Honors Student Experience

Lakeview Village is a Retirement Community home to 700 residents, 600 employees and a 100 acre campus. They are dedicated to strengthening the lives of older adults using the core values of integrity, optimism, community, respect, and growth.

The lives of the residents are enriched every day by the help of volunteers. They accept individuals or groups as volunteers and they are open to ideas for volunteer projects as well!

Here are some ways you can help:

• Reading to a resident
• Reading to children in our Child Development Center
• Singing and Entertaining
• Escorting residents to Lakeview Village events
• Assisting with special activities of projects
• Offering “Candy Striper” cart to residents.

Lakeview Village hopes that volunteering with them is fun and fulfilling and the residents greatly appreciate the help as well.

For more information visit their website and here is a link to their volunteer application.

Happy Volunteering!

These cold months are especially tough on the individuals of our community that are without basic needs like shelter and food. If you’re interested in helping out the homeless, then Uplift is a great place to start. Their mission is to acknowledge God’s providence and fidelity to his people, especially those in poverty, by dedicating their efforts toward the support of those who are homeless.

“Our goal is to deliver those basic human needs, care and compassion that are not usually received from other organizations.”

Here are some ways you can help:

Outreach:

Help deliver meals to the homeless. Uplift trucks “roll out” at 6pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. 5pm on Saturdays. The average route takes 4-5 hours. Please call in advance to schedule your participation. Contac Pat Thomson at 913-207-9391 or patthomson43@gmail.com

Prepare Meals:

Cooks are needed to prepare hot meals for the homeless. Each cook needs to cook enough for 60 people. If you would like to help, call or email Margaret Longstreet at (816) 739-4050 or margaretlongstreet@me.com for more information or go to our website at www.uplift.org.

Warehouse Sort Day:

9:00 – 12:00 p.m. The second Saturday of every month we sort donations, stock our shelves, fold clothes and have a good old time doing it! As we enter into our busiest time of the year, we are adding extra sort days. In November, December and January we will be sorting on the second and third Saturdays of these months. See Important Upcoming Dates. If you are planning on bringing a large group, please contact us first. Phone: (816) 241-0060 or Email: upliftorg@att.net.

Happy Volunteering!

Ronald McDonald House Charities helps sick children all over Kansas City by alleviating the worry and expense of finding a close, comfortable, affordable place for a family to stay while their child receives the medical care they need. Providing places of respite where families can rally around and support one another can make a world of difference to a child who is bravely battling an illness.

Would you like to help?

They’re currently looking for individuals who are excited and passionate about helping families for house warmer and front desk volunteer positions on weekdays and weekends. House warmers help us keep our Houses in tip-top condition and front desk volunteers welcome our families and visitors with a friendly smile. To apply, click here or email volunteering@rmhckc.org.

They also need Holiday Helpers for the weekdays and weekends! This person will assist RMHC-KC with accepting, sorting and putting away donations during the Holiday season, as well as assist with sorting through holiday decorations as needed. This is a great opportunity for parents to bring their child in to help volunteer or for those who want a flexible volunteer opportunity.

SAFEHOME is an organization that provides support for survivors of Domestic Violence. Their mission is “to break the cycle of domestic violence and partner abuse for victims and their children by providing shelter, advocacy, counseling, and prevention education in our community.” If you, too, envision a community free of domestic violence and partner abuse, then here are some ways to help:

Donations:

SAFEHOME is in urgent need of paper towels, body wash, deodorant, mouthwash, hand sanitizer, and new winter gloves.

Call 913-432-9300 to donate!

Christmas Bureau:

The Johnson County Christmas Bureau partners with SAFEHOME for the holidays. The shop provides SAFEHOME’S clients with an outlet to shop for toys, winter necessities & more. The 2017 Christmas Bureau shop will open December 1, and close December 9. The Johnson County Christmas Bureau would like to collect donations in barrels around our community. If you would like to host a barrel in your business, please contact Steve Russell at 913-522-3864 or email him at stever2745@gmail.com. Steve is also available to pick up donations if your barrel is full.

VOLUNTEER:

Volunteers must complete the following steps:

• Be at least 16 years of age and have own transportation
• Commit to a consistent volunteer shift and a minimum of 50 hours over a six month period or longer
• Fulfill volunteer orientation, in addition to training specific to assigned area
• Agree to background check and pay $15 to help cover the cost. Childcare volunteers require a “child abuse and neglect search” which takes up to 30 days and costs the volunteer an additional $10. Checks should be made payable to SAFEHOME and mailed with volunteer paperwork.

For more information visit their website.

Kansas City has an unfortunate history of discrimination and disinvestment that has made Troost avenue a racial and economic dividing line. To this day, poverty and trauma cause thousands of people to struggle to survive and succeed.

Reconciliation Services‘ mission is “to cultivate a community seeking reconciliation to transform Troost from a dividing line into a gathering place, revealing the strength of all.”

If you’re interested in this mission and want to help, here are some ways to do so:

Friday Night Meal – Every Friday, Reconciliation Services serves a fresh, hot meal to the community from 5-7pm. The volunteer shift is from 4:15-7:15pm. For more information and to sign up visit their webpage.

Café Volunteers – They are seeking volunteers to work 4 hour shifts in their café on a recurring or one time basis. Responsibilities include making coffee, greeting guests, and light cleaning.  Applications can be found here and submitted to volunteers@rs3101.org.

Happy volunteering!

Becoming a hospice volunteer can enrich students with various degrees from social work, nursing, counseling, to even business or art. VITAS Healthcare serves people in the Kansas City community who suffer from serious illnesses though providing comfort and preserving dignity. Check out all the opportunities they have for volunteering!

Administrative

Ø  Provide support in the office by helping with filing, preparing mailings, computer input, answering the phones and assisting with special projects.

Direct Patient Care

Ø  Trained volunteers visit or telephone patients and families at home, nursing homes, assisted living facilities or inpatient units.

Student Interns

Ø  Student from colleges, universities, technical schools, etc. can meet their educational requirements for on-the-job experience while providing care to patients and families. Examples include:  students in social work, counseling, chaplaincy, nursing, nursing assistants, physician assistants, business schools, massage therapy, community job programs, etc.

11th Hour (Vigil)

Ø  Trained patient care volunteers sit at the patient’s bedside during their final hours to provide comfort and support to patients and families at home, nursing homes, assisted living facilities or inpatient units.

Bereavement

Ø  Trained bereavement volunteers assist survivors through visits, phone calls, co-leading support groups, creating memorial services and sending bereavement mailings.

Paw Pals Program

Ø  Screened and trained pets and their volunteer handlers visit patients and provide socialization, comfort, life review, etc.

Spiritual Care

Ø  Volunteers support patients and their families with spiritual issues that arise at the end of life, such as meaning, faith, life review, issues related to loss, loneliness, etc.

TAP (Telephone Assurance Program)

Ø  Volunteers make supportive phone calls to bereaved persons or make check-in calls to active patients and their families.

Veteran Program

Ø  Volunteers trained in the special end-of-life needs of veterans assist with replacing lost medals, linking veterans to VA benefits, performing life review, visiting on Veteran’s Day, educating veteran’s organizations about hospice care, etc.

Memory Bear Makers

Ø  Volunteers sew memory bears from VITAS patient’s clothes to provide comfort and support to the family.

Life Story Volunteers

Ø  These volunteers provide comfort and support to the patients and families by reminiscing and/or recording the patient’s life stories.  The volunteer might present the family with a legacy CD as well.

Alternative/Complimentary Care

Ø  Trained patient-care volunteers visit patients and families to provide art therapy, aroma therapy and Reiki.

Massage

Ø  Volunteers with a current massage therapy license provide friendly touch and massage to comfort and support patients and families.

Music

Ø  Trained patient-care volunteers provide support to the patient and family by singing or playing a musical instrument.

Art Volunteers

Ø  use their skills to help patients and families explore their creative side and express their feelings through the visual arts

Photography

Ø  These volunteers will provide comfort and support to the patients and families by taking professional pictures of the patient and family.  The photography volunteer will generally provide a picture CD to the family.

Hair Care

Ø  Volunteers with a current cosmetology license provide haircuts, shampoos and styling to VITAS patients and families.

Personal Pampering

Ø  Trained volunteers provide hair washing, apply lotion, nail polish and provide other esteem-raising beauty routines.

Speaker’s Bureau

Ø  Volunteers speak in the community on topics related to end-of-life care and also recruit volunteers.

 

For more information, you can visit their website and if you’re interested you can sign up here!

Are you interested in helping someone in need for the holidays? Phoenix Family helps you make local families’ and seniors’ holiday wishes come true every year. Here’s how you can help:

1. To adopt a family or senior for the holidays, complete their online sponsor form.
2. After receiving your sponsor form, they will contact you with a personalized profile of a family or senior that has been nominated for adoption. The profile provides you with a short biography of the family or senior you’re adopting as well as general information (names, ages and gender of the children) and a wishlist.
3. After you receive your wish list, go shopping!* You can buy anything or everything on the list – it’s up to you.
4. Finally, deliver your gifts to Phoenix Family’s offices (3908 Washington, Kansas City, MO) by December 18, 2017. And they’ll make sure your family or senior has them by December 22.

*Shopping not your thing? No worries, their “ghost shoppers” will do it for you. Just email Phoenix Family for more information.

Unable to able to adopt a family, but still want to help? Visit them online to learn about other ways you can help this holiday season.