There are a myriad of ways volunteers can impact the lives of children and families. Several are listed below but please feel free to contact us with other ideas you may have.
Home Maintenance Projects:
Many of the families served by the Family Care Network have many home maintenance needs that can be met by community groups and volunteers. Volunteer groups from local churches, organizations (such as Home Depot and Best Buy) and community service groups have been instrumental in helping these families. Past home maintenance projects include, but are not limited to: assembling a 7’ by 10’ storage shed, replacing sink faucets and door handles, painting a child’s room, minor landscaping and helping a family move. Typically, these projects occur on weekends in San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara counties and last anywhere from 3-6 hours (follow-up days may be necessary).
All potential home maintenance projects are proposed to the Volunteer Coordinator, who then assesses the project and matches the appropriate volunteer group.
Administrative Support:
The Family Care Network administrative staff can always use an extra hand around the office, at either our San Luis Obispo or Santa Maria location. Typical administrative tasks include help with mass mailings, pre-event tasks, reference checks, making phone calls, filing, database clean up, etc. Administrative volunteers give 4-8 hours per month and work out a schedule based on their availability and staff needs.
Volunteer Wish List:
We are always looking for ways to expand and grow our Volunteer Program. Two new ways we would like to see volunteers get involved include heading up an eScrip Marketing Program and an eBay/Mission Fish Fundraising Program.
The eScrip Marketing Program entails working with local supermarkets and department stores that participate in the eScrip program and getting community members to sign up their store-specific cards with the Family Care Network. It’s as easy as that! For more information about eScrip Marketing, please visit www.eScrip.com.
The eBay/Mission Fish Fundraising Program involves setting up online auctions and letting the community know they can donate a percentage of their sold eBay items to the Family Care Network. For more information, please visit www.missionfish.com.
Both of these programs involve volunteers spearheading the efforts, with the guidance of one of our staff members. The volunteer’s hours would be flexible and many of the responsibilities could be completed in the comfort of a volunteer’s home. We are looking for assertive, friendly, reliable, organized and task-oriented volunteers to help organize one or both of these efforts.
Contact
If you are interested in learning more about these and other volunteer opportunities, please contact our Julie Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator, at (805) 781-3535 or Jwilson@fcni.org.