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New Haven December 6, 10:00 AM First Saturday Walk on The Shoreline Greenway Trail To be announced. Check shorelinegreenwaytrail.org for details.

Shoreline Greenway Trail, Monthly Meeting, Dec 9th, 7PM December 9 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Please join us at our monthly meeting where we update members and interested community members on News, Events and upcoming developments on, along or with Shoreline Greenway Trail. Contact: info@shorelinegreenwaytrail.org for details.

Every Wednesday Senior Center in East Haven we host a Family Night meal dedicated to families with kids to enjoy a free meal and kid friendly crafts from 5-6:30PM. Volunteers can help set up, serve, clean or do crafts from 3:45PM-7PM. With more additions coming in 2025! *Volunteer Orientation required for all new people interested*

Community Dinners on the Green is the highlight of our Summer programming. Reaching hundreds of families in our community with free food, games and crafts for kids! Each day has a different theme and food from a local restaurant. Volunteers will help by unloading the van, setting up tables and food, providing food service, making crafts and popcorn, cleaning up, and loading the van. Tuesdays in Branford on the Blackstone Library lawn and Wednesdays on the East Haven Green, both from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM. *Volunteer Orientation required for all new people interested*

Field trip volunteers work in pairs to help run the field trips program for Pre-K through 5th grade classes from the Greater New Haven area. During each class visit, volunteers read stories out loud and help each student pick out five books. We ask for a commitment of one field trip per week for an entire school year (approx. 1.5 hours). Field trips visit Tuesday-Friday mornings at 10AM. We provide On-site orientation prior to your first field trip, and shadowing is also an option. Please note, we have limited opportunities. Volunteer Application

Help choose books that go out to families and state-wide organizations through our Books for Kids program

The Soundview Family YMCA team, in collaboration with the Branford Board of Education, is teaching your children to be safe in and around the water. The Y’s Safety Around Water program teaches children of all ages and from all backgrounds that water can be fun, not scary. Knowing how to be safe around water is one of the most important life skills we can teach our children - it gives them confidence, and can save their lives. The YMCA is looking for volunteers to help swim instruction. DATE March 11- May 1 DAYS Tuesday & Thursday 3:45pm - 4:45pm Please contact Valerie Parker at vparker@cccymca.org for more information about how to help.

Help us keep our historic venue shining! If you take pride in a clean space and want to make a real impact, this is the perfect opportunity. Volunteers can sign up at their convenience to tackle various cleaning tasks that keep our museum welcoming and in tip-top shape for visitors.As part of our Cleaning Crew, you’ll dive into tasks like:- Sweeping and dusting to keep our exhibits and spaces spotless.- Sanitizing high-touch areas to ensure a safe environment.- General upkeep to maintain the museum’s charm and appeal.- Participating in other cleaning tasks that help our museum sparkle!Whether you have a few hours to spare or want to dedicate a full day, your contribution is invaluable.

This volunteer opportunity is open to individuals 18 years old and beyond. Striving to maintain your independence can be challenging, especially if you find yourself without a nearby family or you’ve leaned on your friends one too many times. In those moments, it’s easy to allow yourself to feel isolated, but if you ask, there may be someone in your local area who can offer a hand to help. That’s where the Neighbor Helping Neighbor program comes in, offering infrequent or episodic support to someone who just needs a little help to maintain their independence. It could be a weekly check-in call, a monthly ride to the bank, or picking up some groceries and carrying them into the house

A Swim Instructor Aid is responsible for assuring the safety, well being and enjoyment of all participants in his or her class.  The Aid is responsible for assisting assigned instructors as they prepare and teach classes in accordance with YMCA of the USA guidelines and procedures. This includes but is not limited to demonstrating and correcting individuals so that they learn to the best of their ability and monitoring the environment to ensure that is safe for participants. As an instructor aide, you will be learning how to teach and interact with young children in a responsible manner.  You will closely work with instructors to help young swimmers learn new skills and enjoy the water.   

This lively role involves greeting and assisting visitors, managing ticket sales, running our charming museum store, and ensuring our private events run smoothly. You'll be at the heart of our operations, welcoming locals, tourists, and members, and creating memorable experiences for all who walk through our doors.If you have a bright personality, love interacting with people, and can keep things running like clockwork, we want you!Complete a volunteer application at https://shorelinetrolley.org/volunteer, call us at (203) 467-6927 or email store@shorelinetrolley.org

Volunteers will assemble literacy packets that go out mother and families across the state through our Books for Babies program

Literacy Tutors provide one-on-one reading instruction for students from 1st to 12th grade. You don’t need any prior experience teaching or working with children, just a love of reading and a desire to help a child succeed. We ask for a commitment of one hour per week, Monday-Friday 3-7pm or Saturday 10-2pm. Our tutors are trained in the New Haven Reads model which follows the science of reading. We provide a required one hour training session and a site orientation before your first session. You may also shadow a session, and we offer ongoing, in-depth training 3-4 times each year. View our tutoring locations here! Volunteer Application

Mentors are paired one-on-one with our campers to ensure their safety and fun the week of camp. Mentors serve as role models for our campers by modeling and actively participating in all camp programming including fishing, kayaking, swimming, arts and crafts, and more. Mentors earn 40 hour of community service for volunteering!

First Congregational Church of Branford founded Camp Totokett in 1996.  Since its founding the camp has been held annually at Killam’s Point, the Church’s waterfront property in Branford. Camp Totokett is a free one week summer camp for children from the Greater New Haven area. Camp offers a respite from stress, trauma and responsibilities which these children face daily. Recognizing the impact of trauma and stress on children, Camp has begun to offer camp to a small number of refugee children, relocated to New Haven through Integrated Refugee Immigration Services (IRIS).Camp seeks to promote individual, family and community building by bringing together diverse urban and suburban groups.  Camp serves strongly as a bridge spanning geographic, socioeconomic, racial, and religious lines.  Campers and volunteers alike develop new understanding, compassion, lasting friendships and respect for one another.The camp staff is comprised mainly of community volunteers, including high school and college students, teachers, nurses, physicians and clergy. Volunteers are always welcome and are needed to make camp possible each summer.  High school students who have completed Grade 9 are eligible to serve as Mentors and adults who either like to work with children in a specific age group setting or have other skills in areas of waterfront, fishing, arts and crafts, or music are encouraged to become a part of camp.Contact camp staff at camptotokett@gmail.com for more information. 

Welcome to Branford Parks and Recreation DepartmentWe are proud to provide you with our activities / events throughout town.The Recreation Department is committed to providing recreational opportunities through programs and facilities for all of its residents, toddlers through seniors, to experience positive leisure time and promote physical and emotional enrichment. The Branford Recreation Department offers a wide variety of athletic and recreational activities for all ages. Some of the programs offered range from sport tournaments, children’s after school programs, theatre, holiday events, toddler programs, dancing, karate, duplicate bridge, walk the Branford trails, craft classes, bus trips, sports clinics, as well as summer camps, gymnastics, swimming and diving lessons, and much, much more. Additional information is available in brochures and fliers. The best way view these is visit our website at www.branfordrecreation.org and to create a house hold to be added to our email blast list.

Founded in 2004, The Diaper Bank of Connecticut (DBCT)'s flagship diaper distribution program centralizes the fundraising and distribution of free diapers to low-income families in Connecticut through existing service providers, including hospitals, local food pantries, soup kitchens, childcare centers, social service agencies, and shelters. Recognizing that an inadequate supply of diapers puts families with young children at an increased risk for physical and mental health issues. DBCT has to date distributed more than 42 million free diapers through its extensive Diaper Distribution Network(DDN) of 165+ agencies throughout the state. The Diaper Bank of Connecticut works: 1) To ensure that families living in poverty have an adequate supply of diapers, period supplies, and incontinence products; 2) To raise community awareness that “basic human needs” include diapers, period supplies, and incontinence products and that these needs are not being met for families living in poverty; 3) To advocate for policy reform so that diapers, period supplies, and incontinence products are included in the definition of, and provision for, the “basic human needs” of families. Having access to diapers improves babies’ overall health, reducing instances of diaper rash, urinary tract infections and other medical problems. It also has been shown to improve mothers’ mental health and family dynamics- by relieving a recurring, continual stressor. By providing diapers to families, we help them on a path toward economic stability. Parents cannot use childcare without an adequate supply of diapers, so many who can’t afford diapers end up missing work or school. This will make them less reliant on public assistance programs in the future, all while improving babies’ health and home lives.

The mission of Feed Branford Kids is to see that ALL our children have enough to eat EVERY day whether it is a school day, a weekend or a holiday. We offer a weekend backpack program that has no income eligibility requirements and includes children beyond the free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs. An estimated 1 in 3 children meet the criteria. We also are meeting the needs of a diverse community – 40 languages other than English are spoken in the Branford school system. The backpack program honors our children’s need for privacy by partnering with school administrators to ensure our commitment to their privacy. The program currently delivers 2 breakfast meals, 2 main meals, 2 cartons of milk, 2 cartons of juice and snacks for an entire weekend during the academic year. Our weekend backpack program relies 100% on private funding. Our board of directors is comprised of all volunteers. During our tenure the program has raised awareness that hunger lives in everyone’s backyard.

RJ’s Goals was created in honor of our son and brother, RJ Giammattei, who passed away suddenly in September 2023. RJ's true passion was soccer. He first started playing at age 4 for Branford Soccer Club, then went on to play for several premier teams throughout CT, CT ODP and BHS Varsity Boys soccer. He continued to play after high school in several men's leagues around the state and was always participating in any pick-up soccer games he could find.  Our mission is to foster and encourage kids’ love of soccer. By distributing soccer balls, we aim to inspire physical activity, teamwork and a lifelong love for the game. We distribute 75-100 new, size 3 soccer balls to Branford Soccer Club Lil Kicks participants twice per year in the fall and spring seasons. In the holiday season, we donate new soccer balls to Yale NH Children’s Hospital Child Life Program. We recently purchased 60+ performance practice shirts for the Branford High School Boys’ soccer team fall season and donated 30 new soccer balls to Clinton Avenue School in New Haven. As we grow, we would like to identify additional communities and organizations that would benefit from youth soccer balls. We are looking for volunteers to take pictures of our distribution events and of the Lil Kicks teams and participants playing with our soccer balls that are appropriate for social media. We would also like volunteers with social media experience to edit and post to Instagram as well as create a website for us.