My wife and I visited Open Hand Atlanta to volunteer our time for a couple of hours to prep meals…read more Open Hand provides nutritional meals for those with chronic diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, different forms of cancer, etc. These nutritional meals promote and prolong healthier way of life. Once you arrive and sign in, you'll be taken to a waiting room area, where Open Hand staff gives you a rundown of their history and what their mission is. You also get the rules of the prep room and are gifted a one of a kind hairnet, plastic apron, and men with facial hair gets face masks. No jewelry may be at any time. Rings, necklaces, earrings, facial piercings, watches, etc. can NOT be worn. There are different things that you can do at this space, but I wanted to do meal prep. We washed our hands and grabbed plastic gloves. Keep in mind, the gloves are different sizes. The meal prep was like an assembly line. The meal we prepped was Beef Stroganoff on Noodles with Green Beans. With a scale, the first person weighed the appropriate number for the noodles, the second person weighed the right number of beef stroganoff, and the third person weighed the right number for green beans. There is then a fourth person who wipes off any excess food from around the rim of the food container. This is important so the plastic cover will seal appropriately. It's then put in this contraption that holds multiple containers and a person press seals it and puts it to the side. This is definitely quite a process, but once you get into the flow of it, it becomes easier. Some people make it a challenge against another group to see who can make the most meals. Side note: THIS PLACE IS FREEZING! The ENTIRE BUILDING IS COLD! Bring a jacket or hoody. Overall, this is a great place to come with a group or by yourself and do some charitable services. Fortunately, we came with a large group of my wife's coworkers, so we were able to knock out over 2,500 meals which was awesome! I'd definitely come back.

I volunteered at Open Hand two weeks ago (Saturday, July 22, 2017) and had a lot of fun. I didn't…read moreknow what to expect as far as working conditions, the general environment, and exactly what we would be doing. Would I be in some freezing cold meat locker? Would I be inside an insanely hot warehouse? Would I be breaking my already broken back moving heavy objects around? Would I be doing some mundane task for hours and be bored out of my mind? Fortunately, the answer to all those questions was no. I went with a big group to celebrate someone's birthday (a neat idea). Half of us did meal packing and the other half did market basket packing. I signed up for meal packing. Our meal packing session involved packing meals into bags and portioning food into individual containers (think frozen TV dinners). The food was already cooked and just needed to be heated up to be eaten. Market basket packing involves packing nonperishable foods. In this case, the food wasn't cooked and the recipients would need to cook it themselves. We signed up to work from 1pm to 4pm. Each of us had to register on Open Hand's website. After registering and reserving our spots, we received confirmation emails with information, reminders, and dress code requirements. One of the dress code requirements in my confirmation email said, "Long pants are preferred. Skirts or dresses must be shin length." I wore shorts. When standing, those shorts touched the top of my knees. My girlfriend, who also signed up for meal packing, wore shorts too. Her shorts were shorter. She ended up getting moved to market basket packing because of the length of her shorts. This wasn't a big deal, but the dress code requirements listed in the confirmation email should have been more clear about shorts or simply just said that long pants are required for meal packing. There was at least one other person in our meal packing group with knee-length shorts. When you arrive to Open Hand, the volunteer entrance is clearly marked. Each volunteer must sign in and sign out using a computer just inside the entrance. We arrived right around 1pm, checked in, and were ushered into an orientation room. The orientation was quick, about 10 minutes. A short video about Open Hand was played and then we got some in-person instruction. After that, we were whisked to our volunteer work areas. For meal packing, we had to wear hair nets and aprons. First, we helped prepare bags to place meals in, then we moved into the meal packing work area. This was a cool, clean room with various tables and assembly lines. One group was already sealing TV dinner trays when we arrived. We washed our hands and helped assemble bags with four meals in them: Monday lunch, Monday dinner, Tuesday lunch, and Tuesday dinner with cornbread and condiments (ketchup and mustard). It was pretty easy. Each person was assigned to place one or two items into each bag and pass it down. I was responsible for the ketchup and mustard. After a bag had four meals, cornbread, and condiments, it was tied and placed on a tray which was later stacked and carted off. We assembled 126 of these Monday-Tuesday meal bags. Two of our meal packing group were broken off and sent to the cornbread station where they individually bagged and sealed cornbread. The cornbread was already cooked and cut. After assembling the meal bags, we took a short break in the break room and then were called back into the meal packing room for another job. This time, we had to portion food into TV dinner trays which would later be sealed. This task was harder than the last because we had to handle food directly with our hands (wearing gloves of course) and measure correct portion sizes using scales. We packed 285 meal trays filled with chicken, mushroom risotto, and peas and pearl onions. The hands of the people scooping and portioning out the risotto and peas got tired. I helped a little bit with the peas and organizing and stacking the meal trays on bigger trays, but I mostly was responsible for placing a piece of chicken on top of the risotto. We ended up spending almost our full 3-hour allotment at Open Hand. The market basket packing group ended up finishing early, in under 1.5 hours. Volunteer Services Manager Julie Barwig was the person who oversaw our group. In the meal packing room, Andre led us for the meal bag packing and Shameka led us for the meal tray portioning. Everyone was nice and friendly. I enjoyed the experience so much that I'm now considering signing up to do meal delivery. Open Hand's mission statement: "Open Hand helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life." The campus is located in the industrial Armour neighborhood of Atlanta near SweetWater Brewing Company and the Armour Yard rail yard on the southern edge of Buckhead.

We are so blessed to have Ms. Jillian share her gift and passion with our young learners at Smyrna…read moreMontessori School every week for years now. We LOVE FreedOM Youth Yoga. Jillian is full of light and it shines through every class! Our students adore her positive energy and look forward to her yoga classes every week. Jillian is joyful and energetic, playful and creative. She takes her craft very seriously and believes in the power of yoga fully and it truly shows.

From the owner: FreedOM Youth Yoga, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c) 3, organization dedicated to bringing the practice…read moreof yoga to all youth in Smyrna and Greater Atlanta. We are a mobile studio, which means we bring the yoga to wherever the participants are, specializing in Family Yoga, Preschooler Yoga, Kids’ Yoga, Teen Yoga, and Goat Yoga.

HOPE worldwide changed my life in amazing ways. I got to travel to many countries as a teenager and…read morecollege student and serve poor communities around the world. It open my eyes to poverty and living conditions that I did not know existed. It gave me a completely new perspective on my life and incredible gratitude for how we are able to live in America. It taught me a deep respect for other cultures, and for people who experience times of need. It connected me to God in ways that are impossible without serving those in need with your own two hands. It help me build, lifelong friendships with people from all over the world. It gave me the courage to learn other languages and live overseas for many years. It made serving the poor part of my life's mission. HOPE worldwide also has incredible leaders and volunteers and examples of people who have given up their entire lives and careers to help those in need around the world. They are truly the worlds best volunteers. It has made me a better person in every way that matters.

My daughter volunteers through Hope WorldWide, SC chapter. They work with the Boys & Girls Club at…read morelocal schools and have a mentoring program. My daughter mentors a little girl who has brought a sense of responsibility and purpose to her. She visits her after school 1-2 days a week for a couple of hours. They do homework, play games, talk, and engage in activities the B&G Club have arranged. My daughter plans to mentor this girl as long as she can. We first started this so that she would have volunteer work on her college applications, but now she's sticking with it because she enjoys it. I encourage anyone with any kind of free time to volunteer or at least give to the many causes out there. (ESPECIALLY TO HELP SPAY AND NEUTER DOGS AND CATS!! -- and care for those lost ones who have no place to call home....) - 2 facilites in the midlands are Pets Inc (petsinc.org) and Animal Mission (animalmission.org) GIVE PLEASE!!!

This theater retains a lot of its history both in its architecture and in little quirks such as $3…read morepopcorn and other budget friendly snacks/drinks (the popcorn is DELICIOUS, by the way!) I love that they have a large variety of comedy shows, movies, tribute bands, etc. and that it is located right at Marietta square. There's a bar upstairs to hang out prior to the show, and the bathrooms, though modestly small, are generally well kept and clean. Inside the theater (I've only ever been in the room on the first floor) is clean and fairly standard in terms of seating (not tiny/cramped, but also not la-z-boys like a movie theater). I wish they had cup holders, but I find that most older/classic theaters do not. Chairs are not the most comfortable for me (my lower back hurt a bit after an hour), but my husband seemed to find it all right. Volume is on the louder end if you're up in the front (first 8 rows or so), so you might want to bring ear plugs. I found that during the beginning of the production, the lighting was still being tested/doing weird things as it was getting incredibly bright then dim on one of the singers, even when it wasn't her part. They seemed to have figured it out in the end though. Overall, we had a great time, and like I said, prices seemed about right. We are looking forward to attending more shows/events here!

The lumiere lounge on the second floor of the Strand is a gem! The perfect little piano bar, we…read morelove coming for the jazz sessions they host or even just a Saturday night cap. A must see!

Difficult to find & apparently NOT open on Sunday despite Yelp & Google saying otherwise. No sign…read moreon the door with actual hours. GPS leads to Chevron, but the store is right next door (I drove in circles thinking I was missing it).

From the owner: Thrift It Atlanta is a 501 C3 nonprofit. We help with domestic violence and homelessness. Your…read moredonations and purchases help make our greater Atlanta area a better community. The founder of Thrift It Atlanta was a domestic violence victim for 17 years. This affected her in a tremendous way. Women and domestic violence are often stuck or end up, homeless to get out. She opened Thrift It Atlanta to help others like herself.