On Thursday, September 11, close to 1,400 volunteers spent the day at Mercedes Benz Stadium packing more than 607, 000 meals for families across metro Atlanta, commemorating the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.
ATL is in Good Hands - the 2025 High Five Party
On April 17—yes, actual National High Five Day—we threw up our hands (literally) and celebrated Atlanta’s all-star volunteers the only way we know how: with food, fun, and a whole lotta gratitude.
The High Five Party made its triumphant return, this time doubling as a fundraiser to fuel the fire our volunteers light in communities across the city. We packed out The Painted Pickle with ping-pong, pickleball, putt-putt, and pure joy. There were good eats (seriously, the waffle fries are insane), cold drinks, great music, and more than a few friendly competitions (shout out to our own Trey Stanley aka Mr. Discovery for the Highest High Five).
But the true highlight? Our awards program, where we hit pause on the games to shine the spotlight on some of Atlanta’s most inspiring changemakers. Let’s meet the winners:
Left to right: Jay Cranman, Monica Taylor, Jennifer Smith, Predita Lundy, David Jernigan
🎉 Corporate Champion Award: Jennifer Smith, OneDigital
Presented by the incredible Elizabeth Chrane, this award recognized Jennifer’s unwavering dedication to corporate volunteerism and creating a culture of service at OneDigital.
🎉 School Legacy Award: Monnica Taylor, Kindezi at Gideons
Presented by the amazing Angeleria Willis, Monnica was honored for going above and beyond to empower her students and bring meaningful volunteer partnerships into the classroom.
🎉 Nonprofit Legacy Award: Grady Health
With words of admiration from Hands On Atlanta Board Chair, Adrienne White, we celebrated Grady Health for its deep-rooted commitment to health equity and community partnership that spans decades.
🎉 Founder’s Award: David Jernigan, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta
Presented by none other than Michelle Nunn, this special award went to David for his visionary leadership and lifelong devotion to building brighter futures for Atlanta’s youth.
These honorees aren’t just names on plaques—they’re the heartbeat of this movement. The ones who rally teams, ignite change, and make it their mission to leave Atlanta better than they found it.
And speaking of impact… in just the first few months of 2025:
We’ve activated 60,000 volunteers
Our 52 AmeriCorps members clocked over 250,000 service hours
30 Civic Leaders engaged 2,000+ neighbors
And our top volunteers contributed thousands of hours to local causes
So yeah, a party was very necessary.
The High Five Party means we can give high fives all year long at volunteer projects, events, meal distributions and more.
Give here to keep the good work going.
To everyone who came out to celebrate, to cheer, to play, to give—thank you. This night was for you. And to everyone who supports this mission year-round: you’re helping us build an Atlanta where service is second nature and high fives are a love language.
Until next time… high fives all around. 👋💥
Thank you to our Host Committee
Michelle Nunn & Ron Martin
Elise Eplan
Amber & Frank Hall
Allyson Eman
Jay & Brendalee Cranman
Tara and Rahul Naya
Barbara and Nick Costides
Beth Cabrera
Chloe Barzey
An extra special Thank You to our sponsors
Connection, fun and impact highlight the 2024 edition of hands on atlanta week
For the 2024 edition of Hands On Atlanta Week, presented by Delta Air Lines, more than 3,000 volunteers supported over 50 nonprofits and schools across 300 projects! The focus for the week prioritized projects around Food Security and Hurricane Helene relief efforts, but volunteers created meaningful impact in all kinds of areas including building bikes, park beautifications, tutoring elementary students and so much more!
Atlanta Influences Everything - Looking back at the 2024 MLK Days of Service
MLK Day is special no matter where you are, but here in Atlanta, it just means more.
Channeling the mantra of our friends at Atlanta Influences Everything, for the 2024 MLK Days of Service, presented by Delta Air Lines, Hands On Atlanta set out to showcase the good we can create by coming together to help build Dr. King’s “Beloved Community.” We put the spotlight on our community of do-gooders and changemakers and challenged Atlanta to help us tackle our city’s most pressing needs. More than 3,000 volunteers stepped up to serve over January 11-15, 2024. These volunteers braved cold temps to support 50 nonprofits and schools across metro Atlanta.
Here’s a look back at some of the projects and lasting impact they created:
Hands On Atlanta Week Makes Big Impact
For the 2023 edition of Hands On Atlanta Week, presented by Delta Air Lines, more than 2,500 volunteers supported over 50 nonprofits and schools at 250 projects! The focus for the week prioritized projects around our three strategic impact areas - Food Security, Educational Equity and Environmental Sustainability. Check out all the impact in this recap.
5 Days of Building Dr. King's "Beloved Community"
Thousands of volunteers helped Hands On Atlanta and over 50 of our nonprofit and school partners improve food security and educational equity for families and students, improved the environment and sustainability across metro Atlanta and so much more throughout the 8 days in September - culminating on Sept. 27, 2022, Arthur Blank's 80th birthday.
Over 172,000 meals packed for metro Atlanta families for the 2022 9/11 Day of Service
8 Things to do for Hands On Atlanta Week
If you can’t tell by the amount of projects and events we’re promoting the week of September 20-27, we’re stoked for the 2022 Hands On Atlanta Week presented by the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation! So, to help get you out of the office/home and into the community as quick as possible, we’ve pulled together this list of 8 Things to do for Hands On Atlanta Week to help get you started.
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