Save the Dates: October 4 – 12
Compassion Week 2025 is one week away, and we need your help. We’ve added some new projects and community forums over the past week that we want to fill with volunteers. Take a look and find a family-friendly, teen-only, take-home project or other activity that will help us build a stronger, more compassionate community. There is something for everyone, all ages, all abilities, and at different times of the day and night, starting Oct 4th and ending Oct 11th. We hope to see you there. https://www.siliconvalleyvolunteers.org/need/
Thank you for your ongoing support! We could not do this work without you. If you have questions or are having difficulty finding a project or two that works for you, please contact [email protected] .
A look back at our last Compassion Week: strong turnout, meaningful conversations, and lasting connections that set the stage for what’s ahead. Can’t wait to see everyone again at our next one in October—stay tuned for more updates!
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Our community will unite to spread compassion so that all may thrive!
This year, Compassion Week will feature more than 150 projects supporting local organizations that are meeting the basic needs of our neighbors. Together, we can make a difference!
Compassion Week 2024
PRESS RELEASE
CELEBRATE COMPASSION WEEK – SEPTEMBER 21-29
Through volunteer opportunities, participants can make a difference in our community and expand understanding of local needs.
SAN JOSE – As proclaimed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, September 21 through 29, 2024 will be acknowledged as “Compassion Week” in Santa Clara County. Compassion Week is a local initiative that encourages individuals, groups, and families to engage in acts of volunteer service to build a strong, empathetic community. Since its inception in 2012, more than 24,000 volunteers have participated in 1,900 Compassion Week projects and activities at nearly 90 organizations on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.
“Compassion Week is a wonderful initiative. It’s a grass roots effort to get people involved in community, for community, in a different way,” said County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who proposed the County’s proclamation and whose office has sponsored and participated in the initiative for the past few years. “Truth be told, Compassion Week is not just about the one week. It’s about taking the week to learn and engage in activities that really can — and I hope will — be undertaken year-round. It’s a week that helps translate passion and compassion into longer term action by the community.”
Compassion Week is a collaborative effort undertaken annually by a group of dedicated volunteers and multiple local faith communities, along with organizations such as the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation, Fremont Bank, and more recently, Santa Clara County. Compassion Week brings people of all ages and abilities from a variety of backgrounds together to participate in more than 160 projects benefiting local nonprofits, focusing on education and access to basic needs such as food, shelter, and health as well as supporting veterans, older adults, and environmental protection efforts.
Compassion Week began as an initiative of the Los Altos United Methodist Church (LAUMC) to encourage its congregation to engage in service and justice work as an expression of faith. The initiative has grown over the years, and now more than 80% of the more than 3,600 volunteers come from individuals and organizations not associated with LAUMC.
“Being a part of the Compassion Week initiative these past 12 years continues to be a great honor,” said Los Altos resident Jan McDaniel, co-founder of Compassion Week. “Watching people’s awareness of local needs and connecting them with hands-on projects and/or the agencies that support those needs is making a significant impact on an individual’s perspective. It has been thrilling to watch the number of volunteers grow from several hundred to almost 4,000.”
Compassion Week volunteer opportunities will be available in nearly 20 local cities, including Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale, as well as communities in South San Mateo County. Volunteers can sign up online at compassionweeklosaltos.org.
Businesses and groups looking to get involved with Compassion Week can email[email protected] for more information.
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Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian represents the Fifth District which includes Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, portions of San Jose, and unincorporated communities in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020. Stay up to date on news and events happening in District Five by signing up for Supervisor Simitian’s newsletter: district5.sccgov.org/newsletter.