Opportunities to volunteer in Toronto this holiday season don't have to be limited to doling out dinners and wrapping presents. Those are great ways to help out, but spots for the most conventional volunteer positions are often filled months in advance of the holidays.

If you can't donate this holiday season, here are some good ways to offer up your time.

Feed Toronto

Check out this event by Feed Toronto that balances the self-care of exercise and sound healing with prepping and distributing a thousand meals along with clothes and hygiene products to those who need them most.

Adult Help

The simplest everyday items are on the wish lists of seniors who have no one to give them gifts, and Adult Help organizes to help get them the presents they not only deserve but need. They're always looking for more volunteers to reach the seniors in specific neighbourhoods, so get in touch to see what you can do.

Socks 4 Souls

Socks 4 Souls puts on several sock drives in town, but it's also super easy to organize your own at your workplace, school or with your friends to collect new adult cotton socks (because as we all know, winter majorly sucks without them).

CAMH Gifts of Light

CAMH runs this donation-funded program which aims to meet the many varying needs of their patients and is always looking for volunteers. Items provided by Gifts of Light like emergency kits and pajamas really make a difference around the holidays, and you can help get them to those who really need them.

Winter Village at Evergreen Brick Works

Evergreen Brick Works is one of Toronto's main centres for demonstrating sustainable practices, and this weekend market that's fun to volunteer at showcases local small businesses.

Supporting Our Youth

Local chef Mandom Hui has been using a tight budget to feed queer youth who access this organization for years, and this year he needs servers, chefs and suppliers to give him a hand in pulling off this amazing feat again.

Houselink

Volunteering definitely doesn't have to be boring, in fact, it can be downright fun when you organize your own holiday event in support of Houselink. The only limit is your imagination: your charitable event can be anything from a holiday party to a bake sale to a splashy winter gala dinner.

Romero House

This organization that helps refugees often has holiday celebrations going on, and can always use volunteers to help put them together. Lots of other opportunities to volunteer during the holiday season and year-round include helping fix bikes, providing music lessons or even offering short-term housing for newly arrived refugee claimants.

Coldest Night of the Year

It's super easy to get involved in volunteering for your local version of this family-friendly walk in the Canadian winter if you want to contribute more than simply freezing your buns off. They need greeters, marshalls and even photographers.

Shoebox Project

This organization helps people make shoeboxes full of small, useful items and supportive messages for women experiencing homelessness, which can be especially meaningful around the holidays. You can make a box of your own, or volunteer with the head office in Toronto, volunteer with a local chapter or start your own local chapter.