Charity needs

Suggested grant: $2,400

The spring cohort has 35 students across three reading levels. The request covers bilingual readers, notebooks, pencils, and take-home books so families are not relying only on borrowed classroom sets.

Recruit 4-6 volunteers for two Saturday reading sessions.

Riverside Literacy is adding two Saturday family reading sessions each month. They need small groups willing to read with children, help parents find appropriate books, and document which materials families ask for most often.

Write letters or attend the July housing committee meeting.

Tenants have gathered heat logs and repair-request dates from three buildings. The association is asking outside groups to write concise letters before the July housing committee meeting so the pattern is visible beyond individual complaints.

Suggested grant: $1,750

The tenant association has updated its rights packet after recent building inspections. Funding would print 500 copies and translate the packet into Spanish and Arabic before the next door-knocking weekend.

Suggested grant: $3,800

One fridge is down and the pantry staples are thin after three high-traffic weekends. Funding would repair the unit and cover rice, beans, diapers, and fresh produce for the next month.

Cover two weekend restock routes and report stock gaps.

The fridge team has enough donated food most weeks, but the Saturday and Sunday handoffs are inconsistent. They need a guild willing to take two weekend restock routes and report which items run out first.

Schedule volunteers for six weekday appointment-support shifts.

Families often need help with transit, forms, and waiting-room translation during weekday appointments. Harbor Welcome Center is looking for groups that can cover six morning shifts over the next month.

Suggested grant: $3,200

Staff can arrange appointments, but transportation costs still cause missed visits. This grant would provide reloadable transit cards for families attending medical, school, and benefits appointments during the next six weeks.

Suggested grant: $4,200

Civic Signal has reporters following school budget changes, but records fees and transcription costs are slowing the work. A small fund would cover requests, meeting transcripts, and document hosting for a three-part explainer series.

Collect 25 resident questions for the city budget guide.

The newsroom is preparing a plain-language city budget guide and wants residents to submit questions before publication. A guild could gather questions from neighbors, parents, and small business owners so the guide answers real concerns.

Recruit 8-10 residents for a one-hour dashboard test.

Open Budget Lab has a prototype that explains permit wait times by neighborhood. They need nontechnical residents to try the dashboard, name confusing parts, and suggest the questions the tool should answer first.

Suggested grant: $5,100

The budget explorer is useful but fragile. Funding would cover a year of hosting, spreadsheet cleanup, and a small stipend for the volunteer maintaining the data dictionary.

Suggested grant: $2,900

The land trust is holding two community meetings about a possible Eastbank acquisition. Funding would cover childcare, interpretation, snacks, and printed materials so more renters can attend after work.

Suggested grant: $1,350

South Porch Arts is running a free mural workshop in a vacant storefront. They have donated paint but need ladders, drop cloths, sanding blocks, rollers, and protective gear before the first weekend session.

Collect 12-15 short neighborhood stories for the mural team.

The workshop wants the mural to reflect local memory rather than a generic design. A guild could interview elders, collect short stories, and bring themes back to the teaching artists before sketching begins.