Make a Difference Month in Ridgefield: Ways to Help

November is Make a Difference Month in Ridgefield. Whether you have five minutes, a Saturday morning or a little extra to give, here are dozens of ways to help your neighbors this month, from a can of soup to a monthly gift that keeps a food bank running.

Every November, the City of Ridgefield turns the whole month into an invitation: connect with local nonprofits, build a good habit or two, practice kindness, and be part of what makes this town feel like home. It's called Make a Difference Month, and it's one of my favorite Ridgefield traditions.

This year it matters more than usual. Grocery prices are up, and Neighbors Helping Neighbors says more families are coming through its doors. Thanksgiving is a few weeks out. So here's your guide to making a difference this month, sorted by how much time you have. Pick one. Pick five. Every bit counts.

If you have five minutes

Kindness doesn't need a sign-up sheet. These take almost no time, and they're the stuff a good town is made of.

• Drop a bag of cans in a food drive bin. Keep a few in your car so you're ready when you pass City Hall, Rosauers, Tractor Supply or Fika.
• Buy two, give one. When soup or pasta sauce is on sale, grab an extra for the bin.
• Pay for the coffee behind you. It costs a few dollars and makes someone's whole morning.
• Leave a review for a local business you love. Five stars and two sentences is real help for a small shop.
• Text someone you haven't checked on in a while. Especially anyone who lives alone.
• Thank the helpers. A note for your kid's teacher, the mail carrier, the folks at the fire station or the cashier who always remembers your name.
• Pick up the litter on your walk. Downtown, the trails, your own street.
• Drop off old eyeglasses. The Ridgefield Lions collect them at the Ridgefield Library, Rosauers and B Seen Modern Eye Care, then send them to people who can't afford a pair. See the sites.
• Share a nonprofit's post. Reach is a donation, too.

If you have an hour or an afternoon

Pull ivy at Abrams Park · Saturday, Nov 14

Join the Ridgefield Garden Club from 9 a.m. to noon to clear invasive English ivy. Wear long pants and sturdy shoes, and bring your own water and snacks. RSVP on the City calendar.

Pack care packages for deployed troops · Thursday, Nov 12

The day after Veterans Day, the Ridgefield Lions' Operation LionHeart brings the community together to build care packages and write thank-you notes for deployed service members. Sign up with the Lions.

Help at the food bank

Neighbors Helping Neighbors serves families on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and it runs on volunteers. Call 360-887-3354 to ask about shifts, especially before Thanksgiving.

Serve at Compassion360

Compassion360 runs The Market, a free, grocery-style pantry for local families, and hosts a weekly senior lunch. Both need hands.

Get muddy at the Refuge

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge volunteers plant, dig and pull invasives, and you can come once or keep coming back. Email [email protected] to get started.

Find your group

Looking for something that fits you long term? Our guide to volunteering in Ridgefield covers 30 local groups that need help, from the Lions to Little League to the library.

If you want to give something

Fill a Green Bag

The Green Bag Projectis the easiest food drive in town. You get a bag, fill it with groceries, leave it on your porch, and volunteers pick it up every two months. The food goes to Neighbors Helping Neighbors and the Ridgefield Family Resource Center.

Give to Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Our local food bank has fed families from Ridgefield to Salmon Creek for 40 years, and need is up this fall. Money stretches furthest: it buys food and keeps the freezers running. Give through PayPal or Venmo at nhnridgefield.org, or mail a check to PO Box 789, Ridgefield, WA 98642. Read our full story on Neighbors Helping Neighbors.

Adopt a Thanksgiving box

Compassion360 is collecting donations to cover Thanksgiving meals for local families. Details are coming soon, so watch compassion360.org and the City's page.

Stock the Family Resource Center

The Resource Center helps Ridgefield School District families with food, clothing and toiletries. Beyond the food drive, it always needs shampoo and conditioner, feminine hygiene products, diapers and wipes, laundry detergent, socks, razors and pet food. Call 360-619-1412 to arrange a drop-off.

Give blood · Friday, Nov 27

Bloodworks Northwest is at Rosauers (101 S 47th Ave.) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the day after Thanksgiving. Book your appointment.

If you're ready to go big

Some of you are looking at this list thinking, "I can do more." Good. Here's where bigger commitments make the biggest dent.

• Become a monthly donor. Neighbors Helping Neighbors is asking specifically for neighbors who will give on a regular basis. A steady $20 a month helps them plan for the hard months.
• Sponsor Thanksgiving for a family. Adopt a Compassion360 Thanksgiving box once the details are out, or call Neighbors Helping Neighbors about their holiday turkey boxes.
• Bring Green Bag to your street. The Green Bag Project works because of neighborhood coordinators. Volunteer to sign up your block, cul-de-sac or HOA.
• Host a drive. Turn your office, team, church group or classroom into a collection point for food, toiletries or warm socks, and deliver it to the Resource Center or the food bank.
• Bring an idea to Project Soup. Project Soup brings neighbors together over a bowl of soup to back local community projects. Read our post for how it works, then come share an idea or support one.
• Join a board. Many local nonprofits are run entirely by volunteers and are always looking for new board and committee members. The Friends of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, for one, says so on its website.
• Walk and Knock in December. The Ridgefield Lions lead the north county piece of Clark County's big door-to-door food drive. Sign up in November so you're ready.

Make it a family thing

Make a Difference Month is a great excuse to raise little helpers. Let the kids pick out the cans for the food drive bin. Have them write thank-you notes for Operation LionHeart or for a teacher. Rake a neighbor's yard together. Sign up for the Turkey Trot, where kids 5 and under can run the Drumstick Dash and the proceeds support the Family Resource Center.

The City has run a Make a Difference bingo card in past years. Keep an eye on the City's page for this year's card.

Shop like it matters

Spending money locally is a way of making a difference too. It keeps our downtown alive and our neighbors employed.

• Winter Market at the Greely: the farmers market moves indoors on Nov 7 and 21, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Here's what to know.
• Sips of the Season: the downtown wine walk on Nov 7 is a fundraiser for Ridgefield Main Street. See all the stops.
• Small Business Saturday: Nov 28, downtown, and it's a Moola Weekend. Details from Ridgefield Main Street.

Quick questions, quick answers

What is Make a Difference Month?

It's the City of Ridgefield's November tradition encouraging residents to volunteer, donate and practice kindness. There's no First Saturday vendor market in November; the whole month is about giving back.

What's the single most helpful thing I can do?

Give money to a local food bank or pantry, ideally monthly. It stretches further than food donations and helps them plan.

Where are the food drive bins?

City Hall (230 Pioneer St.), Rosauers, Tractor Supply and Fika Coffee, all month long.

I need help myself. Where do I start?

Neighbors Helping Neighbors is open Tuesdays, 10 a.m.–12:30 p.m., at 21814 NW 11th Ave. (360-887-3354). Families in the Ridgefield School District can also contact the Family Resource Center at 360-619-1412.