Volunteer with Family Gateway
Volunteers are a crucial part of Family Gateway’s mission to provide life changing & supportive services to families with children experiencing homelessness. Your involvement enables us to serve more families in meaningful ways. We love our volunteers and value their commitment to our mission! Volunteers of all ages are needed, but children under the age of 14 must be supervised by an adult.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Host a Toy Drive this Holiday Season!
Donated toys will be set up in the store for families in our program to “shop” for their children completely free of charge. There are numerous opportunities for you and your corporation, organization, neighborhood, family, or place of worship to get involved.
Other opportunities include:
- Organizing a drive for gift cards or gift wrapping supplies
- Let us know you’re hosting a drive by completing the registration form at
familygateway.org/holidaydrive - Items must be dropped off by Wednesday 12/11.
- Prior to dropping items off, please sort and label toys by gender and age (0-2 years, 3-4 years, 5-7 years, 8-11 years, 12+). This will make the store set up much easier for our holiday elves!
- Let us know you’re hosting a drive by completing the registration form at
- Shopping from our Amazon Wish List or Walmart registry
- Making a donation to support our holiday program
- Suggested amount of $250/family
- Donations can be made online at familygateway.org/donate
Host a party in our Afterschool Space or parking lot at Family Gateway North!
Would you rather volunteer from home? Here are some easy ways to make a difference remotely:
We are always in need of supplies for the families in our shelter spaces, supportive housing, etc. Assemble kits with your corporation, neighborhood, school*, or place of worship! Donations can be dropped off at Family Gateway North (19373 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75252).
- Snack Bags
- Hygiene Kits
- Kitchen Kits
- Bathroom Kits
- Miscellaneous Kits
- Welcome Kits
- Move-Out Kits
- Laundry Detergent Pod Kits (separate them into Ziploc bags with 4 pods in each bag)
- Emergency move-in kits
- Donate a Dinner in a Box
- Host a Drive & Drop with your corporation, neighborhood, school, or place of worship for items from our Wish List and pick a day/time/location, then we’ll provide a box truck for your network to drop off their items.
- Shop our Amazon Wish List for items such as twin-size sheet sets, throw blankets, pillows, towels, and snacks.
- Donate a meal for families at the shelter (125-140 people, lunch or dinner preferred).
*Volunteer Hours: 1 hour for every $10.00 spent+ 1 hour for driving time to purchase snacks or items+ how many ever hours it took to assemble the bags or kits+ 1 hour for dropping the bags or kits off.
How to Become a Family Gateway Volunteer
If you are an individual over the age of 18, corporation, or place of worship:
Please e-mail Kathy Kidwell (Director of Community Engagement) at kkidwell@familygateway.org for more information on volunteer opportunities listed below.
If you are a school, student, school organization, or Scout Troop:
Contact Maggie Rios (Marketing & Youth Coordinator) at mrios@familygateway.org for more information on volunteer opportunities listed above.