Step Up: This Thanksgiving, Please Don't Volunteer

That's right, I said don't volunteer. Are you wondering if I've lost my mind, or if this is Bizzaro World, where everything is opposite? Relax, everything is fine. In fact, it's great: I just took a big task off your plate for this holiday weekend! Crack open a cold one, lean back and enjoy the game. You don't have to do anything today but eat-nap-watch tv-repeat. But there's a catch.

Hunger is a problem every day of the year, not just the last Thursday of November. Yet, for the majority of the year, soup kitchens and other services that provide meals to people in need are desperately underfunded and understaffed. On Thanksgiving (and Christmas, too) volunteers come out of the woodwork. Most places have to turn away well-intentioned folks who are grateful for what they have, and want to give something back to their communities.

So here's the plan: Enjoy a leisurely Thanksgiving dinner and take the family down to a food bank on one of the other 300+ days of the year! There are many organizations that would be happy to see you on any day in February, May or September, and will gladly put you to work preparing, serving and even delivering meals. Some of the people who benefit could be other families who hit hard times, elderly people who are stuck in the house because of inclement weather, or patients who are recovering from medical procedures, but still have limited mobility.

Here are some organizations that will welcome you any (other) day of the year:

• Meals on Wheels. The Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) is the oldest and largest organization in the United States representing those who provide meal services to people in need. Most cities and metropolitan areas also have a local chapter you can find by looking up "Meals on Wheels" and your location.
• Feeding America. This is the largest domestic hunger-relief charity in the United States. The Feeding America network of banks serve all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. On the site you can enter your zip code to find the food bank closest to you, and what kind of volunteers they need.
• Volunteer Match. Want to help the Salvation Army? How about handing out food at the pet food bank? Maybe you prefer working with kids at an after school craft programs? You can find worthy causes like these, and more, just by entering your zip code into the Volunteer Match search engine.
• Your Local Church. Regardless of your denomination, most religious organizations offer assistance to people in need. Your volunteering efforts can make a difference close to home, where charity is purported to start.

On Thanksgiving, enjoy spending time with your family, give thanks for what you have, and make a plan for another day you can all get together — the more the merrier — to volunteer as a team. What better way to give thanks for what you have than by planning your new tradition of helping others! Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo courtesy of CarbonNYC on flickr.