Give Back: Organize Food Donated for Holiday Season

Check out our round up of volunteer opportunities.

Help with Scouting for Food Scouting for Food is a food drive Nov. 17. Scouts collect items to serve pantries during the holiday season. Volunteers are needed from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. to help with collecting, sorting and boxing food collected at firehouses on the bag collection day. Sign up here to help in Ferguson. Sign up here to help in Lemay.  Sign up here to help in University City.  Sign up here to help in Chesterfield. Sign up here to help in Webster Groves. Sign up here to help in Creve Coeur. Sign up here to help in Ballwin. Thanksgiving fun for Teen Girls Bring simple thanksgiving decorations, supplies for crafts and ingredients for baking cookies and have fun for a few hours with girls in residential care at Epworth in Webster …

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As Hurricane Sandy Hits, St. Louis Red Cross Volunteers Are There

Flights have been canceled at Lambert airport; the American Red Cross Greater St. Louis Region has dispatched 14 volunteers and five emergency response vehicles; Ameren is also dispatching utility workers east.

As the East Coast begins to be hammered by Hurricane Sandy, the St. Louis chapter of the American Red Cross has dispatched regional volunteers and emergency response vehicles to the storm-battered area. The American Red Cross Greater St. Louis Region, based in Creve Coeur, has now sent 14 volunteers and five emergency response vehicles, as the storm is already leaving tens of thousands without power.  More from the Red Cross: These volunteers from around the region are serving in the relief efforts in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. They are driving the emergency response vehicles, working in shelters, and assisting in the areas of mental health and staff health.  At this time, all further deployments, with the exception of …

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Julie Brown Patton

4:53 pm on Monday, October 29, 2012

American Red Cross already reports opening 112 overnight shelters in nine states, securing more than 230,000 shelf-stable meals, and deploying 1,300-plus trained Red Cross workers to areas most affected by Hurricane Sandy.   more ›

Volunteer Tax-Preparers Needed from Affton, Shrewsbury

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, the nation’s largest free, volunteer-run tax preparation and assistance service, is seeking volunteers across the state to help Missouri taxpayers who are seeking assistance preparing and filing their 2012 tax returns.

Online Quiz: Where Should You Volunteer?

Use this online quiz to match your skills and availability with local organizations that need volunteers.

Volunteering your time is a great way to support your Patch community and give back to those around you. But finding a volunteer opportunity that matches your skills, schedule and passions can be a challenge. That’s why the United Way developed an online quiz that matches applicants to agencies desperately in need of extra hands. Before you take the quiz, take stock of what you’re looking for. So many organizations need extra help that you are sure to find something that matches your needs as well. Once you know what you are looking for, take the United Way’s Volunteer Interests Quiz, and take an important step toward bettering your community. Patch also has resources to connect volunteers with good causes. Just hover over "More Stuff" on …

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Chamber of Commerce Awards Community Mainstays at Annual Banquet

Affton honors its Citizen of the Year and Business Person of the Year.

More than 250 guests filled the Two Hearts Banquet Center on Saturday night for the 19th annual Affton Chamber of Commerce Auction and Awards Banquet. The event featured a "Seven Wonders of the World" theme, and guests enjoyed bidding, dinner, and a chance to honor a few of Affton’s upstanding citizens. The Citizen of the Year award, presented by Affton Chamber of Commerce President Timothy Kinealy, went to Shirley Eckert, an outstanding volunteer in the Affton community. Kinealy spoke of Eckert’s volunteerism at Seven Holy Founders—cleaning the church, making bereavement lunches, and serving as a Eucharistic minister. Eckert serves as a member of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ladies Sodality, as a member of the Peregrine Society she makes …

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Be There Now

Big Brothers Big Sisters Asks You to 'Be There Now!'

More than 1,000 children are waiting for a Big Brother or Big Sister.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri (BBBS) launched a brand new campaign aiming to recruit 600 new volunteers in six months. "Be There Now" is calling on all of the organization's dedicated supporters to help to generate awareness among their friends and colleagues or become Big Brothers or Big Sisters themselves.  With more than 1,000 children waiting for a Big Brother or Big Sister, there’s never been a better time than now to get involved. The impact of having a mentor is incredibly powerful, yet the requirements to become one are easier than you might think:  The Littles—the children who need a mentor—merely seek quality time with their Bigs, and activities can range anywhere from playing catch at the park to going to the …

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Churches, Charities and Kindnesses

Affton Community Band Serenades Locals Every Summer

Volunteer musicians team up when the weather gets warm and share their passion for song with the community.

Now in its 23rd year, the Affton Community Band has a long-standing tradition of bringing beautiful music to locals, and all free of charge. Performing two to four concerts from May to July, the band is made up of 55 volunteer musicians from the area. Along with the summer performances, the band also meets to practice Thursday evenings in the summer at Affton High School. With musicians ranging in age from their teens through their 80s, the band is an amalgamation of backgrounds, experience and personalities. Dave Eding, Affton resident and the band’s conductor for the past 15 years, said the group was conceptualized by former Affton High School band conductor Tim Hausman. “The band grew out of the community education program that was …

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Churches, Charities and Kindnesses

Affton Christian Food Pantry Offers Nourishment to Locals in Need

Food pantry serves hungry neighbors in Affton and beyond

The white shelves and tables inside the Affton Christian Food Pantry (ACFP) are sort of like blank canvases. With the support from local churches, food banks, schools and volunteers, fresh produce, cereals, bottles of juice and cans of soup fill up the bare spaces with color. ACFP is housed in the newly renovated St. George Parish Center, just across the street from its original location on Heege Road in Affton. Eleven local affiliate churches and many local volunteers handle the pantry’s operations. The pantry opens to clients on Tuesday afternoons, Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings by appointment. “People are qualified to come to our pantry if they live in the 63123 area code or if they are referred by one of our affiliate churches…

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