#GivingTuesday 2023 Service Partner Locations

Participants will prepare totes with various supplies in them for veterans, to be distributed during the holidays.

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

In the heart of Corpus Christi's West Side, the Garcia Center connects Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to the community through resources in the arts, literacy, culture, and counseling.

Volunteers will be decorating for their upcoming special event, Navidad de los Ninos.

Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. - Noon

The South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center works to advance the knowledge and appreciation of plants and the environment in the Coastal Bend. Their goal is to conserve, preserve, display and interpret native and adapted flora and fauna of South Texas, for area residents and visitors alike.

Volunteers will work outside and assist with preparing the grounds for the facilities Holly Days special event, including decorating, light maintenance, weed pulling, mulching, and small projects. Moderate physical activity.   

Volunteer block time available: 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.  

The Boys & Girls Clubs of The Coastal Bend (BGCCB) fills the gap between school and home for youth ages 6-18. Through their efforts, they are able to reduce the risk of children and teens being unsupervised, unguided, and unsafe when school is not in session. BGCCB’s after-school programs provide unique experiences that expand youths learning opportunities and provides a lifeline for working parents. 

Volunteers will work to decorate for the holidays and perform light maintenance in the outdoor garden area. 

Volunteer block times available: 10:00 a.m. - Noon

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of the Coastal Bend has a mission to speak up for and find permanent homes for foster children in crisis throughout Nueces and Aransas counties. They train volunteers to advocate for the best interests of the child and assist in building family connections. CASA volunteers are committed to making a difference for children who might otherwise slip through the cracks of an overburdened foster care system.   

Volunteers will work organizing their toy room, assembling training binders, making goodie bags and other projects to support the staff and permanent volunteers.   

Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. - Noon  

Catholic Charities is a multi-program, non-profit social service agency serving the City of Corpus Christi and the surrounding counties of Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kennedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, and San Patricio.  Each year, they provide services to approximately 100,000 persons of diverse racial and ethnic characteristics, experiences, occupations, and income.  

Volunteers will assemble boxes to be used in the future for food baskets.  

Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. - Noon  

The Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery is a special resting place, close to home, where friends, family and fellow Texans can honor Texas Veterans. Texas State Veterans Cemeteries are hallowed grounds that are an expression of our respect for the Texas men and women who have served our nation with distinction.  

Volunteers will clean headstones within the cemetery grounds.  

Volunteer block time available:  2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

CIS of the Coastal Bend is a non-profit that promotes and facilitates the delivery of community social services, health, educational services, enrichment and other support services to Coastal Bend youth and their families. They provide school-based social services in schools throughout the Coastal Bend and serve youth in pre-k to high school.   

Volunteers will sign up for a specific location. Volunteers must complete a background check with CCISD to participate at these locations. Information on how to do this, will be provided after registration is complete. 

-Location#1: Martin Middle School – Volunteers will work in the school’s Healing Garden, planting, weeding, and making small repairs to the area. 

Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. - Noon 

-Location#2: Travis Elementary School - Volunteers will be decorating for the holidays at the local elementary school.  

Volunteer block time available:  9:30 a.m. - Noon  

The Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History provides history, science exploration and educational programming. The Museum is also the repository for hundreds of thousands of artifacts and historically significant items in its large facility. The Museum engages and educates the public in science and history through exhibits and programming to inspire curiosity, understanding and an enduring thirst for knowledge.  

Volunteers will decorate for the holidays.    

Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. – Noon  

Glenoak’s certified therapeutic riding instructors and special therapy horses are the catalyst to miracles in handicapped lives. Glenoak’s program is about children and adults who reach beyond the confines of their disabilities because of the intervention of this special therapy team. In this unique setting, horses, dogs, pigs and donkeys roam the property. Participants may be working in close proximity to the animals.  

-Volunteers in the morning shift will be working and bathing horses. In addition volunteers may be doing light manual labor on the riding trails on the property.   

FULL- Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. – Noon 

-Evening shift volunteers will assist with the client therapy classes and will be escorting beside the horses/clients walking close to one mile. Moderate physical activity   

Volunteer block time available: 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.  

Named for community philanthropist, Gloria Hicks, Hicks Elementary School serves some high-risk neighborhoods.    

Volunteers will be wrapping donated gifts for teachers and staff of Gloria Hicks Elementary   

Volunteer block time available: 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Grow Local South Texas’s mission is to grow a healthy local community by improving access to, education about and advocacy for affordable nutrient dense foods. They are committed to maintaining a necessary point of food access in the Coastal Bend through the Grow Local Farmers’ Market, connecting local farmers with our community to provide food and essentials, as well as artisan products from local businesses.   

Volunteers will be work outdoors doing garden maintenance, weed pulling, mulching, and small projects. Moderate physical activity.   

Volunteer block time available: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.  

Gulf Coast Humane Society is a non-profit no-kill humane animal shelter to provide shelter and care for homeless animals through adoption, fostering, community partnerships, education and affordable spay-neuter and vaccine services. They work to rehabilitate and care for lost and abandoned animals as well as reunite found pets with their families.   

Volunteers will be socializing, walking, bathing, & playing with the dogs outdoors.  

Volunteer block time available:  2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.  

Kids Against Hunger believes that the best way to engage the largest number of people is through a decentralized, locally-based network of food packaging satellites that are active in their community. St. Mark's is an authorized satellite of Kids Against Hunger/Freedom Foods which provides a nutritious, vitamin fortified rice-based meal.  Kids Against Hunger ships food to local food ministries, and national and international hunger relief agencies.

Volunteers will be creating food packages.  

Volunteer block time available: 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Volunteer block time available: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.  

Mustang Island State Park is a state park located east of Corpus Christi on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The park covers 3,954 acres and has a 5-mile beachfront. The land was acquired from private owners in 1972 and opened to the public in 1979. The park offers camping, kayaking with access to the Mustang Island Paddling Trail, fishing, swimming, and birdwatching with over 400 bird species identified here.  

Volunteers will be picking up trash from the beach area. Moderate physical activity  

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. 

The Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve serves to enhance community understanding for the need to preserve the natural resources of coastal ecosystems for future generations through access and education.

The Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries program is a non-regulatory, voluntary partnership effort working with industry, environmental groups, bay users, local governments, and resource managers to improve the health of the bay system while supporting continue economic growth and public use of the bays.

Volunteers will team up with the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve & Learning Center and the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program to create seed balls used to replenish plants in the wetlands preserve and delta area in the coastal bend. This activity will take place outside at the Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve.

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 pm

The mission of The Purple Door is to empower the community and those affected by domestic violence and sexual assault to transition to a safe and healthy environment.  

Volunteers will help to organize the donation room and storage areas, as well as assist with decorating for the holidays. Volunteers will be required to sign a statement of confidentiality due to the likelihood of interacting with clients.  

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. 

The Rise School of Corpus Christi is a nonprofit organization providing he city’s first and only school dedicated to early education of children with and without disabilities in an inclusive classroom setting with master's level educators and on-staff speech, occupational, physical, and music therapists.   

Volunteers will be organizing closets, light maintenance, and decorating for holidays.  

Volunteer block time available: 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. 

Helping a sick child fight their illness takes a big enough emotional toll on a family. Adding a financial strain can make it all almost too much to bear. Ronald McDonald House Charities can help address those problems, whether they involve housing that’s near a hospitalized child, the expense of staying together in another city, or even getting basic medical and dental care in a vulnerable community.   

Volunteers will work to help do basic cleaning and organize onsite storage areas. 

Volunteer block time available: 10:00 a.m. - Noon  

Texas Health and Human Services operates state supported living centers. The living centers provide campus-based direct services and supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at 13 locations including Corpus Christi. They serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are medically fragile or who have behavioral problems.

Volunteers will work in one of the garden areas immediately adjacent to one of the residential facilities, pulling weeks, planting bushes and general upkeep of the area. Volunteers may have casual contact with residents as they pass through the area to get to their assigned rooms or around the campus.

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The Ark Assessment Center and Emergency Shelter for Youth which is open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, provides care for children who are removed from their homes by Child Protective Services (CPS) due to abuse or neglect by a parent or guardian. During their time at the shelter, children are assessed by medical doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, counselors and other trained professionals for placement in an appropriate long-term site where their needs can be met.  

Volunteers will work to help decorate for the holidays.  

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.  

The USS Lexington is a national treasure, playing a significant role in the nation’s defense since 1943. As a museum, she provides education and a lasting historical memorial. The Blue Ghost” arrived at Corpus Christi beach in 1992 because of active fundraising, strong community support, and the world’s oldest aircraft carrier has since served as a naval aviation museum, educational facility, and popular area tourist attraction.   

Volunteers will be working on maintenance project that may include painting, cleaning aircraft, polishing brass, and other small projects. They may also be assisting Lexington staff in decorating for the holidays.  

Volunteer block time available: 9:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 

Volunteer block time available: 1:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. 

Women’s & Men’s Health Services is a nonprofit agency providing preventive and primary care services to approximately 15,000 women and men each year. Their medical services address acute and chronic conditions, general health maintenance, reducing teen and unplanned pregnancy, preventing STD’s and HIV, and involving men in family planning. Their mission is to provide and promote preventive health services to improve health outcomes in South Texas.  

Volunteers will help make hygiene packs.  

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.  

Grocery Giveaway events are an outreach of Izzy’s Food Pantry. The pantry strives to provide food assistance for currently enrolled Texas A&M-Corpus Christi students in need. Providing TAMU-CC students with a convenient site and events to obtain food assistance when needed, helps ensure that students who are food insecure can meet their nutritional needs and minimize adverse impacts on their academic progress and success.  

Volunteers will staff food distribution event.  

Volunteer block time available: 9:00 a.m. - Noon  

Join the Islander Alumni Engagement Team in the University Center, and sign postcards which will be mailed to newly admitted high school students who we hope will choose the Island University.  

Volunteers must be able to be in person at the University Center to participate in this event. Volunteers will be signing postcards for prospective Islander students  

Volunteer block time available: 10:00 a.m. – Noon

Volunteer block time available: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.  

The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community. 

Volunteers will assist in preparing participant gift bags for upcoming fundraising events to support our local Special Olympic athletes.  This will take place on campus in the University Center. 

Volunteer block time available: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.