, cleaning the lavatories, patience, respect, fractions, healthy choices, smart choices, not so smart choices, being invisible, gardening, grumpy adults, being seen and not heard, breaking things, loosing things, organizing things, asking for things, finding things, more pizza than you could ever imagine and pretty much all the other stuff that happens, every day, at the mill!

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  • Thrift Store PSA filming

    Sunday morning in Acushnet … A crew from “AdLab” at the School of Communications at Boston University and our own Sophia; uber student volunteer, actress extraordinaire and 3rd grader!
    Photos from our morning HERE

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  • The Power of One (or two, in the case of twins!)

    

    Ella and Liam

    Ella is 7 years old and has a twin brother Liam.

    “I decided one day that I did not do enough for this country, especially children and wanted to help kids without clothes and do a clothing drive.” Believe or not.. her exact words!

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  • Hadleigh and Braelyn exemplify the power of giving!

    

    Hadleigh and Braelyn

    The longest journey begins with a single step. The first step in this story started with an email from Carolyn, Hadleigh and Braelyn’s mom – “On 1/19 my daughters are turning 8 and 10. I am interested in having them and some friends volunteer at GiftsToGive as part of their party on 1/18. I see stories of kids that had friends bring presents to donate instead of birthday presents for them, could the girls and their guests also volunteer their time?”

    Carolyn sent a follow-up email after the girls’ visit – “As parents, we try our best to teach our daughters about being thankful for their blessings and look for opportunities to give back to those in need.”

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  • Dominik and Konlin Turn Five – But Wait – There’s More!

    

    Dominik and Konlin

    Turning five years-old is something very special. Especially for twins! Understanding philanthropy at five … well talk about making our day!

    Saturday afternoon, two ball players arrived at the mill with a zillion brand new toys in tow. They explained to us that they wanted to help children who were not as fortunate as they were and who might not get a birthday present.

    Parents Kathryn and Dennis had this to say – “It is truly our pleasure to be able to contribute. Our boy’s just turned five years old and had a wonderful party with family and friends. We have been truly blessed with two wonderful healthy boys, a loving family and many friends. We know that there are many in the community that are less fortunate than us, and we feel it is important to help others and give back whenever possible.

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  • A Bright and Shining Light!

    

    Thomas, Allison and Sierra

    Thomas, Allison and Sierra are students at U Mass Dartmouth. They’re also representatives for Greek Life on campus. We’ve partnered with the Greek Life Council at UMD to help us connect middle school students to giving and service. We’re starting with their working together on Saturdays at the factory.

    Thomas Leman, Student leader had this to say – “Today, we were able to take a few short hours and work at something that’s making life easier for children throughout the SouthCoast. As Greek life students (Phi Sigma Sigma and Chi Phi), we know how fortunate we’ve been to get to college and find familial support in our organizations. We now have a chance to help those less fortunate than us and to be that support for the young boys and girls who volunteer at GiftsToGive. We can be examples of hard work and perseverance to empower other student volunteers to do well in school and life. We look forward to being repeat volunteers and mentors to influence and foster greater success for local youth!”

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  • Teen Artists for Change

    

    Independently United founder Kaityn Kenny presents Jim Stevens with a check for $700 – the proceeds from their debut “pop-up gallery” auction.

    Independently United is a consortium of SouthCoast High School artists, sponsored by GiftsToGive, who exhibit at local “pop-up” galleries and auction their art to support local causes they believe in.

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  • Berkley Girl Scouts Strike Again!

    The Berkley Girl Scouts Strike Again! This past week, Berkley Troop 75329 came back for a visit bringing a car-load of new toys for our Birthday Program. Photos here.

    Here is what one of their leaders had to say: “Berkley Girl Scout Troop 75329 volunteered at GiftsToGive during our philanthropy badge back in January. The girls spent an afternoon from their winter vacation and processed clothes for children in need. Their afternoon made a significant impression on them.

    Recently the troop had our annual cookie sales and the time came for the girls, ages eight and nine, to decide what to do with the money they had raised. Instead of using it for themselves, they decided to use a portion of their profits to buy toys for children in need and bring them to GiftsToGive. They could have decided to use them for anything, but GiftsToGive and their education on philanthropy made such an
    impression, that they were compelled to give back to children less fortunate than themselves.

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  • Tabor Academy’s Baxter House – ROCKS!

    

    Baxter House Students

    The winners of Tabor Academy’s first quarter “Green Wars” competition, were the 25 young women in Baxter House! They collectively chose to give back.

    Under the careful eye of the dorm’s “dean of green,” junior Sara Kosicki, the Baxter House residents were declared the campus’s best and most conscientious recyclers.  As a result, money accumulated at the redemption center was given to the Baxter girls as a prize for their dorm’s thoughtful approach to caring for the planet. Rather than use the money for a weekend pizza party, the girls chose to use the money to buy socks and underwear. Why?  Because they answered our call for help!  Our supply of new socks and underwear, essentials many take for granted, is dangerously low. Hearing this, these amazing students acted!

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  • Paige Donates Her Birthday Presents

     

    

    Paige sets a most perfect example

    Eight year-old Paige, did something amazing on her birthday.

    Her parents held a party and Paige asked her friends to bring a new birthday present for a GiftsToGive child, who would not ordinarily receive a gift on their birthday.

    Paige brought us 31 new birthday presents to be given to local children on their special day.

    In her “doing” Paige has not only made a huge difference, but has become a most excellent example to her siblings and friends about the power of giving.

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  • Nathan Collected Hygiene Supplies for His Eagle Scout Project

    

    Nathan DosReis

    My name is Nathan Dos Reis I am a Boy Scout in Troop 20, Squanto District, Old Colony Council. Our troop is located at 400 Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. I am a senior at New Bedford High School and I am enjoying this final year in high school.

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  • “The Normandin Middle School Sorority” Defining Youth Philanthropy

    

    Kayla Smith, Flavia Miranda, Adrienne DePina, India Santiago, Sabine Charles, Anitra Alves, Alianah Grajales, Sofia Dias, Diana Jesus, Rylee Nogueira, Natasha Ferro and Martha Kay. (Not in order)

    Two amazing women; Natasha Ferro and Martha Kay have been mentoring groups of middle school girls, after school, since 2012 at the Normandin Middle School.

    

    CLICK to read their joint speech

    “The Sorority” morphed into a Youth Philanthropy Group this year and with the guidance of Natasha and Martha their young women focused on issues that concerned them. In the beginning of the school year, they brainstormed a list of needs within our community and settled on animal abuse, domestic violence, gang activity, and homelessness.

    This week they made a presentation to the Greater New Bedford Homeless Providers Network. Their speech was inspiring as was their work. Their speech defines the work they’ve done, please read it.

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• News from GiftsToGive

  • Listening to Hunter

    We just spent two days with students from the Rocky Hill School in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It’s become an annual two day field trip and Read More »

  • First Annual Health and Safety Fair – A Huge Success!

    Over 100 students from Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School and Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School developed, marketed and staffed their First Read More »

  • Feast of the Blessed Sacrament Parade 2017

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