Volunteer Opportunity

The Fredericksburg Department of Social Services is currently not accepting any volunteers or interns due to COVID-19.  If you are interested in helping the agency please consider any of the following options:

Donate to our Safe Sleep Campaign:

The Safe Sleep Campaign was started in 2012 with the intention of educating parents and caretakers on the importance of a Safe Sleep environment for their infant.  Many parents and caregivers are not aware that suffocation is currently one of the leading causes of death for children under the age of one.  The majority of these suffocation fatalities occur in the sleeping environment.  

All of the funds for this project are collected through donations and fundraising done by the City of Fredericksburg Department of Social Services.  These funds are used to purchase the portable cribs (approximately $60 each) and to purchase materials to help educate the community on the importance of Safe Sleep practices.  To date, the Department has given away over 400 portable cribs and educated many caregivers.  These cribs are available to anyone who is pregnant or parenting a child under the age of one living in Planning District 16.  Portable cribs are also supplied to Mary Washington Hospital, the Healthy Families program and other Departments of Social Services. To help support our Safe Sleep Campaign, please contact KT Bell via email or call 372-1032 ext. 259.

Donate to our Adult Services Program:

All donations received help support our Adult Services Clients and Program. We will be able to purchase personal hygiene items, food, fans, cleaning supplies and provide education to the community on signs to be aware of in cases of adult abuse and neglect!  To make a donation please contact  Liz Smith via email or call 372-1032 ext. 255.

Support our Holiday Giving for Seniors:

With the holidays just around the corner, we are already thinking about our Adult Services clients who live alone and many times don't have family or friends that are nearby or that they are close to.  This makes the holidays extremely hard and a lot less joyful.  To help add twinkle to the eyes of some of them, we are having a stocking stuffer drive. We have a goal of collecting enough stocking stuffer items to fill at least 24 stockings for the holidays to give out to our lovely older adults to help bring some joy to them during this busy time of year.    

Here are some suggestions for items that would be easy and a great stocking stuffer for our seniors:

*  lotions

*  hard candy

*  sugar free candy

*  crossword/word search

*  pens

*  nail kits

*  individual tissue packages

*  individual snacks

*  small calendars

*  pill boxes

*  socks (Men's and women's) 

*  book marks

*  nail files

*  toothpaste/brushes

*  chap stick

*  soap

*  mints

*  cookies

*  drawings by kids

*  small craft projects

*  note cards

If you would like to give a monetary donation to this project, we will gladly do the shopping for you!  For information on donating, please contact Liz Smith via email or call 372-1032 ext. 255.

 Gift Cards for Children in Foster Care and Families in Need:

Your donation of gift cards helps to provide gifts for birthdays and holidays for children in foster care and to help purchase much needed items such as gas and groceries for area families who are struggling.  If you would like to donate to our gift card program, please contact Natalie Newton via email or call 372-1032 ext. 248.

Thank you in advance for your support!  The Fredericksburg Department of Social Services thanks you for being a help to our many efforts to reach out to those in need.