Stories

SHARE Omaha's Do Good Days 2024, during National Volunteer Week, highlighted the critical need for volunteers in the metro area, and you responded! Almost 2,000 volunteers raised their hands to support local nonprofits and got to work. Thank you to all who served and gave!

See photos from Do Good Days 2024

These are just a few of the ways Do Good Days supporters made a difference in our community between April 24-27, 2024:

• Volunteers helped 2nd-5th graders involved in 100 Black Men of Omaha's Saturday Academy celebrate their scholastic achievements during their final class session of the academic year.
• Fifteen volunteers chose to learn about All Care Health Center’s programming and will be sharing their knowledge with the community to increase access to those who need it most.
• Access Period had 7 new people become monthly donors and hosted a very successful event at CycleBar.
• During their open house, a guest signed up to become an American Cancer Society monthly volunteer.
• Ten customized Bags of Fun were packed for children being treated for life threatening illnesses in Omaha hospitals.
• Volunteers did spring cleaning at Boy Town’s Father Flanagan’s house.
• Camp Rivercrest volunteers tightened up loose bolts and made repairs to picnic tables, cleaned out the activity shed and pool house and spread mulch around the chapel.
• CASA for Douglas County volunteers filled 100 backpacks for Project Hope Pack, completed inventory, and cleaned and organized 20 shelves in the backroom. Additional volunteers cleaned up the parking lot - pulled weeds, picked up trash, etc.
• Completely KIDS volunteers packed 925 weekend food bags for the Weekend Food Program, cleaned and sanitized 10+ bins, cleaned and sanitized 30+ crates and cleaned 4 vans, inside & out.
• DIBS for Kids volunteers stocked approximately 500 books to Free Little Libraries across east Omaha.
• Douglas County Historical Society volunteers cleaned up the Heirloom Garden at the General Crook House and filled an entire dumpster with brush.
• Feline Friendz of Nebraska adopted out an adult cat.
• Florence Home Healthcare Center’s clothing donation closet was filled to the brim with big bags of clothing. Prairie Mechanical Services graciously accepted the challenge and in the span of 3 hours whipped that room into a remarkably usable space where residents in need "shop" for items they need. “It truly is a blessing for us.”
• Twelve Fontenelle Forest volunteers picked up trash around the Nature Center for 2 hours and each person was able to fill an entire bag of trash!
• At Goodwill Omaha’s Stock Yards Plaza location, they organized a career fair where 18 employers met with 50 job seekers. In collaboration with the Ralston Neighborhood Clean-up, Goodwill Omaha held an Electronics Donation and Recycling event and diverted 9,336 pounds of materials from landfills. 
• Gotta Be Me volunteers prepared for their annual show and dinner and 150 guests.
• Humble and Kind volunteers hung clothes, sorted and organized shoes, wrapped approximately 2,000 diapers, put donations away and packaged socks.
• Immigrant Legal Center + Refugee Empowerment Center volunteer built 25 first aid kits and furnished two apartments. 
• inCOMMON volunteers did two sorting projects and painted the walls in several common areas of the facility. “We had to move activities indoors due to the weather and the 21 volunteers made very quick work of the cleaning, sorting and painting that we had lined up! Most of the individuals attending were unfamiliar with inCOMMON before signing up.”
• Intercultural Senior Center volunteers served lunch to 83 seniors. 
• Boy Scouts, Mid-America Council volunteers led merit badge workshops, ran troop meetings, ran cub scout meetings, and, most tangibly, helped with cleanup in Elkhorn and other communities affected by the storms on April 26.
• NAMI volunteers worked on grants and held support groups. “It was wonderful to receive unexpected donations!”
• Nebraska Humane Society volunteers made about 350 pupsicles for dogs, planted flowers outside the entrance, picked up bags of litter, deep cleaned multiple areas of the shelter, sorted donations and made enrichment bundles for the animals.
• Nebraska Diaper Bank volunteers wrapped a total of 65,590 diapers, which will serve 1,058 babies.
• No More Empty Pots volunteers packaged the produce for the Community Supported Agriculture boxes going out from their greenhouse facility in North Omaha. These are boxes of local food for distribution to the community.
• Omaha Home for Boys volunteers prepared, packaged and delivered over 600 freezer meals for youth and families at Omaha Home for Boys.
• Open Door Mission volunteers stocked shelves in the Timberlake Outreach Center, served lunch & dinner to those experiencing homelessness, and helped organize the Lydia House Boutique!
• Pottawattamie Arts, Culture and Entertainment volunteers cleaned and organized the 2,200 square foot archival space!
• Volunteers organized Project Harmony's donation closet and helped file.
• “The great folks who signed up to volunteer helped us read a book that we will air for our 12,197 listeners!” – Radio Talking Book Service
• Restoring Dignity volunteers re-organized and cleaned the entire basement storage area and unpacked hundreds of cleaning supplies. Then, volunteers packed 84 bags of supplies for the Healthy Home cleaning program, which should last for about 2.5 months of classes! Another group of volunteers cut out, assembled and laminated around 150 translated tags that go with the cleaning products.
• Rose Theatre volunteers served more than 4,000 Charlotte's Web attendees by ushering, handing out programs and booster seats, and scanning tickets.
• SAC Foundation packed 100 deployment bags for airmen and their spouses. They had individuals create 25 cards for the veterans of Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home.
• Siena Francis House volunteers assisted in serving 4,000 meals. 
• The Blue Bucket Project volunteers picked up litter and trash at 72 & Maple St.

Find a new way to volunteer

Plus, you gave! When we asked donors during Do Good Days why they give, we heard:

• "I love to contribute to things bigger then myself that make a true difference in people's lives." 
• "I'm very blessed."
• "I think it's important to support our local nonprofits."
• "I love to volunteer and do so five times a week on a regular basis. The organizations I support are generally concerned with immigration, poverty, education, and food insecurity."
•  "I donate to animals ❤"
• "I felt it was important." 
• "I like to support organizations that have special meaning to me." 
• "Because I believe the charity provides real value."
• "I give my dollars and my time to the organizations that I am supporting because I believe in their mission."
• "To help out these good organizations."
• "TNR is so important to animal wellbeing in our community!"
• "I've always  tried to support the library, since I use them frequently." 
• "I feel we have a responsibility to give back to our community if we have the resources to do so.  I am very committed to the organizations that I donate to and like to add a new nonprofit every year.  After volunteering for over 28 years, my health no longer allows me to continue, but I can donate financially."
• "Because I want to help as much as I can to help animals and people."
• "I love animals and appreciate the work that local nonprofits do for our community and our state."
• "To give to the local community."
• "There are so many important causes, and I can do it safely and efficiently." 
• " I trust the organizations listed."
• "Because I wanted to support causes that are meaningful to me and allow them to get some extra donations during this time."
• "I like to support those organizations that assist those in need for success in their lives." 
• "I feel it is important to support nonprofit organizations because without them the community would suffer."
• "I value the work done by my chosen charities."
• "I have been very blessed in my life and want to give back to help others who could use help to have a better life.  My parents were also a great example of giving back to the community."
• "I am a member of the group to donated to and I wanted to give my financial support."  
• "To support organizations I like."
• "To help charities I care about."
• "I can."
• "It's the right thing to do."
• "It is an organization that I love!" 
• "To promote causes I care about and direct resources toward areas of need in the community."
• "Because I want to help make things better."
• "To help animal causes."
• "Strengthen and support or community."

Give to your favorite nonprofits today