Ways to Give Back in and Around Perrysburg

When people talk about giving back, they often use the word volunteering. I used that word in episodes 84 and 88 when I talked about volunteer opportunities in Perrysburg. Not everything that helps our community fits neatly under the “volunteering.” Rather than have a third episode with volunteering in the title, I titled this episode, “Ways to Give Back in and Around Perrysburg.” 

People give back in lots of ways here in Perrysburg: by volunteering their time, by donating resources, and by serving in leadership roles. Today, I’ll walk through some practical ways to give back in and around Perrysburg, which may help you figure out what might be a good fit for you. Topics covered: 

1. Safety
2. Church
3. City, Community, and Events
4. Local Attractions
5. Environmental
6. Inclusion and the Ability Community
7. People experiencing medical challenges
8. Veterans
9. Older Adults
10. Hospice
11. Clothing
12. Help Children
13. Food 
14. Animals
15. Running
16. General Service 

Safety

• Be a designated driver

Church

• Committee or Council
• Volunteer at your church’s nursery
• Decorate for seasons or do yard work
• Help with a funeral luncheon or other event

City, Community, and Events

• General: Pick up trash at local parks, participate in Buy Nothing Perrysburg FB Groups
• Volunteer with the City of Perrysburg’s Commissions and Boards. https://www.perrysburgoh.gov/165/Commissions-Boards Click on “Application for Public Volunteer,” and create an account to apply.  
• Perrysburg Great American Clean-Up – Seasonal volunteer clean-up of parks and neighborhoods. https://www.perrysburgpodcast.com/38
• Downtown Perrysburg, Inc. - DPI - Winterfest, Rock the Docks, Boots in the Burg, Zip the Burg, and more https://www.downtownperrysburg.org
• Way Public Library Volunteer Programs https://waylibrary.info/index.php/24x7-service/volunteer-application-form
• Help Tim Ansted (Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce) with the Homecoming Parade

Local Attractions

• 577 Foundation https://www.577foundation.org
• Fort Meigs Historic Site https://fortmeigs.org/volunteer

Environmental

• General: weeding gardens (at an older adult’s house, 577 Foundation, or a Garden Club)
• Partners For Clean Streams https://partnersforcleanstreams.org
• Grass Roots Recycling to Reuse Network, LLC https://grassrootsrecyclingtoreuse.com/ 
• The Wood County Park District https://wcparks.org/volunteer/ 
• Metroparks Toledo https://metroparkstoledo.com/get-involved/volunteer/ 

Inclusion and the Ability Community

• The Ability Center of Greater Toledo (Assistance Dogs) https://abilitycenter.org/  
• County Board of Developmental Disabilities (Special Olympics) https://www.woodcountydd.org/volunteer

People experiencing medical challenges

• Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Ohio https://rmhctoledo.org/
• American Cancer Society: Fundraisers, like Relay For Life https://secure.acsevents.org/site/STR?pg=entry&fr_id=111511
• American Red Cross - donate blood, deliver blood products to hospitals https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer.html 

Veterans

• Volunteer with the City or Township’s Cemetery Board and partner with American Legion Post 28 to place flags at Veteran’s graves (~Memorial Day and Veterans Day) 
• If you’re a Veteran, join the American Legion, and help with various projects https://www.facebook.com/pbpost28 

Older Adults

• General: Mow grass, rake leaves, shovel snow, wash windows or dishes, take out trash, etc
• Set up a Knox box for neighbors, in case the Fire Department or Rescue Squad needs access. (Township and City both have this.)
• Deliver meals with the Perrysburg Senior Nutrition Program (Meals on Wheels). Contact the Wood County Committee on Aging wccoa.net
• Visit shut-ins. Have a conversation or read to them (PMJ Newspaper, buzz book, Perrysburg Living Magazine, their church’s newsletter, Way Public Library’s newsletter, a novel of their choosing, etc).

Hospice

• Hospice of Northwest Ohio – Provide companionship, support and help with events or administrative tasks. https://www.hospicenwo.org/landing-pages/main/volunteers/
• Care360 Hospice (Toledo, OH) - provide companionship https://www.care360hospice.com/ 

Clothing

• Timothy’s Perrysburg Foundation (at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church on East Boundary St): accepts clothing donations and provides clothing to those in need https://www.timothysperrysburg.org/
• Operation Clean Duds provides free laundry services to individuals and families facing challenges. https://operationcleanduds.org/

Help Children

• Elementary School Parent-Teacher groups (or PTOs), HPI, Jr. High, and High School Parents Organizations (ex: Cookie Jar around Christmastime) Contact schools for details.
• Perrysburg Schools Foundation – Assist with school-related events, fundraisers, and support for students & teachers. https://perrysburgschoolsfoundation.org/volunteer/
• Help with sports teams or band - transport tents and band equipment
• Coach a sport, like PABSC (baseball and softball) https://www.pabsc.org/, PYSA (soccer) https://perrysburgyouthsoccer.com/, or YMCA sports (flag football, basketball, and more) https://www.ymcatoledo.org 
• CASA Volunteer - Court Appointed Special Advocate https://www.woodcountycasa.org/
• Let’s Build Beds https://letsbuild.org/ builds beds for children ages 3-17
• The Program, Inc. https://www.programinc.org/ provides male role models for boys. 
• Neighborhood Bridges Perrysburg provides basic needs for students, such as clothing and food. To learn more, visit https://neighborhoodbridges.org/community/perrysburg.
• Perrysburg Heights Community Association – Support after-school programs, summer programming, homework help and community events. https://www.phcaohio.org/forms/volunteer-at-perrysburg-heights-community-association
• Donate Aluminum Cans for Burned Children at Kripke Enterprises in Toledo - Fire Marshal Aaron Harwell talked about it on Episode 110 of The Perrysburg Podcast. To learn more, visit https://acbcohio.org/ 
• Babysitting a for a family member or neighbor
• Tutoring, mentoring, or helping students.

Food 

• Timothy’s Perrysburg Foundation’s soup kitchen needs volunteers. https://www.timothysperrysburg.org/
• St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church also has a small food pantry, and you can donate there as well. https://www.saint-timothy.net/ 
• The Perrysburg Township Food Pantry on 26609 Lime City Road in Perrysburg, OH
• Moms Mobile Mission 12282 Jefferson St. Perrysburg, OH (PHCC)
• The Islamic Food Pantry 12282 Jefferson St. Perrysburg, OH (PHCC) 
• PCU Food Pantry 601 E. Boundary St. Perrysburg, OH 
• Jewish Senior, Family, and Social Services of Greater Toledo Food Pantry (Sylvania, OH) https://www.jewishtoledo.org/jfs 
• Brown Bag Food Pantry (Bowling Green, OH) https://www.brownbagfoodproject.org/

Animals

• Wood County Humane Society https://www.wchumane.org/ 
• Toledo Humane Society (Maumee) https://toledohumane.org/ Animal care support, adoption events, fostering, and shelter assistance (close to Perrysburg)

Running

• Glass City Marathon https://glasscitymarathon.org/become-glass-city-marathon-volunteer/ 
• Running Events - https://runsignup.com/ 

General service opportunities 

• Non-profits and boards - be a board member
• Lions Club https://www.facebook.com/perrysburglionsclub/ 
• Just Serve https://www.justserve.org/  
• United Way of Greater Toledo https://www.unitedwaytoledo.org/volunteer/ 
• Toledo Helps Ukraine https://4ua.org. The Founder lives in Perrysburg, and there are ways to donate items and money to support Ukraine from Perrysburg. 
• Writing grants and donating money to local causes

If you want to give your time, talent, or treasure, I hope this episode has helped you. You don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to volunteer every week. If you want to help, start with one hour, one event, or one organization that matters to you. If you want to do more, the sky’s the limit. Perrysburg is a strong community because people show up — in big ways and small ones too — and there’s room for everyone to help.

Other links from this episode

• The Perrysburg Podcast Episode 67 featuring Stacie Baumbarger, re: The Ability Center Assistance Dogs Program. https://www.perrysburgpodcast.com/67
• Interview with Jesse Stock from Partners for Clean Streams (Episode 72)
• Episode 86 featuring Amichai Stout from the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo https://www.perrysburgpodcast.com/86
• Interview with Lauren Rush about Perrysburg’s Great American Clean-Up (Episode 38)
• Interview with Brittinee Huntley from Downtown Perrysburg Inc (Episode 36)
• Email the Host - Kim Newlove, kim@perrysburgpodcast.com
• Sign up for our weekly newsletter on https://www.perrysburgpodcast.com/newsletter
• Follow the podcast on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@perrysburgpodcast