Give Back

Give back in 2019 with these San Antonio social service nonprofits

San Antonio Food Bank is just one of the many places you can give back in 2019.

If giving back is among your resolutions, then consider donating to one of San Antonio's many social service oriented nonprofits this new year. These organizations may differ in their missions, but they are all working hard to create a safer, more inclusive city for all.

Throughout the year, CultureMap has been highlighting organizations that make our communities a better place as part of our new San Antonio Charity Guide. As you finish this season of celebration with friends and family, consider supporting one of the many charities and nonprofits that work within the community. And know of one we missed? Tell us here.

Blueprint Ministries
Mission: Blueprint provides servant leadership training for youth and adults while restoring homes for elderly, disabled, and low-income residents.
Get involved: Each spring break and summer, over 900 middle school and high school students participate in one of Blueprint's week-long mission camps. Groups come together from Texas and around the U.S. to serve. These volunteers transform homeowners' lives through their hard work. For more information about the camp, head here. For other volunteer opportunities, head here.

De Novo
Mission: De Novo helps marginalized families fulfill their dreams for their future by providing funds for permits, registration, licenses, tools, equipment, basic transportation, and any other service or product that is a barrier to becoming self-sufficient.
Get involved: Learn how to donate here.
Big event: Cars and Candy

Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels
Mission: Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels' mission is to mobilize the faith community to help low-income families achieve and sustain independence. Family Promise is an interfaith, nonsectarian organization for families with children in transition. The program utilizes a network of local congregations that offer hospitality, providing shelter, meals, and emotional support to families without homes.
Get involved: Learn how to donate here. For volunteer opportunities, head here.
Big event:Family Promise Bed Race

Family Violence Prevention Services
Mission: The mission of Family Violence Prevention Services is to break the cycle of violence and to strengthen families by providing the necessary tools for self-sufficiency through the delivery of emergency shelter, transitional housing, education, effective parenting education, and specialized intervention with youth and the elderly.
Get involved: FVPS needs a variety of volunteers. For service opportunities, head here.
Membership: Learn how to donate here.
Big event:Honoring Mothers Luncheon

Hebrew Free Loan Association of San Antonio
Mission: Hebrew Free Loan Association of San Antonio was created in 1924 to provide interest-free financial assistance to the San Antonio Jewish community. Today, they provide both need and opportunity based loans for everything from daycare to eldercare, education, health care costs, and more.
Get involved: The group is always looking additional qualified board members and assistance with events. Reach out to info@hfla-sa.org or call 210-736-4352 for more info.
Membership: Establish a sustaining membership here.
Big event: HFLA-SA does one major fundraising event each year. The 2019 event is currently in the planning process.

Lone Star Justice Alliance
Mission: The mission of Lone Star Justice Alliance is to redirect youth and young adults out of the Texas justice system and into community-based treatment programs, thus increasing public safety and saving taxpayer dollars.
Get involved: Interns usually volunteer for a semester at a time, while other volunteers help with coordinating events and donation campaigns.
Big event: Second Look Summit

Meals on Wheels
Mission: The mission of Meals on Wheels of San Antonio is to promote the dignity and independence of seniors who are in need of nutritious meals, companionship, and Alzheimer’s care through programs that include home-delivered meals, dietary consultations, and companionship services.
Get involved: MOW volunteers deliver much more than a meal — they deliver moments of connection for the seniors they serve and their pets. Learn how to become a volunteer here.
Big event:Let's Do Lunch

Morningside Ministry
Mission: The mission of Morningside Ministries is to enhance the dignity and quality of life of older adults, their families, and caregivers with compassionate care.
Get involved: Volunteers are made up of people who donate time from a couple of hours a week to a couple of hours a day. For more information, head here.

Phil Hardberger Park Conservancy
Mission: This community-based organization is focused on working towards excellence in the development of the park and committed to creating a 311-acre natural area park complete with a nature center; dog parks; play areas; and walking, hiking, and biking trails.
Get involved: Learn how to volunteer here.
Membership: Phil Hardberger Park offers various memberships. Find more information here.

SAMMinistries
Mission: SAMMinistries' Homeless Prevention Services provides rental assistance, utility assistance, and supportive services to individuals and families who are in imminent danger of eviction or are currently homeless.
Get involved:Volunteers are needed. To schedule a volunteer opportunity, email volunteer@samm.org or call 210-321-5639.
Big event: Boots, Bowties, & Bling Gala

San Antonio Food Bank
Mission: The San Antonio Food Bank uses a network of more than 500 partner agencies and its own direct service programs to distribute millions of pounds of food and groceries a year to combat hunger.
Get involved: The San Antonio Food Bank has numerous volunteer opportunities. To learn about donating food or starting your own food drive, head here.
Membership: Join the Full Circle Family by signing up to give a recurring monthly gift.
Big event:Turkey Trot 5K Run & Walk

San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind & Vision Impaired
Mission: San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind & Vision Impaired has been serving people who are blind or vision impaired since 1933 by providing rehabilitation services, as well as employment for the blind and vision impaired in its light manufacturing assembly plant.
Get involved: Head here for a list of volunteer opportunities.
Big event: Art in the Dark

San Antonio River Walk Association
Mission: The San Antonio River Walk Association protects and preserves one of the most important tourist destinations in Texas. It also produces the 26 major events that occur on the River Walk each year.
Get involved: Learn how to volunteer here.
Membership: For $35, become a Friend of the River Walk here.
Big event: From the Ford Holiday River Parade to Fiesta!, there are dozens of events to experience along the River Walk. Keep up to date with them here.

Street2Feet
Mission: Street2Feet is a wellness program whose mission is to promote health in spirit, body, and soul with individuals experiencing homelessness in San Antonio. They use a walking and running 5K training model to introduce exercise as medicine and self-care.
Get involved: Training groups meet Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 7:30 am at Garcia Park. Volunteers are always needed to help with weekly training sessions, including mentors, administrative help, donations, grant writing, and event planning. Learn how to volunteer here.
Big event: Street2Feet 5K

The Rape Crisis Center
Mission: The Rape Crisis Center provides 24-hour crisis intervention, free and confidential counseling, and a prevention education program that promotes healthy relationships and advances social change.
Get involved: Volunteer opportunities with The Rape Crisis Center range from office support to community outreach and the crisis hotline. Download a volunteer application here.
Big event: Partners for Hope

The Saddle Light Center
Mission: The Saddle Light Center is a nonprofit organization that offers professional equine therapy to the disabled population in the San Antonio area to improve self-esteem and quality of life. The center's mission is to provide professional equestrian therapy for children, teenagers, and adults with neurological, orthopedic, learning, emotional, or other disabilities.
Get involved: The Saddle Light Center seeks volunteers to help with weekday therapy sessions and horse care on the weekends. For more information, go here.
Big event: EquestFest

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We're constantly updating our Charity Guide, so if you have new information or current details about an organization's big event, please let us know by emailing charity@culturemap.com

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SPARE ART

North San Antonio gets crafty with new creative supplies shop

Photo by Ismael Rodriguez.

Local nonprofit Spare Parts recently opened its brick-and-mortar center for creative reuse.

One local nonprofit organization has spent years getting environmental accountability and community education down to a fine art. And now it’s getting crafty with a new brick-and-mortar shop in North San Antonio aimed to help locals to go green.

Spare Parts was founded in 2010 by executive director and longtime arts educator Mary Elizabeth Cantú to provide a creative spark for area students and schools lacking arts funding and resources. Through a variety of educational programs, public art exhibitions, events, and the organization’s traveling Mini Art Museum, Spare Parts has enlightened thousands of students and San Antonians, all while fostering reuse practices and sustainability, a key tenet of the nonprofit.

Spare Parts’ latest endeavor is another artistic triumph. Its new center for creative reuse, located at 13451 Wetmore Rd., is nothing less than a crafter’s delight. The shop features an impressive array of “pre-loved” and price-reduced artsy merchandise — from paint supplies and paper crafts to sewing items, beading and jewelry, school and office supplies, vintage gadgets, and crafting kits — all of which has been rescued from area landfills.

Cantú notes that proceeds from the new Spare Parts’ shop will enable the organization to further increase creative and educational experiences for San Antonio students and families. But even more so, she hopes the shop will help locals embrace the concept that one person’s trash can be another’s artistic treasure.

“There really isn’t any more room in the world for this stuff. Buying pre-loved at places like Spare Parts or other stores is a way to reduce the amount of things [people] feel that they need,” Cantú said in a recent interview with the San Antonio Sentinel. “We’re challenging people to rethink things around them, buy pre-loved, and find a way to be creative in their lives.”

In the time of COVID-19, however, getting the creative juices flowing isn’t as simple as popping into the Spare Parts shop. Though the center for creative reuse is open, the store is currently offering only weekend curbside pickup of items ordered through its website. But crafters shouldn’t despair, as Spare Parts is offering private in-person shopping experiences in the new year, with the first planned for January 16 and 17.

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