Building a Home, Not Just a Business: How Santa Clarita Volunteering Anchors Your Heart Here

Ready to feel more rooted? Santa Clarita volunteering transforms everyday moments into stories of connection you’ll never forget.

Long before business cards ever exchange hands, Santa Clarita’s day starts with a thousand small kindnesses—parents stacking chairs after a school event, neighbors sweeping the paseo, a volunteer loading up fresh meal deliveries at the Senior Center. In a city that stays small at heart despite decades of growth, those not-so-tiny gestures have become the quiet architecture of community. 

From the opening question to the closing smile, that shared sense of purpose threaded every story Lindsay Schlick and Di Thompson traded on SchlickArtTV Episode #8: a master class in Santa Clarita volunteering as a way of life. For them, service isn’t a medal you pin to your brand; it’s the surest way to feel at home in a world that can feel wildly out of control. 

“One thing you can do,” Di reminds us, “is be a light for someone else.”

Lindsay agreed: “Giving back to the community is so important when you’re a small‑business owner, especially here in Santa Clarita. We’re very lucky to work, live and play here—and I know you feel the same way: we want to keep it that way.”

Here are five stories-turned-suggestions for weaving that light into your calendar, community and core values. Notice how every action, no matter how small, strengthens two roots at once: the community’s and your own. 

5 Tips To Engage In Santa Clarita Volunteering With Heart

Jennifer Abbott-Aston, Becki Ryland Robb, Karen Bryden, Di Thompson and Lindsay Schlick attend the SCV Chamber Awards & Installation Gala.

1. Listen to Your Heart Before You Raise Your Hand

Lindsay volunteered as a model for the 18th Annual Bras for a Cause Gala, benefitting Soroptimist International of Valencia, while Brian volunteered services as a photographer for the event.

Before you RSVP to the next charity gala or snag the first cleanup slot, pause for a quick self‑audit. As Di puts it, walking into a nonprofit without clarity can land you elbow‑deep in spreadsheets when numbers make your head spin: “The next minute you’re helping the accountant—and you are not a math brain in any way, shape or form.”

Without skipping a beat, Lindsay and Di laid out an easy roadmap for more intentional Santa Clarita volunteering:

• Inventory your joys and talents. What lights you up after a long day? Where do your skills meet a need? 
• Hear your “yes.” “I always ask myself, Will this light me up? If it’s a yes, the enthusiasm shows through my work,” Lindsay shared.
• Research like it’s a job interview (because it kind of is). Scroll the organization’s website, skim its social posts and attend a non‑member social to chat with existing volunteers. Knowing what they actually need prevents mismatched expectations later.
• Grab coffee with a membership coordinator. They’ll outline every way to plug in, saving everyone from guesswork while helping you spot the perfect fit.
• Define your bandwidth. Your best might be a quarterly drop-off at the SCV Food Pantry. Make time for what you value, and choose your own terms of success. 

Lindsay sums it up perfectly: “There are different capacities and there’s no wrong answer for anybody; the goal is simply to do your best, whatever that looks like.” When passion meets purpose, commitment stops feeling like another task on the calendar and starts feeling like oxygen.

2. Start Tiny, Stay Consistent

Di still remembers the first time she volunteered at a creek cleanup: “We filled maybe three trash bags before the girls wanted snacks—but you know what? That was three bags the city didn’t have to haul later. There’s nothing too small, and you never want to look at what other people are doing and compare yourself.

Lindsay agreed, adding a simple truth: “People make time for what they value.”

• Keep it bite‑sized. Schedule a 30‑minute block each month for a quick act of service—deliver pantry staples, sweep the paseo, or write thank‑you notes to first responders.
• Stack it on an existing routine. Drop donations on your grocery run or read to seniors right after school drop‑off.
• Track tiny wins. A shared family or team journal builds momentum—every checkmark reminds you the needle moved.

Consistency turns small acts into lasting change and teaches your circle that even a sliver of time can make space for Santa Clarita volunteering efforts.

3. Embrace Micro‑Moments of Care

Lindsay and friends put together toiletries for a purse drive in 2021.

Community doesn’t always require a committee. “It might be as simple as calling up a friend who isn’t doing so well and just saying, What do you need today?” Di said. Little gestures weave the tightest bonds.

Lindsay echoed, “A quick text can be the most powerful five seconds of your day.”

• Set reminders. Weekly phone alerts can prompt quick check‑ins with busy board members, volunteer teams, or even your elderly neighbor who 
• Keep supplies handy. A hand-written note or small token of appreciation can mean the world to someone who’s struggling through theirs. Choose your favorite way to make people feel seen—bake cookies, make self-care goodie bags, keep a list of social media shout-outs—and keep the supplies on hand. You never know when you’ll find someone who needs a reminder that someone cares. 
• Celebrate ordinary days. Surprise your volunteer team with cupcakes on a random Tuesday. An instant morale boost like this can create a positive ripple that carries through the rest of the week (and then some).

Those micro-moments of care are the heartbeat of Santa Clarita volunteering, reminding neighbors they’re never alone.

4. Grow Into Leadership

Lindsay teased Di about her mounting nameplates—Board Chair, Committee Co‑Chair, Event Lead—and Di shrugged: “You just follow the need until it lands you at the table where decisions are made.”

Lindsay can relate. After years of photographing chamber events, she accepted a seat on the SCV Chamber board. “I realized my marketing brain could help shape programs that spotlight small businesses,” she explained.

• Volunteer first, lead later. Spend a season packing boxes before you oversee the warehouse; credibility grows from shared experience.
• Choose missions aligned with your strengths. Finance brain? Try the budget committee. Marketing maven? Offer to refresh their social strategy.
• Mentor as you rise. Bring a friend to meetings and explain the ropes. A rising tide raises all ships, and that tide can carry in the next generation of passionate volunteers. 

When strategy lovers step up, nonprofits gain the steady hands they need to dream bigger. 

5. Pass the Torch Proudly

“The goal is to replace yourself with new, fresh perspective,” Di said of stepping down as council chair. Lindsay agreed, celebrating a new wave of leaders: “Watching fresh talent take the reins means the mission lives on.” In Santa Clarita, leadership is more relay race than finish‑line photo—your greatest legacy is the next runner you set up for success.

• Start grooming future leaders on day one. Spot the volunteer who stays late to stack chairs or the committee member who always has follow‑up questions. Give them small ownership roles—introducing speakers, drafting agendas—so confidence grows alongside competence.
• Create a living playbook. Document workflows, key contacts, event timelines and login credentials. Store it in a shared drive so no one has to reinvent the wheel. 
• Shift from captain to coach. After transition, stay available for check‑ins—but let the new leader call the plays. Cheering from the sidelines models healthy succession and keeps institutional wisdom close at hand.

Lindsay and Brian attend the 2025 Soup for the Soul charity gala benefitting Bridge to Home.

When Purpose Comes Full Circle

When your day is already packed with deadlines and to-dos, it’s easy to wonder whether one more act of service will really make a difference. But that single gesture—those three bags of trash, that quick phone call, that board seat you finally said yes to—does more than tidy a trail or fill an empty chair. Every time you invest a few minutes of your talent in Santa Clarita volunteering, you send out a ripple that comes right back: tighter community loyalty, deeper personal fulfillment, and a city that feels a little more like family. That’s the quiet miracle of a community rooted on purpose. 

Your business thrives because neighbors recognize your heart before they ever see your logo, and our hometown flourishes because local leaders like you keep showing up. It’s a loop of generosity that never stops paying dividends. So follow the spark that lights you up, start where your calendar says you can, and trust that even the smallest seed of service will grow into something none of us could have built alone. Together, we’re not just doing good work—we’re building the kind of place we’re proud to call home, one intentional act at a time.

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a luxury visual marketing company based in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy–rather than a product, service or person–SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting fractional CMO, business and strategy planning, professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt.

SchlickArt’s Commitment to the Community

Kirsten Quinn

A lover of strong coffee and yellowed pages, Kirsten Quinn-Smith is a professional content writer and owner of WordSmith Content Marketing here in Santa Clarita. She believes great content can forge a loyal, authentic and beneficial relationship between you and your audience – and grow your business. With each piece of writing, Kirsten's goal is to position you in the content spotlight through audience-centered, strategy-based writing that actually sounds like you. Why? Everyone has a story, and every story deserves to be heard.

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