the holidays are here and there’s plenty of opportunities to give a little to those in need.  first up is a toys for kids fundraiser at true north tavern at 5 pm today, being put on by several gay san diego sports organizations but open to all.  bring an unwrapped toy for charity, and enter a raffle to benefit underprivileged athletes at san diego city schools.

father joe’s villages charity has 200 kids living at their st. vincent de paul location.  they’re doing a toy drive with several drop-off locations, so you can help make sure they wake up to a toy on christmas morning.  and our friends recently visited the san diego location of stand up for kids and were impressed by the services provided to at-risk and homeless youth – from basic needs like food, clothing and hygiene to housing and education.

sun life rising star awards is giving $165K to san diego non-profits that support at-risk youth.  from their press release:

The Sun Life Rising Star Awards program announced it is accepting applications from San Diego-area non-profit organizations that work with at-risk youth to win one of three $50,000 grants that will be distributed in the San Diego area. As part of the application process, each non-profit will have the opportunity to nominate a student who participates in the organization for a chance to receive a $5,000 scholarship. The Sun Life Rising Star Awards program is a new program supported by Sun Life Financial, developed to recognize and provide resources to high school students who have overcome the odds and remained committed to furthering their education and the non-profit organizations who work on their behalf.

San Diego is one of a number of cities that the program will visit next year.  The awards program will give away a total of $1,000,000 in grants and scholarships in 2010.  San Diego-area applications will be accepted December 7, 2009 through February 1, 2010 and can be downloaded from 

www.sunliferisingstar.com.

and finally, this is a good time of year to donate your unused household items to charity, since you can write them off on your taxes next year.  for me, the easiest way is through amvets, who’ll pick the items up right from your front porch on their next scheduled run through your neighborhood.  call 800-795-8387 to set up your pickup.