Community Extra: Opportunities

Assist: Holiday meal needs help

Sultan Harvest hosts a free community dinner on Thanksgiving and seeks donations of cash, food and other items, as well as volunteers for various tasks the day of the event.

Collection sites are at Volunteers of America, 701 First St. (call 360-793-2400 for times), and the Sultan Visitor Center, 320 Main St. (10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays).

New or slightly used clean coats, blankets, hats, gloves and stuffed animals also are accepted. Volunteer opportunities include helping decorate, bus tables, clean up, organize games and take photos, among other things. For more information, see Sultan Harvest on Facebook or email sultanharvest@aol.com.

Light: Trim tree for city kids

A living fir tree will be lit in the lobby of the Frances Anderson Center through the New Year, and the community is invited to donate $5 per light to help fund the city of Edmonds Youth Scholarship Fund.

Donors to the Celebration of Lights fundraiser will be recognized on a bulletin board. After the holidays, the tree will be planted in Yost Park.

The scholarship fund helps children from low-income families participate in Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services programs.

To donate, call 425-771-0230 or stop by the center at 700 Main St., Edmonds.

Buy: Tree sales benefit Lions

The Oak Harbor Lions Club’s annual Christmas Tree Sale fundraiser runs 12-7 p.m. Saturday and then daily 10 a.m.-7 p.m. through Dec. 23 or until sold out.

The Christmas trees — noble, Douglas, grand, Fraser and Nordman firs — are delivered within two weeks of cutting from Deming. Sizes range from 3 feet to 9 feet tall.

The stand will be in the park across from the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce, 32630 Highway 20. All proceeds support community service projects.

Replenish: Food bank is low

The Stillaguamish Senior Center has had fewer food donations recently and is in need of food items in its food room.

If your organization is sponsoring a food drive, donations would be appreciated. The senior center is at 18308 Smokey Point Blvd., Arlington.

For more information, call 360-653-4551 or email program@stillycenter.com.

Donate: Cellphones can be reused

Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County is recycling cellphones.

Even without service, cellphones can call 911 when charged.

Cellphones may be given to victims of domestic violence or sent to phone recyclers as a fundraiser for the nonprofit’s programs, which serve victims of domestic violence and their children.

Phones may be dropped off at the New and Again Thrift Shoppe, 3116 Rucker Ave., Everett, which is open Tuesday through Saturday. Other locations can be found by going to Domestic Violence Services, or call Stephanie Civey at 425-259-2827 ext. 13.

Donate: Soap for Hope

Local AAA offices are collecting toiletry items for local shelters as part of AAA Washington’s fifth annual Soap for Hope donation drive.

Local donations benefit Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County.

Drop-off locations:

AAA Everett, 909 SE Everett Mall Way, Suite E-520

AAA Lynnwood, 4100 Alderwood Mall Blvd., Suite 8

AAA Mill Creek, 15415 Main St., Suite 104

“The charities we support greatly appreciate these toiletry donations because they are in high demand and cannot be purchased with food stamps,” said Barbara Buquing, manager of AAA’s offices in Mill Creek and Lynnwood, in a press release.

Donations of new, full- and sample-size toiletry items such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes will be accepted year-round. More info: Soap for Hope.

Apply: Island County committee has openings

As many as five seats on the Island County Marine Resources Committee will be open for new appointment or reappointment at the end of the year. The Island County Board of Commissioners invites applicants from Whidbey and Camano islands to express interest and request appointment.

Members of this voluntary, advisory committee serve three-year terms. The 16-member committee meets on the first and third Tuesday afternoons of the month in Coupeville. More information is at www.islandcountymrc.org.

Applicants should provide a letter of interest and statement of qualifications by 4:30 p.m. Dec. 6. For more information, contact Tim Lawrence, the committee’s county lead and director of the Washington State University Extension, at timothy.lawrence@wsu.edu or 360-679-7329.