Ayuda

Ayuda Seasonal Donation Drives

December 20th, 2023
DC, Silver Spring, Fairfax Offices

Opportunity Title: Ayuda Holiday Toy & Winterwear Drives  


Opportunity Description: At Ayuda, we like to maximize the support we can provide to our clients while creatively involving the community to support our work through timely seasonal in-kind donation drives! Whether backpacks with school supplies at the start of the academic year, toys and winterwear during the cold holiday months, or female and WIC products during times like International Women's Month and Mother's Day, we are always looking for ways that we can go above and beyond for our clients.   

As we approach the end of the year, we have officially launched our holiday toy and winterwear drives! At Ayuda, we are seeking to collect new toys, games, and gadgets that we will wrap and provide to our youth clients and families with young children across our three offices in Virginia, DC, and Maryland. We are also seeking to collect new winter clothing items that we will provide to our clients at all three of our offices and to the new arrivals from the southern border that we have been supporting. There is no better feeling in the world than the joy a parent can provide for their children, especially during the holidays through the gifting of brand-new presents. During a time when inflation is soaring and budgets are stretched thin, this campaign is so impactful for the families we support as well as the newly arrived immigrant community. We are hoping to provide at least hundreds of toys of various types and for all ages across our three offices and dozens of coats, boots, and other winterwear items as we will need all the help we can receive to collect, wrap, and gift the in-kind support we will be providing this holiday season!   


Department/Individuals Assisting: Ayuda’s Social Services Team involving our Volunteer Coordinator, Connor Paul, as well as our Case Mangers at all three of our Ayuda offices.  


Current Seasonal Donation Drives (linked below): 


Ways to Get Involved & Requirements:  

- Purchasing new holiday toys or winterwear for us to distribute to our clients via our Amazon Wishlist's above or providing new holiday toys or winterwear to us in-person that you have purchased 

  • No requirements other than a desire to support our work! To coordinate a time to drop off donations at one of our offices if not ordering through our Wishlist's, please reach out to our Volunteer Coordinator who can coordinate with you to ensure we have staff present to receive. 
  • Please note that any toys not purchased from our Amazon Wishlist must be new. We will not be accepting any used toys due to concerns about condition, missing pieces, etc.   
  • Please note the only winterwear items that we will accept USED BUT IN EXCELLENT CONDITION AND CLEAN are winter coats and winter shoes. All other items must be donated new, in their original packaging, regardless of condition. “If you wouldn’t give it to a loved one, please don’t give it to our clients” 

- Adopting a Family to provide them with specific toys/gifts they are requesting for their children 

  • Upon signing up to adopt a family, our volunteer coordinator will provide you with your assigned family’s Wishlist and background information to provide you with some additional context about the individuals you will be supporting 

- Organizing and managing your own donation drive to collect new holiday toys or new winterwear items among your community that we can provide to our clients 

  • Please reach out to our Volunteer Coordinator if you are interested in managing a community donation drive as he would be happy to connect and support!  
  • At Ayuda, we reserve the final discretion to accept or reject donated items that we feel will maintain our client’s dignity upon their receipt. It is critical that volunteers leading vet donations collected from drive before providing to us to ensure the items meet the conditions we request to accept    

- Joining us for a gift-wrapping day at one of our offices to help us wrap and provide toys and winterwear to our clients that they will be selecting for the donations we have received 

  • Volunteers will need to join us at our office on specific dates/times and abide by our COVID-19 policies. Otherwise, all that is needed is to be a team player, bring positivity and enthusiasm to help!  
  • While not required, we do prefer if assisting volunteers could lift and carry boxes up to 10 lbs. 
  • Due to limited capacity for these volunteer opportunities, signups will remain private and accommodate groups holding drives, family adopters, as well as our regular volunteers as we reciprocate our appreciation for their support! 


Dates & Commitment:  Here are the dates and times for our holiday gift-wrapping events / overall campaign schedule. If there are any adjustments our volunteer coordinator will reach to notify all those who are confirmed to join on that specific day. 

  • December 14th: Gift Wrapping at our Silver Spring, MD Office 
  • December 19th: Gift Wrapping at our Fairfax, VA Office 
  • December 20th: Gift Wrapping at our Washington, DC 
  • LAST DAY ACCEPTING HOLIDAY TOY DONATIONS (We will accept winterwear donations up until the end of January) 


COVID-19 Policies: At Ayuda, we believe it is critical that we follow the best public health practices and adhere to COVID-19 policies that ensure the safety of our staff, interns, beneficiaries, and volunteers. The following will be required of all Ayuda volunteers if joining for in office volunteering at any of our offices and is non-negotiable: 

  • Proof of vaccination, which we define as full vaccination plus a booster shot. 
  • Proof of Vaccination is not required to donate items, adopt family – drop off items, lead a community drive, or assist with transport of items to other offices. 


Sign Up: To get involved in our holiday toy and winterwear drives, please check out our Wishlists, express interest through our various sign ups (family adoption here) or email our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteers@ayuda.com as we hope to welcome your support with our campaign in some capacity! 

Sorry, there are no shifts available at this time.





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