This holiday season, we’re grateful to all of the organizations in our community that are working hard to make it #BetterInBoone! There’s so much to be grateful for this holiday season, especially the many businesses and nonprofits helping make a difference throughout Boone County. Tuesday, November 29th is ‘Giving Tuesday,’ the perfect time to reflect on all our community has provided and find opportunities to give back. Here are just a few:
The Arc of Greater Boone County
Boys & Girls Club of Boone County
Habitat for Humanity of Boone County
Humane Society for Boone County
The Arc of Greater Boone County
The Arc serves a vital role assisting people with disabilities and special needs to achieve their maximum potential in partnership with the community. Made up of six separate but intertwined devisions, The Arc offers everything from employment opportunities, career connections, transition, supported living, day services, and more. Clubs, classes, job skills training, and entrepreneurship activities are offered in community and facility based environments. In addition to these services, The ARC also runs our local Boone County WIC
How to Help:
Donate Time! Learn about the many ways you can help here.
Donate Money! Click here to make a monetary donation or learn about additional ways you can help.
Shop Handmade Items! Stop by The Arc in Lebanon (900 W Main Street, Lebanon IN 46052) during business hours to shop handmade items made by Arc Artisans, details here.
Boys & Girls Club of Boone County
The Boys & Girls Club of Boone County provides a safe place to play, laugh, discover and learn for youth ages 5-18. Caring, trained staff and volunteers work with our members in supervised, safe and structured environments to build new skills and help them succeed. They offer before and after school care in Lebanon, Whitestown and Zionsville. Donations help assist their members with scholarships to cover membership and program fees.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Every year, over 340 volunteers help enhance the kids Club experience as mentors, coaches, event assistance, or after school help. Click here to learn about specific volunteer opportunities.
Donate Money! Help sponsor a child’s transportation, membership, or program fees here.
The Caring Center
Located in Lebanon, The Caring Center helps stabilize families in crisis through financial counseling, clothing, food, personal care, and household items. Their programs are continuously evolving to accommodate the various needs of their clients. From community garden events, food classes, getting ahead in life programs, and transitional housing, The Caring Center does all they can to have a positive impact on families. They also run a local second-hand clothing store, Classic Reruns to provide affordable clothing and help offset their costs.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Stay tuned on The Caring Center Facebook Page for details on upcoming events, donation drives, and volunteer opportunities, or sign up to volunteer here.
Donate Items! Each month, The Caring Center shares a list of top in-demand items here. Or, put together a baby kit, homeless kit, or birthday box and drop off at one of 5 locations listed here.
Donate Money! Support their mission by making an online donation here.
Community Foundation of Boone County
The Community Foundation works hard to connect donors and nonprofits around the county. They grant funds to nonprofits and programs working to solve critical challenges in order to unite people, organizations, and philanthropy to create a thriving community for all. From grants, scholarships, community programs, Women of Impact, and various nonprofit resources, the Community Foundation does it all!
How to Help:
Learn More! Stay in the loop on their work in Boone County, join the mailing list, or learn more about their mission here.
Donate Money! Donate to a fund of your choice here.
Boone County Senior Services
Boone County Senior Services, Inc. of Indiana works hard to help seniors lead meaningful, healthy lives by promoting independence and providing enriching opportunities for older adults in Boone County. With offices in both Lebanon and Zionsville, BCSSI serves senior citizens around Boone County through year-round events, resources, and support networks.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Volunteer opportunities range from being a friendly visitor, legal and insurance assistance, agency and office assistance, and more. Click here for current volunteer opportunities.
Donate Money! Help support their mission by making an online donation here.
Habitat for Humanity of Boone County
Habitat for Humanity of Boone County believes that every person & family deserves a simple, decent and affordable place to live in safety and dignity. Since 1984, Habitat for Humanity of Boone County has been offering a hand up not a hand out enabling partner families to achieve pride in home ownership, working side by side with volunteers to build houses. They have built 70 homes and helped over 200 hard working adults and children with their dream of housing stability.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Volunteers help by working on build sites, bringing lunches for volunteers, staffing the ReStore, staffing fundraising events, and more. Sign up to volunteer here.
Donate Money! Make an online donation to support their mission here.
Humane Society for Boone County
Located in Whitestown and run almost entirely by volunteers, the Humane Society is dedicated to the task of animal welfare, rescue, and education in Boone County. Receiving no financial support from the Humane Society of the United States, HSBC operates through a network of generous donors, volunteers, and foster families.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Sign up to volunteer here or learn about fostering a pet here.
Donate Money! Make a donation to support their mission here or shop their wishlist here.
Indy Book Project
A nonprofit founded and run in Boone County, Indy Book Project is on a mission to increase book access for children around central Indiana. Run entirely by volunteers, more than 117,000 new and gently-used books have been donated to teachers, doctors’ offices, Little Free Libraries, schools, food pantries, and community organizations. Over 2,000 books are distributed each week, completely free of charge to recipients. Indy Book Project is in need of shelving to better organize books, 2 laptops to coordinate volunteers and distribution, and funding to continue leasing their space.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Sign up here to help sort, sticker, count, and box books. Older children and adults are welcome to help! If you don’t see a date/time that works for you, reach out to indybookproject@gmail.com.
Donate Books! Have some stacks of reads collecting dust? Donate new or gently used children’s books for ages 0-18. Drop them off at one of the locations below, or check out the Amazon Wishlist here.
- Indy Book Project — 1537 West Oak Street, Zionsville
- Akard True Value — Boone Plaza
- Boone County Habitat for Humanity
Donate Money! Click here to support their mission by making an online donation.
Isaiah 117 House
Isaiah 117 House exists to help change the way foster care begins everywhere. Foster parents themselves, the Paulson Family set out to provide physical and emotional support in a safe and loving home for children awaiting foster care placement. Now, they have homes across 6 states including Indian. Follow along with their story on their Facebook page here.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Sign up to volunteer at the Boone County location here.
Donate Money! Donate to support their mission here.
Love INC Boone County
Love INC helps mobilize local churches to offer a holistic approach to caring for people in all areas of life: spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, material, and physical. Love INC has over 100 affiliates across the USA and Kenya, and serves with over 7,800 partner churches to meet the needs of hundred of thousands. Located in Lebanon, Love INC has a Boone County location serving local needs around the community.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Learn about weekly, monthly/quarterly, or one-time volunteering opportunities here.
Donate Money! Donate to support their mission here.
Morning Dove Therapeutic Riding Center
Morning Dove improves the lives of children and adults with disabilities in central Indiana through equine-assisted therapies and activities. They offer programs ranging from therapeutic riding sessions, equine assisted services, and companion programs to teach related skills of horse care, handling, and grooming to riding students. 11 horses and a team and more than 100 weekly volunteers work hard to make their mission a reality.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Sign up to volunteer here.
Sponsor a Horse! When you sponsor a horse, your contribution helps pay for hay, grain, supplements, and veterinary care. Learn about sponsorship packages here or make a one time donation here.
Shalom House
Shalom House works with community partners to meet hunger needs and create community spirit with Boone County friends and neighbors. In a recent report from the United Way of Central Indiana, food scarcity remains an issue for the residents of Boone County. Over 11% or 6,370 people in our county remain food insecure. “Shalom” is an old Hebrew word full of meaning. While it can be a way of saying “hello” and “goodbye” – a simple exchange between neighbors – “Shalom” also can mean peace, completeness, and prosperity. At the Shalom House, volunteers are on a mission to share kindness and goodwill with the Boone County community and work towards a day that no one will ever experience hunger.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Learn about volunteer opportunities here, ranging from service projects, serving a meal, cleaning help, distributing lunches, and more.
Donate Money! Help Shalom House continue meeting hunger needs and create a spirit of caring through an online donation here.
So Big Mountain House
Serving the community as a maternity home, So Big Mountain House connects expectant mothers and their children with resources to help them develop a better tomorrow including meeting immediate needs of food and shelter, providing life skills courses and educational opportunities, and offering counseling and spiritual development services.
How to Help:
Donate Time! Volunteers help support Mountain House through cleaning, childcare, transportation, event photography, grant writing, fundraising, and more. Sign up here to volunteer.
Donate a Meal! Donate the gift of a meal from the heart by joining in on the meal train here.
Donate Money! Shop the Amazon Wishlist here or make an online donation here.
Know of another nonprofit in Boone County you plan to support?
Share it with us below! We would love to shout it out.