Top 10 Montrealers Making a Difference This December (2026)
December in Montreal means snow on the stoops, lights on the balconies and, for a lot of our neighbours, a harder month than most. Food banks report record demand, and winter makes being alone feel heavier. This list is about the people and groups who show up anyway: chefs rescuing hotel food, volunteers biking meals across the Plateau, a shelter for Indigenous women and their kids, a school where artists with disabilities train for the stage.
We picked them for steady, local, hands-on work, and for giving readers a clear way to help this month. Every pick was rechecked on November 8, 2026. Each one has its own profile with the full story and the best ways to give or volunteer.
1 Moisson Montréal
Canada’s largest food bank works out of a warehouse on Côte-de-Liesse and supplies 292 community groups across the island. Its Bilan-Faim 2026, released on October 21, counted more than 1.25 million food-aid requests a month in its network and 269,897 different people served. Of them, 32.6% are children. One in four member groups has had to turn people away.
How to help this December: give money (the food bank says each dollar lets it redistribute more than $15 of food), or book a half-day or full-day volunteer shift. It needs about 53 volunteers every day. Its 2026 holiday basket plans haven’t been posted yet.
- Where
- 6880 chemin de la Côte-de-Liesse, Saint-Laurent
- Founded
- 1984
- Volunteer
- Half or full days; individuals, companies and groups
2 Jean-François Archambault, La Tablée des Chefs
In 2002, Jean-François Archambault, a hotel-school graduate who had worked in hotel sales, set out to move good surplus food from hotel and arena kitchens to people who needed it. That idea became La Tablée des Chefs, now based in Longueuil with kitchens in Montreal, Laval and Quebec City. Its 2025 annual report counts about 3.5 million meals rescued and about 15,600 young people reached by its cooking programs.
How to help this December: make a gift, join La Tablée+ monthly giving, or ask about volunteering. Its holiday Solidarity Basket hasn’t been announced for 2026 yet.
- Founded
- 2002 by Jean-François Archambault
- Head office
- 679 rue Adoncour, Longueuil
- In 2025
- 3.5M meals rescued, 15,600 youth reached
3 Santropol Roulant
In 1995, two Café Santropol waiters, Christopher Godsall and Keith Fitzpatrick, started a meals-on-wheels service that paired young volunteers with seniors. The first delivery was 11 sandwiches. Today the Roulant runs a kitchen on Roy Street East in the Plateau, a farm in Senneville and supports Santrovélo, a community bike workshop. In 2024 it delivered 26,152 Meals-on-Wheels meals with help from about 1,500 volunteers.
How to help this December: delivery is its biggest volunteer need. Fill in the volunteer form, attend the welcome session (a little over an hour), then take an afternoon route by bike, car, foot or bus. Donations go through its website.
- Where
- 111 rue Roy Est, the Plateau
- Getting there
- 55 bus on Saint-Laurent
- Good to know
- Volunteers must be 16 to go alone
4 Old Brewery Mission
It began in the winter of 1889-90, when Mina Douglas and Eva Findlay opened a soup kitchen. In 1891 it moved into an empty brewery, which gave it its name. Today the Mission works on prevention, emergency services and rehousing. In 2025-2026 its emergency services helped 1,378 different people a month, and Café Mission logged 117,289 visits.
How to help this December: this year the Montreal Gazette’s Christmas Fund, running since 1967, gives 100% of its donations to the Mission’s homelessness prevention work, including a rent bank for people at risk of losing their homes. The campaign runs November 15 to January 11. You can also sign up to serve meals.
- Founded
- Winter 1889-90
- Holiday campaign
- Gazette Christmas Fund, Nov 15, 2026 to Jan 11, 2027
- 24/7 help
- Men 514-798-2244, women 514-526-6446
5 Share the Warmth (Partageons l'espoir)
In the winter of 1989, three Montreal women started collecting warm clothes and food for people without homes. Their group incorporated in 1990 and settled in Pointe-Saint-Charles in 1991. Today Share the Warmth runs a choice-based food bank for the Sud-Ouest and Verdun, free community lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and an Afterschool Club. In 2024-2025 its food bank served 3,241 different people, and 975 children regularly benefited from it.
How to help this December: its holiday drive, Share the Holiday Spirit, is its biggest of the year (2026 dates aren’t posted yet). It says every $10 buys $30 of food. Volunteers help in the food bank and kitchen.
- Where
- 625 rue Fortune, Pointe-Saint-Charles
- Community lunch
- Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
- Founded
- 1990
Disclosure: Tarek Riman, who runs Montreal Tips, sits on Share the Warmth's board. We included it because of its work, not because of that connection.
6 Na'kuset, Native Women's Shelter of Montreal
Na’kuset started as a front-line worker at the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and became its executive director in 2004. The shelter has offered a 24/7, culturally grounded home for First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and their children since 1987. In 2019 she co-founded Resilience Montreal, a day centre that began across from Cabot Square and moved to its permanent home on Atwater Avenue in June 2026, with meals, showers, laundry and support workers.
How to help this December: give through the shelter’s online donation page, or apply to volunteer with childcare, household tasks or the front desk after an orientation session. Groups are welcome to run their own drives.
- Shelter since
- 1987
- Resilience Montreal
- 780 Atwater Avenue
- Volunteer
- Online application, then orientation
7 Les Petits Frères
Since 1962, Les Petits Frères (Little Brothers in English) have matched isolated people aged 75 and over with volunteers who become a kind of chosen family. The group reports 2,651 seniors reached this year through 15 local teams in 12 regions, 75% of them matched long term with a volunteer. Christmas is its big moment: in 2025, more than 2,000 older adults shared a holiday meal with volunteers, alongside home visits and phone calls.
How to help this December: in 2025, the group said a $50 gift covers one senior’s Christmas meal, with a ride, a personal gift and a volunteer’s company. Its 2026 holiday plans haven’t been announced yet; call 514-527-6229.
- Since
- 1962
- Who they help
- Isolated people aged 75 and over
- Contact
- 514-527-6229
8 Dans la rue
In 1988, Father Emmett “Pops” Johns asked young people living on the street a simple question: what can I do to help you? Their answers became Dans la rue. More than 35 years later, it runs a day centre on Ontario Street East, the Bunker emergency shelter, The Van, apartments and family services for young people who are homeless or at risk.
How to help this December: donate online, read its donation guidelines before dropping off goods, or volunteer on your own or with your company. It hasn’t posted a 2026 holiday campaign yet, so check the site through the month.
- Founded
- 1988 by Father Emmett "Pops" Johns
- Day centre
- 1662 Ontario Street East
- Phone
- 514-526-7677
9 Cindy Schwartz, Les Muses
Cindy Schwartz, a dance performer, founded Les Muses in 1997. Since 2001 the school has offered professional training in theatre, dance and singing for adults with an intellectual disability or autism. The Governor General’s honours record calls it Canada’s first full-time professional performing arts training program for neurodivergent adults, and Schwartz is now a Member of the Order of Canada for that work. Maxime Savard became executive director in July 2026, and the school is planning a move to the rue de Gaspé area.
How to help this December: donate through the school’s site, sign up for its newsletter, and watch its social pages for public showings. No December dates are posted yet.
- Founded
- 1997
- Disciplines
- Theatre, dance, singing
- Contact
- info@lesmuses.org
10 Dr Gilles Julien and the Guignolée Dr Julien
Dr Gilles Julien is the pediatrician who founded social pediatrics in the community, a model that gives care and services to children in very vulnerable situations, close to where they live. Every December, the Guignolée Dr Julien raises money for that work. In 2024, the foundation said 45 active centres served nearly 12,000 children a year across Quebec. That year’s street collection was held on Saturday, December 14, with giving open until January 15.
How to help this December: the 2026 date hadn’t been confirmed in any source we could read, so check guignoleedrjulien.org. You can give to the foundation or to a local centre of your choice.
- Founder
- Dr Gilles Julien, pediatrician
- Reach (2024)
- 45 centres, nearly 12,000 children a year
- 2026 date
- To be confirmed
Can’t give money this month? Share one of these profiles, sign up for a single shift, or drop a bag of non-perishables at your local food bank. Small gestures add up, especially in January.
Checked on November 8, 2026. Details can change, so confirm on the official page before you go.
Questions people ask
How can I help Montreal charities in December 2026?
Give the way each group asks. Money stretches furthest at food banks like Moisson Montréal, while Santropol Roulant most needs volunteer delivery drivers. Some holiday campaigns are already set, such as the Gazette Christmas Fund for the Old Brewery Mission, running November 15, 2026 to January 11, 2027.
Where can I volunteer in Montreal over the holidays?
Moisson Montréal needs about 53 volunteers a day for half-day or full-day shifts, Santropol Roulant needs meal deliverers, and Share the Warmth takes volunteers in its food bank and kitchen. Most ask you to sign up online first, and Santropol Roulant requires a short welcome session.
How were these 10 Montrealers and groups chosen?
We looked for people and groups doing steady, hands-on work in Montreal, with a clear way for readers to help this December. Every pick was rechecked on November 8, 2026, using official sites and recent news. Nobody paid to be included, and one board connection is disclosed on its pick.
Sources
- Noovo Info: Bilan-Faim 2026 (Oct 21, 2026) noovo.info
- Moisson Montréal official site moissonmontreal.org
- Narcity: Bilan-Faim 2026 Montreal figures (Oct 21, 2026) narcity.com
- La Tablée des Chefs official site tableedeschefs.org
- La Tablée des Chefs annual report 2025 tableedeschefs.org
- Santropol Roulant official site santropolroulant.org
- Santropol Roulant: Our History santropolroulant.org
- Santropol Roulant annual report 2024 santropolroulant.org
- Old Brewery Mission official site missionoldbrewery.ca
- Old Brewery Mission: The Gazette Christmas Fund partners with the Mission (Oct 27, 2026) missionoldbrewery.ca
- Old Brewery Mission: Our story missionoldbrewery.ca
- Share the Warmth official site sharethewarmth.ca
- Share the Warmth: History sharethewarmth.ca
- Share the Warmth annual report 2024-2025 sharethewarmth.ca
- Native Women's Shelter of Montreal official site nwsm.info
- Resilience Montreal: About us resiliencemontreal.com
- Wikipedia: Nakuset en.wikipedia.org
- Les Petits Frères official site petitsfreres.ca
- Newswire: Little Brothers holiday appeal (Dec 11, 2025) newswire.ca
- Dans la rue official site danslarue.org
- Dans la rue (English site) danslarue.org
- Les Muses official site lesmuses.org
- Governor General of Canada: Cindy Schwartz, C.M. gg.ca
- Newswire: Guignolée Dr Julien, Dec 14, 2024 newswire.ca
Images are AI illustrations, not photos of the places or people featured.
