Are you a dog or cat person? Perhaps you love playing with kids? Does getting your hands dirty make you feel accomplished?

New York Cares is launching a new community on Crowdrise, an online fundraising platform created by actor and activist Edward Norton, that allows you to raise money and awareness for the programs you care about. Join our team and use Facebook, Twitter, and good old-fashion email to ask people you know for a few bucks to support your volunteer work.

Crowdrise offers awesome prizes to the top fundraisers and point earners. Go head to head with Will Farrell and Seth Rogen to compete for an iPad – new laptop anyone? Even better, your efforts will expand our volunteer opportunities, helping more New Yorkers in need.

What are you waiting for? Give it a try!

If you’re asked to donate money to New York Cares in a train station or on the street, please don’t do it. If someone approaches you, please let us know by contacting info@newyorkcares.org.

While we rely on donations from caring New Yorkers to do our work, we do not ask youth or other street teams to solicit donations on our behalf. Make a secure online donation to New York Cares instead.

Your last chance to be a Super Fundraising Day winner is Thursday, April 22! Win a roundtrip Jetblue Airways ticket by raising the most money for Hands On New York Day before midnight.

Anyone who raises even $150 will win a prize from our suite of Cares Wear. See what you could win, and read our fundraising tips to get started asking friends, family, and coworkers to donate in honor of your volunteer service.

With public services that are already strapped for resources facing even more budget cuts this year, the work that volunteers will do on Hands On New York Day is crucial to keeping our city’s public spaces clean and green.

This incredible day of service is also a critical fundraiser that enables New York Cares to put volunteers to work all year long at struggling city agencies, community centers, and public schools.

Take the $150 Challenge and help us reach our goal. If all Hands On New York Day volunteers raise $150 in honor of their service, New York Cares could provide $4.5 million in service to the community. Set your goal even higher and join the Team Green fundraising club.

There’s still time to register for Hands On New York Day, but even if you can’t attend the event, you can make a big impact by fundraising as a Virtual Volunteer or making a donation. Learn more about what we can accomplish with your donations.

In just three weeks since the end of the New York Cares Coat Drive, we’ve already given out over 45,000 coats to agencies serving our city’s most vulnerable residents!

New York Cares would like to thank our friends at Original Windbreaker for their donation of a whopping 4,600 Big & Tall Men’s coats. The need for coats this winter is greater than ever, and Windbreaker made every effort to help us meet that need.

Thanks to Windbreaker’s contribution and the donations of thousands of generous New Yorkers, we are well on our way to keeping 80,000 of our city’s struggling residents warm this year.

The devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday has affected an estimated 3 million people that desperately need your help.

Emergency relief organizations are already on site providing water, shelter, medical care, sanitation facilities, and other supplies. Help them aid survivors by making a donation today to one of these organizations or the nonprofit of your choice.

As we enter the last week of the Coat Drive, we’re increasing our goal to collect 80,000 coats for homeless and low-income New Yorkers. Donations to the Coat Drive have been strong so far, but we need everyone’s help to beat our original goal of 70,000 coats.

The demand for warm clothing is the highest we’ve seen in years, and we don’t want to leave anyone out in the cold. This Christmas morning, New York Cares volunteers are giving out warm winter coats to over 100 homeless men, women, and children at the New York City Rescue Mission in Manhattan.

Help us keep thousands of other New Yorkers in need warm this winter – donate at one of hundreds of public locations around the city.

When 10-year-old Trevor heard about Winter Wishes, he knew he wanted to do something special to help children less fortunate than him. His 11th birthday was coming up, so he decided to donate the gifts he received at his party this weekend to the program.

Trevor and his mother delivered the toys and games his friends had given him to our office this morning, and he says he wants to keep doing it every year. It was truly heart-warming to witness such a selfless act of kindness, and we hope it will inspire others to get into the spirit of giving as well.

We’re participating in America’s Giving Challenge, a virtual contest that rewards nonprofits who get the greatest number of people to donate to their Facebook Cause. They’re giving away $1,000 to the nonprofit who gets the most donations in a 24-hour period or a $50,000 donation to the nonprofit who get the most donations overall by November 6.

We want to win the daily challenge (and $1,000 to create more life-changing volunteer projects) that starts this Wednesday. Past winners have only had a few hundred donors, so with 48,000 volunteers and countless supporters, we know you can help us beat that.

Visit our Cause and make a donation of any amount between 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28, until Thursday at 3:00 p.m. Remember, this contest is not about the amount of money we raise, but the number of people who donate. Tell your friends and help us win!

The New York Cares Coat Drive doesn’t kick off until December, but on October 14th, the male models and cast members of BET/MTV’s upcoming reality TV show, Model City, will give the shirts off of their backs to raise awareness of the critical need for coats this winter by homeless and low-income New Yorkers.

Together with New York Cares and the Harlem YMCA, they’ll be collecting donated winter coats at the Jackie Robinson Youth Center (181 W. 135th St.) on Wednesday, October 14 from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Clean out your closets and give last year’s winter coats to the men, women, and children who need them to stay warm. You’ll also have the chance to meet the stars of this soon-to-be hit show.