February Cause Area
vulnerable communities

The needs of vulnerable communities encompass a wide array of circumstances. Members of these communities include children and adults who face visible physical challenges or serious illnesses, may be sight or hearing-impaired, or struggle with anxiety or have learning or mental disabilities.

Furthermore, many individuals within vulnerable communities find themselves in difficult home situations and lack access to basic necessities such as shelter, clothing, food, and school support.

Pebble Tossers works with a variety of organizations that support vulnerable community members based on their needs.

Our partners that work with fragile children are ARMHC, Atlanta Angels, CHOA,, Covenant House, Create Your Dreams, Foster Care Support Foundation, InCommunity, Kate’s Club and My Sister’s House.

FOCUS – Morning Respite with Youth

Respite Care is a time reserved for children to enjoy free play, music therapy, and extra attention from FOCUS caregivers and volunteers. These hours of free childcare give parents the opportunity to enjoy a break, run an errand, or take a nap!

FOCUS offers wraparound programs of support to families of children, teens, and young adults who are medically fragile or have developmental/physical disabilities. FOCUS welcomes families to bring their young children (aged 1-12) with physical and/or developmental abilities, including rare genetic syndromes, cerebral palsy, autism, and Down syndrome, to meet for a few hours of free play, games and activities and music therapy while enjoying extra attention from staff and volunteers.

Volunteer activities include spending time with the children to make sure their time spent at FOCUS is fun and fulfilling!

To sign-up and learn more, please click here

FOCUS – FAST Fins Adaptive Swim Team Opportunities

FAST Fins is an adaptive swim team for children, teens, and young adults with disabilities to meet for a weekly practice where they can:

Practice their swim strokes
Improve their stamina and fitness,
And increase their confidence in the pool

Volunteer activities include attending practices and assisting FOCUS Head Coaches by getting in the water to assist the swimmers with different exercises and activities while also motivating them to try their best!

To sign-up and learn more, please click here

Adopt a Meal for Kate’s Club

Kate’s Club empowers children facing life after the death of a parent or sibling. They create healing communities through recreational and therapeutic group programs, education, and advocacy.

You can serve the children at Kate’s Club by providing a meal for one of their family programs. The size of each meal depends on which program and can be between 45 – 75 people. The responsibilities of the meal are divided into three slots.

The weekend Clubhouse Programs are typically sandwiches or pizza, plus whole fruits, cookies and chips, while weekday meals are traditionally warm meals ranging from tacos or pasta to chicken casseroles or chili. Be mindful of vegetarian families and meals must be nut free and kid friendly. This is a great project for multiple families (neighbors, co-workers, etc.)

To sign-up and learn more, please click here.

Virtual Projects for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA)

The families with patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta greatly appreciate donations that help them with their stay and allow them to focus on recovery. By creating family care/laundry kits or meal bags we can help ease the burden of unexpected visits by providing them with necessary items that they will use throughout their visit. This project is in collaboration with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. We have how-to guides that provide all of the details necessary to complete these projects:

To sign-up and learn more, please click here

Prepare a Meal for Youth at Covenant House

Covenant House Georgia is more than a shelter. They provide more than a bed and a meal for youth experiencing homelessness and escaping trafficking; they show unconditional love and give comprehensive support so that their youth can and will realize their fullest potential.

How can you help? By preparing a meal Covenant House is in need of volunteers to prepare and share a meal every day of the week. This is a wonderful opportunity for families, corporate groups, church groups and individuals to impact the lives of homeless youth.

57% percent of homeless youth spend at least one day a month without food, so even a simple meal can begin the healing process for a young person. To sign-up and learn more, please click here.

NOTE: On-Campus visits are for volunteers ages 18+ only. Youth volunteers are welcome to participate in meal prep if done at home.

Additional Resources

FOCUS Georgia

At FOCUS, our mission is to embrace and equip families of children with disabilities to make everyday life BETTER.

Children participating in FOCUS activities range in age from birth through 29 years old and have many types of physical and/or developmental disabilities, including rare genetic syndromes, cerebral palsy, autism, and Down syndrome. FOCUS families are racially and ethnically diverse and share the common bond of having children with significant health challenges in their lives.

Programs include:

Parent Support: FOCUS offers a variety of supportive services to our parents and families: a shoulder to cry on, an understanding of all the acronyms, a visit when a child is hospitalized.
Hospital Visits: FOCUS volunteers and staff visit children who are hospitalized at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite and Egleston.
Family Activities: FOCUS makes outings possible for families by raising funds to offer very discounted tickets to community attractions in addition to offering time to gather and form community with other families on similar journeys.
Equipment Program: FOCUS’s Equipment Program offers an opportunity for families to provide their children with equipment to improve their quality of life. The three divisions of the Focus Equipment Program are our Loaned Equipment Library, our Beach Wheelchair Rental Program, and our Equipment Grant Program.

Plus many more on the FOCUS website.

Lost-N-Found Youth

Lost-n-Found Youth is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that exists to end homelessness for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and all sexual minority youth.

LNFY’s mission is to end homelessness for all LGBTQ youth by providing them with the skills and support needed to live independently. Programs that support LGBTQ youth outreach, mental wellness, and recreation can be found here.

Service Opportunities with Lost-N-Found Youth Coming Soon!

February Kindness Calendar

Get into the habit of spreading everyday kindness by printing out our calendar and sharing it with your family to choose 1, 2, or all of the days to start a ripple of kindness.