Make Lasting Holiday Memories With These 5 Volunteer Opportunities In Mendham/Chester

MENDHAM/CHESTER — Volunteering is a meaningful way to connect with neighbors in Mendham/Chester and make lasting holiday memories for both yourself and the people you help.

Volunteering also fosters a sense of shared responsibility and purpose, leading to a more vibrant, resilient, and engaged community with a higher quality of life.

Many of the organizations that make life better in Mendham/Chester depend on volunteers, including food banks, animal shelters, advocacy groups, and others.

Here are five ways to volunteer in and around Mendham/Chester:

• Chester Mendham Food Pantry: This nonprofit’s purpose is to provide supplemental food, toiletries, household supplies, and other assistance to neighbors in need in Chester and Mendham. It requires volunteers to help gather, organize, and distribute these items to those in need.
• Chester-Mendham Angels: A nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the Chester and Mendham communities through outreach and fundraising. Volunteers are needed to help with food drives, senior assistance, and event coordination and execution.
• Eleventh Hour Rescue: This nonprofit, based in Morris County, is an all-volunteer organization that strives to save cats and dogs who are about to be put down in shelters. The group needs volunteers to help with adoption events, community outreach, sanitation and repairs, and other capacities.
• Cancer Hope Network: This Chester-based nonprofit matches parents and caregivers of cancer patients with parents and caregivers of cancer survivors in a mentorship program. The program seeks volunteers who undergo training to become mentors who "provide empathetic, compassionate support for patients to share their fears, questions, and experiences."
• Stigma-Free Initiative: This Mendham Township program is a volunteer group of residents across the township and borough, including mental health professionals. It's seeking more volunteers to help "foster a judgment-free environment around mental health issues and substance abuse and to create inclusion for people with special needs, disabilities, and any other 'difference' that can make them feel marginalized."