It’s November, meaning it is officially the holiday season. While many people accompany this time of year with visions of family memories, yummy, home-cooked meals and warm days by the fire, the truth is, this isn’t a reality for everyone. In fact, in Austin alone there over 2,000 people living on the streets and many more below the poverty level. To bring some holiday cheer to the lives of these people, many organizations offer philanthropic programs.

Vandergrift’s own PALS program has begun a canned food drive. The organizations members have been bringing in cans that will eventually be delivered to families in need. The drive is open to all VHS students. Participating is simple, just bring cans to Mrs. Gallagher’s at any point from now to winter break.

Participant and senior, Maddie LeBoeuf said, “I donate to help the community. I love being able to serve. And I enjoy helping out people who really need it. It is such a good cause!”

The cans go to Leander ISD’s food pantry. Over the holidays, when school is out of session, the children that are on free or reduced meal plans don’t always have substantial meals. The cans that are collected in this drive are donated to these children and their families so that they will have food no matter what.

Outside of school, there are many other opportunities to give back. Organizations such as the Capital Area Food Bank host different events and projects in pursuit of providing food to families in need this holiday season. If you are interested, here are five of the most popular philanthropies that you could choose to participate in:

1. Austin’s Empty Bowl Project: Nov. 23 (11 am- 3 pm)

Families are invited to listen to live music while enjoying lunch at the Marchesa Hall and Theater. The lunch is a gourmet soup and bread, served in handcrafted bowls made by local potters. It costs $20 per person and the money raised by the event helps to benefit “Kid’s Cafe” a Capital Area Food Bank program.

2. Operation Turkey: Nov. 27 (8 am-Noon)

Each Thanksgiving, operation turkey is responsible for providing thousands of Austin’s homeless people with warm meals. Volunteers and community members can come to one of three locations (Northwest Austin, Northeast Austin and Central Austin) to serve or deliver meals.

3. Bank of America’s “Give a Meal”: Sept. 8- Dec. 31

For the busier crowd, Bank of America provides an online outlet to give back. For every $1 donated, they donate $2 more. They offer five different options. You can pay anywhere from $25 to provide 750 meals to $200 to provide $15,000 meals. This program helps to feed less-fortunate children throughout the holiday season.

4. CANstruction: Nov. 8 (8 AM-8 PM)

Teams from construction, architect and design businesses work together to construct large structures out of canned food. The structures are displayed at Barton Creek Mall. At the end of the day, all of the cans are donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.

5. Fill The Bus: Nov. 6 (5 PM-7 PM)

Community members are invited to the Clairmont Retirement Community to help support the Capital Area Food Bank’s mission of ending hunger. They are encouraged to bring as many canned foods as possible.