Giving Back for the Holidays: Encino-Style

As many Angelenos rush about looking for the perfect gift, others are wondering where they can give the gift of their time or give donations to help those in need this holiday. The Encino Patch has pulled together a fantastic 17 Places to Volunteer or Make a Donation list of spots in their local vicinity and beyond.

The volunteer opportunities range from food and toy drives to meal delivery and Christmas Dinner cooking - so even if you're busy this season, there's a project in need of whatever time you have to give whether it's thirty minutes to drop off canned food or an afternoon to cook and deliver meals.

Operation Gratitude made the "17 Places" list and the North Hollywood-TolucaLake Patch offers a closer look at how 1,000 volunteers helped reach a huge milestone by completing the 600,000th care package this weekend.