This Thanksgiving Season: Ways You Can Give Back and Say ‘Thank You’
As the leaves turn and the air cools, Thanksgiving arrives—a time of gathering, gratitude, and giving. At Steps to Hope, we believe this season offers a meaningful opportunity not just to reflect on what we’re thankful for, but to act on that gratitude by giving back. For survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, the support of a community matters more than ever—and when you give to Steps to Hope, you are saying “thank you” to resilience, hope, and new beginnings. Here are meaningful ways you can give back this Thanksgiving season and express your thanks in action.
1. Donate to Support Survivors
One of the most direct ways to give back is through a monetary gift to Steps to Hope. Your donation enables emergency shelter, counseling, legal advocacy, and education programs that make a real difference in someone’s life. Steps to Hope’s mission is to provide “safety and assistance to individuals affected by domestic violence or sexual abuse through emergency shelter, client advocacy and education.” Steps to Hope
When you give, you are saying “thank you” to the strength of those who have trusted Steps to Hope with their healing—and you’re partnering in creating safer tomorrows for them. Consider donating in honor of someone you’re thankful for this season.
2. Give Goods from the Shelter Wish List
Beyond financial gifts, Steps to Hope maintains a shelter and programs that rely on tangible goods: linens, hygiene items, toiletries, warm blankets, children’s items, and more. This Thanksgiving, consider gathering items for the Steps to Hope shelter wish list and delivering them or arranging a drop-off. A circle of thanks where your “thank you” reaches someone who’s turning a page musters community care in real time.
3. Volunteer Your Time
Steps to Hope offers ways to give your time—perhaps by volunteering at the Thrift Store, or helping with events or office support. When you volunteer, you’re giving the gift of your presence and your hands. You’re literally saying “thank you” to the survivor you serve, by making space for healing, hope, and transformation.
Pick a morning (or an afternoon) this November to volunteer your time at Steps to Hope. It’s one of the most meaningful forms of giving this season.
4. Host a Thanksgiving-Style Fundraiser or Drive
Want to engage your friends, family, or community group? Host a turkey-oriented fundraiser or collection drive for Steps to Hope. For example, you could invite your circle to bring a canned good or hygiene item in lieu of a potluck dish—instead, everyone brings a “gift of hope” for Steps to Hope.
You might hold a “thanks-giving” event: share what you’re thankful for, invite donations to Steps to Hope, and raise awareness of the mission. When you gather in thanks and redirect generosity toward survivors, you extend gratitude beyond your table.
5. Write Thank-You Notes to Staff, Volunteers & Survivors
Thanksgiving is also a time to say thank you to the people behind the scenes — the staff and volunteers at Steps to Hope who show up, day after day, for those in crisis. Consider writing a gratitude-note to the shelter staff, to the counseling center, to the legal advocates, to the volunteer teams.
You might even, if appropriate, include survivors (with permission) who have chosen a new path and who want to pass on thanks to someone who supported them. Your words of gratitude amplify the spirit of the season and link your thank-you to real lives.
6. Educate Yourself & Others About Domestic Violence & Sexual Abuse
Giving back doesn’t always mean money or time — it can mean knowledge. Educate yourself about the issues Steps to Hope addresses: domestic violence, sexual abuse, safety planning, the role of bystanders. When you understand the challenges survivors face, you’re better equipped to speak up, to intervene, to be a friend or ally.
Steps to Hope’s blog (and its website) offers resources and insight. Steps to Hope Make this Thanksgiving a moment of intentional learning, of expanding your circle of awareness, so your “thank you” resonates in your words and efforts throughout the year.
7. Make a Legacy Gift or Monthly Commitment
If you’re looking to make a more lasting impact, consider making a legacy gift to Steps to Hope, or setting up a monthly recurring donation. This acts as a sustained “thank you” that says: I believe in this mission, I believe in hope, and I am committed.
A recurring donation helps ensure that survivors will continue to have safe shelter, advocacy and education provided by Steps to Hope well beyond the holiday season.
8. Give in Honor or Memory of Someone
Thanksgiving lends itself to honoring someone you’re grateful for — perhaps a family member, a mentor, a friend, or even a survivor. Use that gratitude toward a meaningful gift to Steps to Hope “in honor of” that person. When you give in honor or memory, you turn a personal thanksgiving into a communal act of support.
Steps to Hope’s work becomes a tribute. Your “thank you” becomes powerful.
9. Bring Gratitude to Your Local Community
Beyond the walls of Steps to Hope, you can bring a grateful attitude into your local community. Maybe you invite friends or neighbors to bring extra items to a community drop-off for Steps to Hope. Maybe you decorate your gathering with a small display of Steps to Hope’s mission and invite your guests to learn and give.
By linking your Thanksgiving table with Steps to Hope’s purpose, you invite your circle to see gratitude and giving as one seamless act.
10. Reflect with Your Family or Team & Make a Giving Plan
Finally, use this Thanksgiving season as a moment to reflect: What are you thankful for? How can you translate that gratitude into action for survivors who deserve safety and hope? Gather your family, work team, or friend group, and make a plan to support Steps to Hope — whether it’s collecting donations, volunteering, or educating your group next year.
When gratitude becomes a plan, it becomes transformative.
Why This Matters
For many survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse, the pathway to healing is paved by community support, compassion, and resources. Steps to Hope stands as a beacon of safety and restoration. When you give back this Thanksgiving, you don’t just say “thank you” in the abstract—you express it concretely. You say: “I see you. I value you. I stand with you.”
By giving to Steps to Hope, by volunteering, by speaking up, you amplify hope. You help survivors reclaim their lives, rebuild their futures, and know that someone stood in thankfulness and solidarity.
This Thanksgiving season, let your gratitude be more than words. Let it be a thankful heart in action—reaching toward safety, support and renewal through Steps to Hope. Whether it’s a donation, a gift of goods, your time, or your voice, every act of giving is a way to say “thank you” to the resilient, to the hopeful, to the survivors—and to partner with Steps to Hope in changing lives.
Let’s gather in thanks. Let’s give in impact. Let’s stand together. Because when we say “thank you,” we can also say “we are here for you”—and that matters.
From all of us at Steps to Hope: thank you for caring, thank you for acting, and thank you for bringing hope.