Winter weather can make getting to the store for fresh fruits and vegetables a challenge for low-income seniors.
You can help bring fresh food to seniors right where they live. The best part of the day? When you get to see the faces of the seniors that you are were able help!
Volunteers help unbox fresh food and set up small markets right in seniors’ communities. Seniors choose produce to take home free of change and don’t have far to carry heavy grocery bags.
If you are looking for a volunteer experience where you get put to work and can get your hands dirty, then a Cherith Brook Workday might be the place for you! This month their work day is on February 9 from 9am-12pm. They will put you to work cooking lunch, sorting food and clothing donations, cleaning, and working outside (weather permitting). Afterwards, you can enjoy lunch and table fellowship with Cherith Brook and the other volunteers.
If you’re interested, please RSVP by February 4th by calling 816-241-8047 or emailing cherithbrookkcmo@gmail.com.
I’m back! Hope everyone is staying warm out there! Because this is my first post of the semester, I want to take a second to restate the mission and purpose of this blog. Then, I have some opportunities to share as well.
As the Community-Based Learning Coordinator of JCCC, part of my mission in this role is reciprocity. I spend a lot of time making sure that students at JCCC get to volunteer, have a good experience while they volunteer, and I do everything I can to ensure they are learning from their volunteering. It is important to me that JCCC students are benefiting from service and from service learning. That being said, it also important to me that JCCC is helping to meet community needs. It’s not just about the students’ needs, I’m also responsible for doing what I can to help the nonprofits I have partnerships with as well. Not all nonprofits have opportunities that correlate well with service learning. That does not make these needs any less important! That is the main purpose of this blog. Not only is it a great place for students, staff, and faculty to learn about nonprofits in the community and find out about volunteer opportunities, but also it is a place where nonprofits’ needs can be advertised.
Now, back to business! Recent volunteer opportunities that have come across my desk:
Reach Out and Read, an organization that advocates for childhood literacy, is having a big book sorting event on Saturday March 23rd from 9am-12pm. If you’re interested let Marianne know by March 18th.
Communities in Schools of Mid-America is an agency that surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. They needs tutors for Math, English, and Science on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:40-4pm and Thursdays from 7:30-8:30am. If you are interested, let Ramsha know!
Freedom Hoops uses basketball to mentor and transform urban youth. They need help with tutoring on Tuesdays from 6:00-7:45pm. Here is the link to their Volunteer Interest Form.
There are so many agencies doing amazing things for Kansas City. Keep checking back for more opportunities to help them carry out their missions!
All aboard the Holiday Express! This event is a holiday favorite that offers pictures with Santa Claus, the KC Rail Experience, and Kansas City Southern Holiday Express all for free! Along with being a fast paced fun event where you will see thousands of kids light up as they go through the unique holiday village displayed inside the Holiday Express, Kansas City Southern also takes the opportunity to give back. At each scheduled stop, The KCS Charitable Fund makes a contribution of gift cards to the local Salvation Army to provide warm clothing and other necessities for children in need.
How you can help:
On the train– Union Station and Kansas City Southern are looking for volunteers to work as elves on the Holiday Express, assisting guests and passing out goodie bags. **MUST BE 18 YEARS OLD**
In the Station– Help direct guests to Santa and down to the train.
We have various shiftsFriday December 14th – Tuesday December 18th.
Benefits of volunteering for the KCS Holiday Express Train:
**One Shift:
FREE Parking Volunteer Lounge access with hot beverages and snacks
VIP Line access for volunteer and family
(2) Tickets to the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium
**Two Shifts (in one day):
FREE Parking Volunteer Lounge access with hot beverages and snacks
VIP Line access for volunteer and family
(2) Tickets for the current Traveling Exhibition OR Science City
**Three Shifts (in one day):
FREE Parking Volunteer Lounge access with hot beverages and snacks
VIP Line access for volunteer and family
(4) Tickets for the current Traveling Exhibition OR Science City
I received this email today, how can you say no to those adorable kittens!?
“Hi,
I’m a graduate of JCCC (and Avila University), and I’ve got a great community based learning opportunity for animal lovers. Heart of America Humane Society needs your help! It’s a wonderful organization that works with the Lee’s Summit Animal Shelter and PetSmart to help homeless animals find their forever homes. Currently, HAHS is in great need of additional foster families for cats, and I would love it if you would put the word out and add our organization to your roster of worthy causes. Our family volunteers with and fosters for HAHS, and it is a wonderful group of people. Fostering provides the bridge between the shelter or the streets and an animal’s forever home. And, of course, it’s a great way for students to help the community, both human and feline (or canine, if they prefer).
Any JCCC students or staff who are interested can contact Erin Ronan, Jenna Schipull or me. We’d be happy to answer any questions. Students or their parents can email, call or text me, or visit us in person at adoption events at the PetSmart at 115th and Metcalf in Overland Park on Saturdays from Noon to 3 p.m. I can’t say enough positive things about the value of fostering and the great people I’ve met at HAHS.
If you’re looking for somewhere to volunteer over the holidays with your family, make sure to check out Phoenix Family. You can help low-income seniors by serving a meal, leading some party games, and all the while getting to know some amazing seniors.
This is a perfect chance to volunteer as a family, with a group of friends, or with a team of co-workers. Individual volunteers are always welcome as well! Dates fill up fast, so don’t miss the chance to participate in this beloved tradition.
Click here to sign up, email April at adenatale@phoenixfamily.org for questions.
SAFEHOME provides a healing atmosphere where survivors of domestic violence can gain inner strength, build self-esteem, explore options, and establish a life free of violence. Through SAFEHOME’s shelter and community services, approximately 8,000 individuals each year receive the support they need to lead healthy, independent lives.
The residents of SAFEHOME could use your help to make their holiday season extra bright. If you’d like to donate here is their Holiday Wish List.
Like to shop online? Double your impact on www.smiles.amazon.com. It is simple and an automatic way for you to support SAFEHOME every time you shop, at no cost to you. Simply go to www.smile.amazon.com and choose SAFEHOME.
Want to do some holiday shopping for SAFEHOME? Contact Susan Lebovits at slebovitz@safehome-ks.org.
On any given day in Greater Kansas City, nearly 1,346 homeless households are seeking housing. Meet Irma, and learn how Community LINC helped this mother and her children become self-sufficient.
Check out Community LINC’s volunteer opportunities here to see how you can help people like Irma.
Part of the joy of the holidays is the food. I know for me, I love it when my Grandma makes my favorite banana cookies and I could eat green bean casserole for every meal. So many memories are made around the dining room table. Traditions are carried out in and around the kitchen. For many though, the holiday meal is not a certainty. So while you’re preparing for your family’s thanksgiving this year, don’t forget about all the families that could use your help.
Harvesters is a great agency to give to during the holidays, as their mission is to feed hungry people today and work to end hunger tomorrow. They have three holiday programs that can help your neighbors have a better holiday season:
The first one is my favorite, Harvey’s Holiday Box Hunt gets the whole family involved in giving back. Click here to learn more about a game that gets children excited about helping families in need and gives parents an opportunity to talk to kids about hunger.
Donate to your Holiday Boxes Virtual Food Drive – Every donation to Harvester’s Virtual Food Drive helps them provide the food, transportation, and resources to get Holiday Boxes out efficiently in time for the holidays. Donate now at holidayboxes.harvestersvfd.org.
Host a Holiday Boxes Food Drive – Contact the Harvesters team at getinvolved@harvesters.org before starting your drive. We can provide you with resources like boxes, personalized “This box was packed by” cards, tips and tricks to make your drive run smoothly and more.
Each Holiday box should include the following items:
– 1 Package Stuffing Mix
– 1 16 oz Can Sweet Potatoes
– 1 16 oz Can Cranberry Sauce
– 1 16 oz Can Corn
– 2 16 oz Cans Green Beans
– 1 Package Gravy Mix
– 1 Package Corn Bread Mix
– 1 Package Instant Mashed Potatoes
– 1 16 oz Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
Start off this holiday season right by giving back!
By Hunter Smith, a JCCC Honors Student, the Vice President of Service of Phi Theta Kappa, and a member of the Civic Leadership Program
Approximately 80% of college students work while attending school, add in family responsibilities and the additional stress of increased independence, and there is little free time (Huffington Post). The easiest, and most truthful answer, to the question “how are you?” from one student to the other, is “tired”. We are pushing ourselves. So, when the service learning department suggests adding more, it’s understandable that many students balk and refocus on the next deadline. However, focusing only on deadlines and the never-ending cycle of classwork leads to a sparse college resume and an empty inner life. Isolation – whether physically holing up in the library or SRC or MRC, or emotionally – is detrimental to a student’s well-being. Roughly one third of college students struggle with depression or anxiety (APA). Volunteering has been shown to improve both mental and physical health, by decreasing feelings of loneliness and lowering blood pressure (Harvard).
While some volunteer opportunities can be easy access for the student, group work at an animal shelter, or marching with a political candidate, these have not had the most impact on me, personally. The opportunities with the longest process, the most education, the greatest commitment, have allowed me to grow the most. For example, SafeHome is Johnson County’s domestic violence support system, advocacy group, and shelter. Their volunteer education process requires a background check, an interview, and an 8-hour educational training session. I spent over 50 hours as a volunteer there last semester, working in their (now defunct) clothes closet. I had the opportunity to be a part of something unique, impactful, and truly necessary in our community. Next month, I will participate in a weekend long educational training to become a MOCSA advocate after completing their 40-hour online training. MOCSA is Kansas City’s only rape survivor support and advocacy group. Volunteer positions like these take more: more time, more energy, more emotional involvement. But they give so much back in the personal growth you can achieve. It is worth it to take each and every opportunity, because you will be able to help so many more people, both now and in the future. Training at organizations like MOCSA and SafeHome develop sensitivity in anyone, but especially those individuals planning on working in healthcare, social work or education. So instead of considering it as an add-in, or an extra, community service is just as much a part of a college student’s week as a job or classes. It can have equal impact on their future.
Works Cited
“College Students’ Mental Health Is a Growing Concern, Survey Finds.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, June 2013, www.apa.org/monitor/2013/06/college-students.aspx.
Kingkade, Tyler. “Poll: More Parents Pay
Cell Phone Bills Than Tuition.” The
Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017,
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/college-students-jobs_n_3720688.html.
Watson, Stephanie. “Volunteering May Be
Good for Body and Mind.” Harvard Health
Blog, 30 Oct. 2015,
www.health.harvard.edu/blog/volunteering-may-be-good-for-body-and-mind-201306266428.
