Return to Sender: 'Tis the Season

Dear Philadelphia:

Happy Holidays!

That’s right, we said it. Because it’s the holiday season, goddammit. We’re talking about all the holidays that happen between the last Thursday in November and the first day of January. Even the ones you haven’t heard of. Bill O’Reilly.

But we digress.

The thing that we here at Phillyist like so much about the holidays is how darn nice everyone is. Store clerks are especially helpful, bosses are extra lenient, and even the meter maids might give you a grace period of a whole fifteen seconds! We’d blame it on Christmas Cheer, but then we’d risk offending ourselves.

This year, we thought we’d try being nice in return. But smiling and saying “Happy Holidays” to our bus drivers and bus boys hasn’t felt like enough. We’ve made a bigger effort than usual to hold doors open, to help people whose hands look full grab their coffee at Starbucks. But these things are just common courtesy to us. We needed to do more.

That’s why we’ve been helping to care for seven puppies lately. That's them, in the picture. Their mom was living on the streets and her owner knew that she couldn’t take care of her once the puppies were born. She had the good fortune of stumbling upon Natalie, from Cares4Pets, and Natalie placed Kaya, the mama dog, at a friend’s house. We’re over there nearly every day, bathing, feeding, or throwing away dirty newspapers. The puppies are almost ready to go to their new homes now, and we know that our work with Cares4Pets has helped, at least a little, to ensure a happy holiday to both them and their new families.

Little furry creatures aren’t your thing? Aside from the many pet adoption agencies that you could volunteer at (the weeks after Christmas are especially busy for them, when people realize that the puppy they bought for Little Tommy or Little Suzy doesn’t like kids), Philadelphia has dozens of places you could volunteer this holiday season. Opportunities for the spreading of good cheer include:

Philadelphia Holiday Project Nursing Home Visits – Lots of people visit Grandma and Grandpa over the Holidays. But for some people, it’s too hard, or too expensive, or too far. Unfortunately, that means Grandma and Grandpa are often alone. The Holiday Project wants to make sure that nobody’s grandparents are alone on Channukah or Christmas. The Holiday Project’s website lists several opportunities in and around Philadelphia.

PhilAbundance – There are countless volunteer opportunities at Philabundance, Delaware Valley’s hunger relief organization. The organization offers volunteer opportunities in everything from packing special holiday meals for senior citizens to starting your own food drive.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – CHOP is one of the leading children’s research hospitals in the States, and the patients and their families are usually receptive to visitors, especially during the holidays. Just remember, a lot of those kids are far away from home and they won’t be able to go back for the holidays. Volunteers with CHOP need to have at least three hours available every week for a period of three months – but when you think about it, it’s not really that much time.

Heartland Hospice Services – Hospices aren’t easy places to work, but they can always use volunteers. Heartland Hospice Services is one of many area hospice centers that could use an extra hand, especially this time of year.

There you go, Philadelphia. We’re just giving you a sampling of the many volunteer opportunities that abound in the Delaware valley every holiday season, and beyond. Just remember, the holiday season is about giving far more than it is about getting. A few hours of your time might be worth more than that Fendi bag ever can.