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Food drives are just one of the many ways to help support those in need within your community, and food banks and survival centers are generally so easy to support and access that even teens and tweens can facilitate food drives at their schools or in their neighborhoods. Learn how you can host a food drive in your community…
Halloween candy can be donated or repurposed for educational and scientific value by donating to members of the military deployed overseas to candy science experiments…
This week on the Hilltown Family Variety Show, through music and mindfulness, Charity Kahn explores some of the ideas at the heart of community service in an hour long, commercial-free radio show. Listen to the podcast anytime here…
This past Saturday at Atlas Farm in Deerfield, Hilltown Families collaborated with Whole Foods Market and brought families together in the fields for a day of community service, gleaning organic kale, collards, chard and broccoli leftover from a recent harvest to donate to the Food Bank of Western MA…
This September, Hilltown Families has another community service event for families… Kids’ Day of Community Service! In collaboration with Whole Foods Market in Hadley, this will be an opportunity to glean organic vegetables for The Food Bank of Western MA at Atlas Farm in Deerfield. Join us in this service learning opportunity giving kids a hands-on look at how their food is grown while supporting local food security efforts…
Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Event Gives Back! This past Saturday, May 4th, was the second Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Event, a one of a kind event for families to volunteer together at seven different community service stations in a single morning! From teens to tots to grandparents, together families were able to generate 450 hours of community service at this intergenerational event for different non-profit and community organizations in our… Read More
Building Birdhouses to Making Giving Bags. Jurassic Roadshow to Long Island Express. Wild Flower Walk to Historical Fashion Show… These are just a few of the learning highlights we’re featuring this week! Get out into your community and learn while you play! Service-Based Learning ♦ Playgroups & Storyhours ♦ Dinosaurs/Fossils ♦ Nature & History ♦ Fashion ♦ Science ♦ Animal/Nature Studies ♦ Parent Workshop
Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Event Saturday, May 4th from 10am-1pm Leeds Elementary School in Northampton, MA Join Hilltown Families for a Saturday morning of volunteering together with your family during our spring Family Community Service Event on Saturday, May 4th from 10am-1pm in Northampton, MA! This past fall at our inaugural Family Community Service Night we focused on human service organizations and families had a great time working together in support… Read More
Spaghetti Dinner to Fun Run. Composting to Recycling. Victorian Tea to Potluck Dinner. Frog Life Cycle to Arabic Cultural Festival… These are just a few of the learning highlights we’re featuring this week! On the heels of Earth Day as we head towards the end of National Volunteer Week, there are still a plethora of events to participate in that celebrate and support sustainability, along with opportunities to volunteer with your family… Read More
Earth Day to Volunteer Week. Beaver Ponds to Raising Chickens. Wild Flower Walks to Textile Drives… These are just a few of the learning highlights we’re featuring this week! Get out into your community and learn while you play! And be sure to check our list of supporting book titles to supplement the learning on the different topics highlighted each week. Purchase them for your family library, or check them out from… Read More
Park Clean Ups & Community Service Activities for Families this Spring in Western MA As spring warms the landscape across western Massachusetts, opportunities for outdoor adventures increase exponentially. What would have been a snowshoe trek and bark inspection a month ago has become a woods hike where families can identify plants, trees, and wildlife of all shapes and sizes. However, as the ground awakes from its snow-covered slumber, trails and parks are… Read More
Support Neighbors in Transition Volunteer with Gray House in Springfield Looking for community service opportunities to do as a family? Whether you’re hoping to fill a few free afternoons with an engaging activity or are planning to make a long-term commitment to lending a hand with a community organization, opportunities for service learning abound at The Gray House! Located in Springfield’s North End, The Gray House offers a thrift shop and food… Read More
Click here to find out how this wonderful community-service event went: Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Event Generates 450 Hours of Community Service in a Single Morning… and a whole lotta fun! Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Event Saturday, May 4, 2013 from 10am-1pm Leeds Elementary School in Northampton, MA Join Hilltown Families for a Saturday morning of volunteering together with your family during our spring Family Community Service Event on Saturday, May… Read More
Practicing Consideration of Others on Martin Luther King Day of Service… and Everyday! It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service! If you’re looking for a way your family can participate in this day of service, it can be as big as joining a community celebration with service and learning opportunities (check out our post, 6 Ways to Observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Western MA), and it can be as small… Read More
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service Opportunities and Celebrations in Western MA Monday, January 21, 2013 Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and dedication to creating change in our country can be done in many ways. The day will be celebrated in Western MA at concerts, lectures, worship services, and ceremonies throughout the region. Mass Audubon is offering a unique way for families to spend the special holiday this year –… Read More
Connecting and Supporting Community with Bread (and Biscuits!) Does your family do a lot of baking during the holidays? Why not make an extra loaf or two and share with someone in need or a local hero? Spread the Bread, a global grassroots bread-spreading initiative, is encouraging families to do just that! Community members are encouraged to bake (or buy) bread, wrap it with a note of hope, inspiration or gratitude, and… Read More
Homemade for the Holidays Spreading Seasonal Cheer in Your Community Looking for a creative way to participate in community service this holiday season? Does your family make holiday decorations together? Maybe you make garlands of popcorn & cranberries, pomanders (clove studded oranges), salt dough ornaments, mini gingerbread houses out of graham cracker, or decorate your home with paper snowflakes? Why not make a few extra this holiday season and then take them… Read More
Hilltown Families event at Bridge Street School links community service and family fun By Barbara Solow, Daily Hampshire Gazette NORTHAMPTON (Dec 3, 2012) — City resident Margaret Martin said she brought her two granddaughters, 9 and 6, to a community event at Bridge Street School last Friday to “get them out and about and helping people.” Victoria Worth of Ashfield was there with her 9-year-old daughter to learn more about the work… Read More
DIY Pictorial: Yarn Wrapped Tin Can Planters By Amber Ladley When Hilltown Families asked Knack: The Art of Clever Reuse to come up with a creative (and decorative) way to help families plant Paperwhite bulbs donated by Hadley Garden Center at the first ever Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Night, we put our clever minds to work. Our goal was to have an activity that was easy enough for people of all… Read More
Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Night Thank you to all of the families who joined us for the Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Night this past Friday evening, November 30, 2012! The event was a great success with nearly 150 folks joining us for a fun evening of community service. By spending a couple of hours helping out in hands-on projects at five different stations, participating families were able to give 300… Read More
Build a House Out of Gingerbread for Habitat for Humanity Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity (PVHH) is hosting a gingerbread house competition on Dec. 8th in Easthampton, MA. Teams of gingerbread architects are asked to raise $100 for PVHH from their community in order to participate in the event, and will be provided with gingerbread pieces and frosting donated by River Valley Market Co-op with which to create their gingerbread homes or… Read More
News & Information on Service Learning, Community Service, & Family Volunteering Opportunities Around Thanksgiving Day Looking for ways to give back to your community during the holidays. Here are 10 ideas we’ve shared this week on the Hilltown Families Facebook Page. Ideas range from volunteering with your family for a single evening to hosting an elderly person in your home, and span the four counties of Western MA. There’s also information to… Read More
Hilltown Families’ Family Community Service Night Friday, November 30th from 4:30-7:30pm Bridge Street School in Northampton, MA Join Hilltown Families for an evening of volunteering together with your family during our first ever Family Community Service Night! On Friday, November 30th from 4:30-7:30pm in Northampton, families can come together for a fun evening visiting five different volunteer stations, each offering a simple, hands-on service project for all ages. Participants can volunteer at… Read More
Status Updates: Community Service Connections Here are 10 ways families and teens can support their community and others post Hurricane Sandy and leading up to the holidays. All of these suggestions were posted to the Hilltown Families Facebook page over the past week. We offer daily updates and announcements on our Facebook page for families living throughout Western MA! If you haven’t already, be sure you not only “Like” our page, but… Read More
Source-to-Sea Clean-Up in Hampden County Sunday, Sept. 30th The Trustees of Reservations (The Trustees), United Water, and Holyoke Friends of the River have joined forces this fall to organize a river clean-up volunteer day on the banks of the Connecticut River. On Sunday, September 30th, from 9am-Noon, folks of all ages and abilities are invited to meet at the American Legion next to Pulaski Park (50 St. Kolbe Dr., Holyoke, MA) to… Read More
On Saturday, Sept 15th, Hilltown Families partnered with The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts for a field trip that combined both service-based and community-based learning. Our field trip involved a tour of The Food Bank in Hatfield, MA, led by The Food Bank’s Education Coordinator, Molly Coon. Families got to see the facility up-close and learn how The Food Bank operates, who it serves and individuals can support their mission. The group played… Read More
Springfield Non-Profits Working Together! “Habitat Goes to the Zoo!” Volunteer Event Saturday, Sept. 22nd Teens ages 16yo and older and their parents are invited to participate in the volunteer opportunity event, “Habitat Goes to the Zoo!” on Saturday, Sept. 22nd! The Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity (GSHFH) and The Zoo in Forest Park & Education Center, two cherished Springfield non-profits, are working together to improve the public grounds at the Zoo for… Read More
Community Service: Gleaning with Rachel’s Table When food is grown, often a significant amount is left behind in fields after the harvest. Families can help to harvest food and contribute to local efforts to combat hunger by volunteering with Rachel’s Table Gleaning Project! The project organizes community members to visit local farms and glean fields once farmers have finished their harvest. Over the past five years, Rachel’s Table has offered over $100,000… Read More
Families Can Help Grow Food for Hunger Relief in Greenfield this Summer Western Massachusetts is lush with farms, making locally grown and produced foods relatively easy to find. However, there are many local families who are not able to enjoy locally grown produce, for a variety of reasons. Just Roots, a Greenfield organization whose mission is to provide the community with the knowledge of farming necessary for food production, is growing a… Read More
Cultural Itineraries
- Season: January & February
- Season: March & April
- Season: May & June
- Season: July & August
- Season: September & October
- Season: November & December
