Get Involved
Ways to Give
Make a Gift
Our work is possible because of generous donors and partners like you. We can never overstate the ripple effect that one donation can have on the lives of our clients. Whether you give $1 or $10,000, the strength of our circle lies in all who are a part of it. Support at every level makes us feel proud to have you in our community and fortunate to have a generous circle of friends with a shared vision — a society where all of our neighbors have the resources they need to thrive.
We value our donors and take seriously the responsibility to use donations in the best way possible to achieve impact — supporting our neighbors to attain financial self-sufficiency and a pathway out of poverty.
Donations can be made online, or by sending a check to:
A Wider Circle
6841 Elm Street #6133
McLean, VA 22106
Checks should be made out to “A Wider Circle”
You will be redirected to our secure online processing system through Network for Good.
A Wider Circle is proud to have earned Candid’s 2026 Platinum Seal of Transparency and to have been named a Critical Nonprofit for 2026 by Spur Local.
Donate Items
Help us give local families a fresh start.
Your donations help A Wider Circle furnish homes and provide essential items to neighbors throughout our community.
The items you donate help local families create homes with more comfort, stability, and hope — often during times of major transition or uncertainty.
We are grateful for the items you choose to donate. Because each donation is ultimately going into someone’s home, we ask that furniture and household items are gently-used, free of rips or stains, functional, and ready for a new home.
Schedule a Donation Pick-Up
For qualifying furniture donations that meet our pick-up guidelines.
Donation pick-up is available for a fee.
Drop Off Your Donation
Bring accepted furniture and household items to our Silver Spring Center during donation hours.
No appointment is needed.
Help your donation make the greatest impact:
We want every item we provide to be something our neighbors can use and enjoy in their homes. We ask that all donations be in dignity condition — gently used, clean, functional, and free of rips, stains, damage, or excessive wear.
Because the families we serve often live in smaller homes, we also ask that furniture be appropriately sized for an apartment home.
Our wish list highlights the items families need most.
Join Our Circle
Sign up for email updates about our work, news, and events.
Volunteer
Join our more than 3,000 volunteers who contribute their time and talent to help us help our neighbors.
At A Wider Circle, we serve our neighbors in the DC metro area by facilitating the exchange of goods, skills, and connections from neighbor to neighbor. We could not do what we do without the help of our many volunteers. As a volunteer at A Wider Circle, you are one of our most valuable neighbors!
A Wider Circle is an open and welcoming environment for everyone. We welcome volunteers who are looking for both episodic and long-term volunteer opportunities. We offer volunteer opportunities in our warehouse, showrooms, and administrative offices. We also offer opportunities to deliver items to our neighbors in need.
To learn more about volunteering at A Wider Circle, please watch our Volunteer Orientation video.
Episodic Volunteer Opportunities
Episodic volunteering is perfect for individuals who want to contribute to their community but have busy or inconsistent schedules.
Supporting our Essential Support program, which focuses on providing basic need items for the home to our neighbors seeking to rise out of poverty, is where our neighbors can make the biggest impact. Donations we receive include furniture, housewares, linens, toys, and baby and professional clothing, and volunteers help us sort these donations and stock the showroom where our clients select their items. With the help of volunteers like you, A Wider Circle is able to furnish 10-15 homes free of charge each day for our neighbors experiencing furniture poverty.
As a volunteer, you will be working in our Center for Community Service located at 9159 Brookville Road in Silver Spring, MD 20910. Volunteer shifts are available Tuesday through Saturday at 10:00, 1:00, and 3:00. Each shift is approximately two hours.
All volunteers are required to register as a volunteer using our online portal. Registration includes signing a liability waiver. Youth under 18 years of age require a guardian to cosign the online liability waiver in advance.
Volunteers between the ages of 7-13 are welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult during their volunteer service.
Volunteer FAQs
Youth between 7-13 are welcome to volunteer. Each youth must be accompanied by a registered adult volunteer during their volunteer service.
Youth 14 and older are welcome to volunteer as individuals, as long as their parent or guardian has cosigned the liability waiver included in our registration process.
Youth are welcome to volunteer in a group as long as they are registered and accompanied by the appropriate number of adult chaperones.
Youth groups with children ages 7-10 can register up to 10 youth with a minimum of 3 chaperones.
Middle School groups require 1 chaperone per 6 youth.
High School groups require 1 chaperone per 9 youth.
We appreciate chaperones helping to make this volunteer experience possible for youth. We ask that you lead: ensuring safety, keeping youth on task, behaving appropriately (no running, roughhousing, bad language, etc.), and ensuring they are only approving good quality items to be provided to clients.
You will be working in our Center for Community Service located at 9159 Brookville Road in Silver Spring, MD 20910. As a first-time volunteer we ask that you come to the main entrance and ask the receptionist to contact a Volunteer Coordinator. The Volunteer Coordinator will assist you in the process for sign-in and sign-out at our kiosk and then put you to work!
A Wider Circle has limited parking on-site. There are several parking options available to you close to our facility, as detailed below. If you require accessible parking, please email volunteer@awidercircle.org in advance to reserve a space.
Individual drivers can park anywhere along Louis Street, Louis Avenue, Glen Ross Road, and anywhere along Luzerne Avenue (except #2201 & #2203). To find this neighborhood, navigate to 2101 Luzerne Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Volunteers and guests are welcome to park at 9141 Brookville Road. This is our administration building, one block away from the Center for Community Service.
If your group will arrive via bus, please have the driver drop you off at 9159 Brookville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910. We do not have parking for buses, but you could consider parking in the nearby public parking lot, 9301 Sutton Place, Forest Glen, MD 20910, or in the parking lot of our satellite warehouse located at 2622 Pittman Drive in Silver Spring.
In order to serve our clients with dignity and respect, we ask all our volunteers to dress in a professional manner. This attire includes jeans or mid-length shorts and t-shirts or sweatshirts with family-friendly and non-political messaging. You must wear closed-toe shoes, including sneakers or work boots, to work in the warehouse.
Our warehouse, where most of the volunteer activity takes place, is not climate-controlled. It can be extremely warm in the summer and cool in the winter. While we have water and a snack vending machine on site, you may prefer to bring your own beverages and snacks. Please leave all valuables in your car or with you, as we are not responsible for lost or stolen items.
As much as we would love for you to keep great memories of your experience at A Wider Circle, we would also love to preserve the privacy of the people we serve. Therefore, we would appreciate you not taking pictures in the showroom. Pictures can ONLY be taken outside of the main entrance or in the warehouse.
A Wider Circle supports Student Service Learning (SSL) programs for high school students. Students register as a volunteer and provide contact information for a responsible adult who is then required to co-sign the liability waiver. Students use their A Wider Circle account to sign up for specific dates and shifts. In order to get approval for hours worked, be sure to SIGN IN and SIGN OUT at the volunteer kiosk.
A Wider Circle provides opportunities for volunteers to earn community service hours for court-related reasons. Be advised that we cannot qualify a volunteer when charges pertain to the distribution of drugs, solicitation of sex, arson, weapons-related charges, or assault. To accommodate as many volunteers as possible each year, we kindly ask that individuals limit their participation to no more than two volunteer shifts.
