I volunteered for the 'Disney Give a Day, Get a Day' program, and painted a house with Hands On…read moreOrlando. I used to volunteer a lot, then got out of it as I got older, and was happy to have volunteering put in the forefront of the news with Disney. I knew the volume of people signing up for events, and was pleasantly surprised when I painted a house with Hands On Orlando. The day consisted of painting four houses, with 100 volunteer expected. The HOO coordinator was very organized, arrived early and was very friendly. There was a HOO coordinator for each house, and one who monitored the whole project. They were very clear in their directions, and made a very humid day painting a house in not a great neighbor hood a great experience. Being an annual passholder for Disney, I wasn't worried about the processing time for the receipt of the Disney voucher, and yet it was in my email by Tuesday. Its kind of sad, the coordinator said that the month before, for the same event they had only twenty volunteers, and now all their events are full. While we appreciate all the Disney is doing to help communities, I sure wish more people would volunteer without having to be bribed, and I can't wait til we do it again!

Amazing organization! I love the Hands On network!…read more When I lived in Nashville, I frequently volunteered with Hands on Nashville to sort and create bags of groceries for those in the area living with AIDS. I was also a captain for Hands on Nashville Day, where we painted and spruced up a local high school, and even helped out at the animal shelter a few times. When I moved back to O-town I was super excited to find a local Hands On chapter. There is truly something for everyone here. Whether you like to work with your hands and get dirty, or just sit and hang out with some at-risk kids, or play with the puppies and kitties at the local shelter, Hands on Orlando has a huge network of opportunities, linking you with others who share your passions and organizations that run on the support of volunteers. To sing up, they keep things super simple. Log on to www.handsonorlando.com, create an account, then click on the calendar, and click on the event you wish to volunteer for. A quick sign up and print off of the waiver (or your coordinator can give you one at the time of the event), and you are good to go! The volunteer coordinators are super fun and work well with the organizations to ensure a smooth-flowing but fun volunteer experience. Since I've been back in Orlando, I have had the pleasure of volunteering with Coalition for the Homeless, Clean the World, and even the City of Casselberry through Hands on Orlando. This is a great way to get to know all the awesome local groups that take care of our community. I encourage everyone to find at least one Saturday morning a month to give back in 2015!

I have nothing but incredible things to say about this organization…read more I had been searching for a Pomeranian to adopt for the longest time. I don't believe in shopping for pets and paying thousands for them, I don't like breeding and I would only ever adopt (so many homeless pups out there, why would you breed more before giving the homes?!) My friends here in Florida have known forever how long I've been wanting a Pomeranian. They saw that VIP had one on facebook, and they tagged me immediately. From there I contacted the Rescue and expressed how badly I felt I absolutely NEEDED this little fur baby!! I did a bunch of paperwork, provided multiple references, and waited for my clearance to go through. They contacted all of my references and had a phone interview with me prior to accepting me. The pups are adopted on a first-come first-serve basis and then based on how fit you are for that pup. After that, I payed the adoption fee and met up with my Pomeranian's foster mom after she was cleared (a few days after being fixed). My experience was really incredible. The foster mom was seriously an angel, and I keep in touch with her to this day. She was so happy to see that Cookie (my Pom) was going to a home that loves her as much as we do! She gave me all of Cookie's paperwork, the medication she was on for her recent surgery, some puppy food and tips for her feeding routine at the time, and even gave me a leash and a harness for her. She was the sweetest woman and I am so thankful. After bringing Cookie home, she kept in touch and she checked up on her for the first few days (which was SO NICE, we really appreciated that!) Since then, we have sent her a Christmas card, and we always wish each other happy holidays as they come and go (she even texted me Happy Mothers Day and I wanted to cry!) This rescue and the foster families here really do so much for their pups and I am so grateful to have adopted from them. I would 110% recommend them, my life is changed for the better forever!

I wish I would have read all of the terrible reviews across various platforms, apps, and websites…read moreabout this rescue before I contacted them. I had the most bizarre, backwoods, deliverance music interaction with Pam. There aren't enough characters allowed in a Yelp review to even grace the surface of what a disaster this rescue is. They are highly unprofessional, they don't do what they say they are going to do, they have zero consideration, empathy, or respect for potential adopters, very unorganized, not thorough when assessing adopters, they do not do their due diligence, and Pam is an absolute nightmare. The things she said to me truly blew me away and left me speechless. Her behavior and comments were wildly inappropriate and disturbing. I can say from experience, all of the reviews about her are 100% accurate. She lacks considerable knowledge about dog behavior, dog health, animal rescue in general, and backyard breeding/puppy mills. She was erratic on the phone, oddly hyper and agitated, and jumping from passive aggressive to laughing at her "jokes". It was wild. There is something very, very wrong with this rescue and Pam.

I saw that Northland's Serve Day this spring had a project to help NHFK and signed up right away -…read moreI've heard of them but never had any details. So about 18 of us went over a Saturday morning in March. Gloria took us on a little tour and explained more about what she and her organization does. The big part of their work is with grieving kids who have lost a loved one in the family. The big house they have in Maitland would host these kids and their family, with professionals helping with counselling, grief-/anger-management, and recreation that will give their souls a measure of respite. The other, smaller, part of their work is along the lines of "Make-A-Wish", where kids with serious/terminal illness and their family go to NHFK to have a wish come true. Very touching, meaningful, work. I would encourage you to seek out their website at NewHopeForKids.org. Perhaps you'll have a heart to support them with your time/energy/resources. I hope I still have my photos...

Sign up to volunteer with a group or as an individual. Today in less than 3 hours my women's…read morehistory month group was able to package 13,000lbs of food which will impact over 11,000 people next week. The staff and volunteers are amazing, the work they do is needed and the systems they have in place makes it simple and easy to make a difference!

Went for an event here today and couldn't have been more impressed. Ian showed us the facility and…read moreexplained the breadth of 2nd harvests' outreach. As a group us yelpers relabeled and organized 4 pallets of cereal. It was a well organized and impressive undertaking. I am so excited to Geri evolved with this great organization. 10/10 go on their website and sign up to help out, and if you don't have time to donate consider giving financally. Every little bit helps. You will be glad you took the opportunity to give back to your local community in a truly meaningful way

We had a work event here after eating lunch at Cafe Boutique which was 0.2 miles away. I made a…read morequick passby when heading to lunch to ensure there was enough parking and there was. I walked in and was directed to one of the large conference areas in the rear area which had plastic chairs all set in place for the large bunch of our group. The bathroom was very interesting in that they offer a lot of stalls but the handing washing basins are all on the outside, two for the women and two for the men's side.

Came here for a single basketball game! 15 dollars to watch one basketball game! You can get UCF…read moretickets for cheaper! For it to be called a community center charging people these outrageous prices is a shame!

My kids have a heart to help the community and unfortunately, we missed the cutoff to fill shoe…read moreboxes for Operation Christmas Child, I just had to find something else we could participate in! I visited Feeding Children Everywhere's site, and saw an event at their headquarters in Longwood. I easily signed up my family of four for a one hour slot this past Saturday morning. We arrived a few minutes before our designated time. We were greeted at the door and immediately provided a hairnet. We killed a few minutes by looking at the merchandise available at the front. After a short briefing, we were divided up and sent to a table. We were given simple tasks and trained quickly. The meal we were assigned to put together was Hamburger Hero. It consisted of pasta noodles, vegetables and a special seasoning. I love that this is a volunteer opportunity the whole family can participate in. Kids get to scoop, pour, fill bags through a funnel... my boys both were in charge of weighing the bags after they were filled. They either had to add food, or remove it depending on what the scale said. They had a blast! The fun part was that their was Christmas music blasting and a friendly competition of who could fill up the most boxes. Each time a box was filled, we would ring a bell and the whole room would cheer. So much fun! We felt good that we did at least a SMALL part of helping fight hunger. Please do the same and sign up when you can.

I had the opportunity to volunteer with a wonderful non-profit organization that works to create a…read morehunger free world. We started with placing hair nets on, taking our jewelry off then cleaning our hands and those handling food placed on gloves. We assembled meals which included chicken flavored seasoning, carrots, lentils and pasta. This day we prepared over 2,000 meals. We worked in groups following the instructions of measuring the food portions and placing the food in separate serving bags. The staff was friendly and helpful. They can around often to see if we needed anything or had any questions. This organization also has an international focus working to help areas with extreme poverty towards self sustainability. Locally tbeir efforts work to support children, veterans and seniors with meals. Donations can be made or by purchasing t shirts, cups or other items. There was a lot of energy and positive reinforcement during our volunteer hour. Other opportunities are available like internships or participating with other programs. We are looking forward to participating again.

This lovely little memorial is tucked away in a small park in Altamonte, adjacent to Lake Orienta…read moreElementary school. The Angel of Hope represents a memorial for parents who have lost children. A few times a year groups of parents and families come together to have a candlelight vigil at this park. It's peaceful and quiet, tucked in a subdivision.

My deceased daughter owned a Habitat for Humanity home in Sanford Fl. She committed suicide and the…read morelives of my 2 grandkids were also taken. in the midst of this unspeakable loss- Habitat, who doesn't own the home- illegally changed the locks to keep me from gathering the sentimental items left of my daughter and grandkids. Penny Seater and Kelly P were instrumental in making my tragedy a bigger pain by having the locks changed illegally. The bank that holds the mortgage confirmed that Habitat had no legal right to change the locks. they did so in spite and it's very illegal and hateful. I would never donate or do business with this chapter of Habitat for Humanity- these are horrible people

I was provided with a nice shirt to wear that matches our team our team got fed a very nice Publix…read morebox lunch however that was the hardest work I've ever had to do physically. I physically was putting a house up with blocks of wood that were very heavy and my nail gun well, I will say I was scared of it. This was in July I was roasting and got a little overheated and had to rest. I'm happy to help again when a team gets together but I now know what to say yes to and what to say no to. Don't get me wrong I love doing the hard stuff but I don't think I was physically fit enough to really do a good job. So next time I need to be like inside the house painting the walls and air-conditioning.

I work Mon-Fri until late & Mustard Seed is far from my home but I needed to donate some blankets…read moreand comforters. So grateful for the drop off containers. There are two right outside the gates. This makes it easier for all who can to help out with donations. Times are hard & everyone needs a little help.

Very friendly, helpful staff. I did not know that they took furniture, clothes, food items,…read more toiletries any thing a family could use. They made me feel so good about donating I wanted to bring more.