Our Marin Gives Back annual feature always ranks high among our most read stories of the year — and for good reason. Marin’s nonprofits make a real difference in our community, by helping children, seniors, the homeless, families, animals, the environment and so much more.
We asked our local nonprofits how they could benefit from contributions during the holiday season, and here’s what they had to say on how donations ranging from $50 to $10,000 would enable them to help others.
Now it’s your turn. Take a look at our list to see how you can help spread hope and goodwill this season by making a contribution to one or a few of these incredible organizations.
$50 | $100 | $250 | $500 | $1,000 | $2,500 | $5,000 | $10,000
$50
Children for Change
Purchases supplies for two kindergarten classes to complete service projects for Marin Humane shelter dogs.
Photo by Gretchen Ellis
Enriching Lives Through Music
Provides a flute or clarinet for a young musician.
Photo by Tim Porter
North Bay Children’s Center
Provides a month’s worth of healthy meals including breakfast, lunch and snack to a vulnerable child in Marin.
Photo courtesy of North Bay Children’s Center
The Redwoods
Funds a life enrichment program for 20 to 30 senior residents.
Photo by Christian Mills
Halleck Creek Ranch
Provides one therapeutic horseback riding lesson for one rider with special needs.
Photo by Sara Gallagher
$100
Kids Cooking For Life
Sponsors four young chefs to learn about nutrition through hands-on cooking.
Photo by Lara Rajninger
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin
Feeds 25 people in the organization’s free dining room.
Photo by Mariana W
Marin Humane
Buys breakaway collars for 100 kitties looking for their forever homes.
Photo by Lisa Bloch
Parent Services Project
Purchases a book bag and five high-quality, bilingual children’s books for one child in the Raising A Reader program — an early literacy, family engagement program aimed at engaging caregivers in a routine of book sharing with their children.
Photo by Balandra Fregoso
Sparkle Foundation
Provides necessities for one child, including a set of clothing, basic toiletries and some small comforts such as toys, books, bedding and sporting goods.
Photo by Lisa Fuentes
Gilead House
Buys public transportation for a single mom returning to college to finish her degree.
Ambassadors for Hope and Opportunity (AHO)
Purchases a cell phone for one unhoused, at-risk, sex-trafficked teen or young adult aged 16 to 25 without family or resources, providing them with access to healthcare, employment and education opportunities.
$250
Homeward Bound of Marin
Provides one night of meals for all veterans moving into Puett Place, a new 24-unit building in Novato for formerly unhoused veterans.
Photo courtesy of Maura Thurman
Adopt A Family of Marin
Purchases five food cards to support families struggling to put food on the table.
Photo by Jacqueline Jaffee
Make It Home
Would enable the nonprofit to move one child off the floor into a bed for a cozy night’s sleep.
Photo by Susan Brennan
Guide Dogs for the Blind
Supplies puppy playground equipment to help guide dog pups develop important skills and have fun.
Photo by Barbara Zamost
Performing Stars of Marin
Provides a week-long summer camp experience for one kid.
Photo by Anna Jay
Little Wishes
Allows Little Wishes to turn a seriously ill child’s hospital room into a cozy holiday wonderland complete with festive decor and personal touches, creating unforgettable holiday memories that bring the magic of the season to life right in their hospital room.
Photo by Laura Euphrat
North Marin Community Services
Provides two therapy sessions for a teen at its Novato Teen Clinic or community mental health clinic. Therapy can be a lifeline for young people facing stress, anxiety, depression or substance use.
Photo by Amy Shmania
Refugia Marin
Helps fund a vital monarch butterfly waystation, providing an essential habitat for this beautiful and threatened species.
Photo by Helen Jenkins
Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership (CVNL)
Covers the cost of organizing a full volunteer day dedicated to fire mitigation efforts. This includes the coordination of volunteers and provision of essential materials to make a significant impact in one day.
Photo by Katelyn Willoughby
Literacy by the Bay
Covers the cost of 20 books for Marin City’s school children, classrooms and libraries.
Photo by Cheryl Popp
Community Action Marin
Ensures our unhoused community has tarps, tents, warm clothing, rain gear and access to shelter for emergencies and medical needs.
Photo courtesy of Community Action Marin
$500
Marin Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Supports outreach efforts to recruit and train new CASA volunteers, expanding its capacity to serve more children.
Photo by Marin CASA
The Marine Mammal Center
Helps purchase equipment and supplies for its enrichment program, which aids young marine mammals separated from their mothers to learn how to survive in the wild.
Photo courtesy of Bill Hunnewell
Milo Foundation
Vaccinates plus provides food and care for an abandoned mother dog and her litter of newborn puppies.
Photo by Ashley Jacobs
Tribe Rising India
Supports one student for an entire year of school and boarding — a safer option for the student than being home alone all day in a rural area while their parents work in the fields. The student receives education, three nutritious meals and two snacks a day, textbooks and all education materials, uniforms, sports clothing and equipment, instruments and cultural dress for practicing tribal dances and songs.
Photo by Annette Venables
Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend
Provides a full scholarship to help a young man attend the 2025 rite of passage.
Photo by Dr. Mark Schillinger
Ceres Community Project
Provides one client with a month of delicious, nutritious, 100% organic meals — made with love by its teen chefs and gardeners — delivered straight to their door.
Photo courtesy of Ceres Community Project.
Aldersly Retirement Community
Creates a day trip to San Francisco for six older adults to enjoy lunch and a museum tour, including transportation.
Photo by Jennifer Golbus
Buckelew Programs
Covers an urgent need such as support for a rent payment, medical need, groceries or other needs, ensuring that a client avoids crisis.
Photo courtesy of Buckelew Programs
$1,000
Conservation Corps North Bay
Buys chainsaws and other tools for corps members’ fieldwork to protect communities from the effects of climate change by reducing fire fuels and responding to floods.
Photo by Anastasia Pryor
Okizu
Gives a courageous child diagnosed with cancer a chance to be carefree in the great outdoors with a fully sponsored trip to Camp Okizu during the summer.
Photo courtesy of Okizu
Lifehouse Agency
Provides an iPad from the Lifehouse technology program to help support one of the developmentally disabled individuals that Lifehouse serves.
Photo courtesy of Lifehouse
Marin Foster Care Association
Funds “welcome home” baskets of basic household supplies, such as laundry detergent, a broom and trash bags, for four transition-age foster youth who are transitioning into independent housing.
Photo by Joanna Stott
Agricultural Institute of Marin
Funds the Rollin’ Root, AIM’s farmers market on wheels, for a full day of delivering farm-fresh produce to people experiencing food insecurity in Novato, San Rafael, Marin City, West Marin and San Francisco.
Photo courtesy of AIM
By the Bay Health
Provides 12 hours of in-home professional caregiving for patients, allowing family caregivers to benefit from respite care services.
Youth in Arts
Provides an emerging teen artist in the intensive arts mentorship program with a stipend to ideate, design and help install a mural at a local elementary school.
Photo by Luk Creative
Sausalito Center for the Arts
Covers the cost of producing one of the center’s new After Five chamber music concerts in 2025.
Photo by Monica Finnegan
$2,500
Karma Club Teen
Helps remove financial barriers for underserved students to pursue higher education by contributing to Karma Club’s FuturePrep program, which covers AP exam and college application fees along with college and career prep workshops.
Photo by Sally Newson
Provides one six-week program of Wisdom Warriors Therapy Groups for six to eight middle school students to learn healthy coping and decision-making skills in order to avoid substance abuse and other negative behaviors.
Postpartum Support Center
Provides 10 families with essentials like diapers, wipes, formula, clothes and baby gear for an entire year, offering critical support during the early stages of a child’s life.
Photo by Ivana Jagodic
Friends of China Camp
Enable repainting of the historic cafe’s facade in China Camp Village.
Photo by Steve Ziman, Martin Lowenstein
Vivalon
Extends a weeklong lifeline to 51 elders and those living with chronic health conditions, giving them access to home-delivered meals and the comforting presence of a dedicated and compassionate visit.
Photo by Brian Dettor
Sausalito Sister Cities
Would pay for an exhibition in a Sausalito-based space to showcase the art, culture and history of Viña del Mar in Chile, which has been a sister city of Sausalito for the past 63 years.
Photo by Monica Finnegan
$5,000
PNOC Foundation
Provides genomic sequencing for one child with a brain tumor, an essential step for best treatment options.
Photo by Rachael Cassells
WildCare
Helps cover the spiraling costs of medications and lab tests for WildCare’s wildlife hospital patients, plus vaccines for diseases that affect both wildlife and domestic animals, such as distemper and parvo.
Photo by Alison Hermance
To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation
Provides two months of groceries for 10 breast cancer patients and their families.
Photo by Kim Wimer
Center for Domestic Peace
Helps a family move into secure, safe housing for a future free of domestic violence.
Photo courtesy of C4DP
MarinArts
Funds support towards creating new marketing materials and outreach strategies for 2025 in order to build audiences for all the arts in Marin.
Gilead House
Funds a full year of educational and recreational programs for all children at Gilead House.
10,000 Degrees
Will help fund Success Starts Here, a one-day workshop for all rising college freshman students to help them build self-advocacy skills and receive guidance, advice, and support on how to be successful as they begin their college journey.
Photo courtesy of 10,000 Degrees
$10,000
Ritter Center
Covers one month of street medicine services for vulnerable clients experiencing homelessness across Marin County.
Photo courtesy of Ritter Center
Huckleberry Youth Programs
Provides health education workshops for 200 middle and high school-aged youth in a Marin County school, led by the Huckleberry Health Education Team. Huckleberry’s programs are age-appropriate, comprehensive, medically accurate and interactive.
Photo by Heather Mathews
To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation
Enables 50 uninsured patients to receive 3D screening mammograms.
Photo by Kim Wimer
Schurig Center for Brain Injury Recovery
Funds six months of free resource referral and consultation services which link over 300 brain injury survivors and caregivers to help them navigate a changed life after injury. This is a critical program which fills care gaps and is the only service of its kind in Marin.
