Volunteer & donate for cold aid 2025/26
With the onset of the cold season, the cold weather aid program starts again this year. Emergency shelters are opening in many cities, cold weather buses are on the road and organizations are providing homeless people with basic necessities. For all of this to work, they rely on the support of committed people like you.
In this article, we show you how you can help to get homeless people safely through the cold winter months with a little time commitment or a donation.
Contents
- What cold aid does
- Volunteer in cold weather aid yourself (via vostel.de)
- Donate for cold and homeless aid
- In emergencies: You can find cold weather hotlines here
What cold aid does
Between October and March, numerous organizations in Germany ensure that homeless people have a chance of warmth, protection and care during the cold months. Emergency shelters provide places to sleep, while cold and warm buses are out on the streets to help with food, warm drinks or sleeping bags. Many initiatives have also set up fixed tours or meeting points, which become important contact points for those affected.
Volunteer in cold weather aid yourself (via vostel.de)
During the winter months, many organizations are looking for volunteers to help with their cold weather aid work, for example at the reception, food distribution or in the clothing store. Helping hands are also needed for street outreach or services such as shower buses and cafés.
If you would like to volunteer volved locally, you can find a small selection of homeless aid projects on vostel.de here.
Volunteering opportunities in your area:
Berlin
Here’s where you can volunteer in Berlin:
Berlin-wide
Volunteering opportunities throughout Berlin:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Berliner Obdachlosenhilfe | Prepare food and clothing and distribute on aid tours in Berlin |
| youngcaritas Berlin | Medical assistance in an outpatient clinic, mobile doctor or hospital apartment (as a doctor) |
Charlottenburg
Volunteering opportunities in Charlottenburg:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Stiftung Union Hilfswerk | Welcoming guests, preparing and serving meals, distributing beds and sleeping bags |
Hauptbahnhof
Volunteering opportunities at the main station:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Berliner Stadtmission | Welcome, clothing store, food distribution |
Kreuzberg
Volunteering opportunities in Kreuzberg:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Kältehilfe der Johanniter | Reception, food distribution, care, wardrobe |
| youngcaritas Berlin ‘Tuesday Bistro’ | Food distribution & organizational tasks |
Lichtenberg
Volunteering opportunities in Lichtenberg:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| oskar | freiwilligenagentur | Distribute water & meals to those in need |
Pankow
Volunteering opportunities in Pankow:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Strassenfeger e.V. | Support for late or night shifts |
| Strassenfeger e.V. | Cooking for homeless people in the soup kitchen |
Reinickendorf
Volunteering opportunities in Reinickendorf:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Berliner Stadtmission | Food preparation & serving |
Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Volunteering opportunities in Steglitz-Zehlendorf:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Neue Chancen gGmbH | Night shift with admission control Dinner & breakfast (with expense allowance) |
Zoologischer Garten
Volunteering opportunities at Zoologischer Garten:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Berliner Stadtmission | Welcome, wardrobe, food distribution |
Braunschweig
Here’s where you can volunteer in Braunschweig:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. | Hand out food and hygiene articles, provide transportation if necessary |
Dortmund
Here’s where you can volunteer in Dortmund:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Gast-Haus Ökumenische Wohnungslosen-Initiative e.V. | Preparation and serving of food and drinks |
Düsseldorf
Here’s where you can volunteer in Düsseldorf:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| youngcaritas Düsseldorf ‘Warm durch die Nacht‘ | Preparation and serving of food and drinks at Worringer Platz |
Frankfurt am Main
Here’s where you can volunteer in Frankfurt am Main:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Change the World e.V. | Preparation & serving of meals |
Hamburg
Here’s where you can volunteer in Hamburg:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Duschbus von GoBanyo | Coordinate guests and showers on site, hand out hygiene articles and clothing |
| Sonnenschein Café des clubkinder e.V. (soon online) | Make sandwiches and serve snacks, coffee and cake in the afternoon |
| Mobile Kleiderkammer des DRK | Take over rides for clothes bus, homeless bus or blood donation, more if desired |
Ingolstadt
Here’s where you can volunteerd in Ingolstadt:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Sozialdienst Katholischer Frauen e.V. | Conversations, food distribution, coordination of laundry, various group activities |
Cologne
Here’s where you can volunteer in Cologne:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Private Initiative Kaffeekutsche | Distribution of food and hot drinks in Cologne Mülheim (every Mon + Tue) |
| Büro für Bürgerengagement der AWO Köln | Preparing food for homeless people in Cologne city center |
Magdeburg
Here’s where you can volunteer in Magdeburg:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Ärzte der Welt e.V. | Medical care for people without health insurance |
Mannheim
Here’s where you can volunteer in Mannheim:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| youngcaritas Mannheim ‘Warm durch die Nacht‘ (soon online) | Bringing coffee, tea, cookies and conversation to people on the street |
Stuttgart
Here’s where you can volunteer in Stuttgart:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| youngcaritas Stuttgart | Bringing coffee, tea, cookies and conversation to people on the street |
Tübingen
Here’s where you can volunteer in Tübingen:
| Organization | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Bahnhofsmission | Support people in emergency situations at the train station |
You can also find more projects to support homeless people at vostel.de.
Donate for cold and homeless aid
Donate to organizations in your city
Cold buses and homeless aid organizations rely on donations to provide warm meals, drinks, clothing or sleeping bags for homeless people. You can find out exactly which donations are needed on the websites of the various organizations. We have put together a small selection for you here.
Bergisch Gladbach / Refrath / Bensberg
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus des “Die Platte e.V.” | Donations for Die Platte e.V. |
Bochum
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus des DRK Wattenscheid | Donations for Kältebus des DRK |
| Johanniter Kälteengel | Donations for Johanniter Kälteengel |
Düsseldorf
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Gutenachtbus from vision:teilen & fiftyfifty | Donations for the Gutenachtbus |
Essen
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| DRK Essen | Donations for DRK Essen |
Hamburg
Hanover
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus der Johanniter | Donations for the Kältebus der Johanniter |
| Wärmebus von Malteser | Donations for the Malteser Wärmebus |
Karlsruhe
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus des DRK | Donations for the Kältebus des DRK |
Kiel
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus von Malteser | Donations for Malteser Kältebus |
Cologne
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus vom FDKS | Donations for the Kältebus vom FDKS |
Munich
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Kältebus München e.V. | Donations for the Kältebus München |
Nuremberg
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Streetwork-Team der Wärmestube und Straßenambulanz | Donations for Wärmestube und Straßenambulanz in Nuremberg |
Stuttgart
| Organization | Donation opportunity |
|---|---|
| Malteser Wärmebus | Donations for Malteser Wärmebus |
Use Gabenzäune (gift fences)
Another uncomplicated way to support people in the cold season is to use so-called Gabenzäune (gift fences): you can leave weatherproof food, clothing or blankets there for homeless people to take for themselves. You can find an overview of existing locations at Gabenzaun.de.
If your city does not yet have a gift fence, you can find instructions here on how to set up a Gabenzaun (gift fence) yourself and register online.
Donate money to help the homeless via betterplace.org
In addition to classic cold weather aid, there are many initiatives that provide long-term support for homeless people – for example through medical care, women’s projects or counseling services. On the donation platform betterplace.org, you will find a large number of such projects that you can support directly with a donation.
In emergencies: You can find cold weather hotlines here
If you come across someone who urgently needs help during the cold season, you can contact cold aid hotlines or cold buses. In our article, you will find cold aid hotlines in many German cities as well as brief instructions on what you should look out for.
Thank you for your commitment to cold weather aid!
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