Hey Friends!

We're excited to share the first Volunteer Connection of 2025 with you, filled with ways that you can show your love to our community during the month of February and beyond.

During these ever-changing times, taking action through service on causes and issues that you care about can have a real and immediate impact. No matter how you choose to serve, volunteering can help create "islands of sanity" for your neighbors in need--as well as providing you, the volunteer, with numerous health and wellness benefits. In the face of uncertainty, volunteering is a concrete action that can provide meaning and insight, along with the first-hand reassurance that the efforts of even just one person can make a difference in the life of another.

We're happy to highlight a few possible volunteer options in this month's newsletter, but please know that there are hundreds of different service possibilities available across Forsyth, Guilford and other Triad counties on our GetConnected website. We hope that you'll take advantage of this resource and help spread the word to others who might find serving and engaging with our community especially beneficial at this moment in time. And if you'd like to help us spread the love even further, please let us know if we can come speak to your civic, faith or community group about ways they can get involved in 2025!

Yours in Service,

Amy

Amy Lytle

Executive Director

HandsOn NWNC

Become a Pharmacy Tech Assistant! 

Volunteers are needed in Crisis Control Ministry's Winston-Salem pharmacy to serve on a weekly basis at the front window. Volunteers in this role will greet patients coming to pick up their prescription medications, check out their medications from the pharmacy, and answer the pharmacy's main telephone line. You do not need to have a medical background. Our pharmacy staff will answer specific medication questions patients have. Excellent customer service skills are preferred. Ability to stand on your feet for 3 hours. Training will be provided. Must be able to pass a background check. 

Open volunteer shifts:

Wednesday from 1- 4 p.m.

Thursday from 9 a.m. - noon

Friday from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

To Apply:

Please reach out to Abbey McCall, Director of Community and Volunteer Relations at 336-770-1621 or volunteer@crisiscontrol.org to express your interest.

Catholic Charities is looking for Food Box Packers and Food Box Distribution volunteers.

Assist with the Food Pantry by packing food boxes for clients. 

• Picking / Packing various food items
• Locating items to prepare for packing
• Communicate with team members to ensure work is being done timely and efficiently
• Loading add unloading goods off table
• Inspect, weigh, sort, and package produce, bread and other food items.

Times needed are Monday & Thursdays 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM. Contact Robin Pardella @ 336-714-3213 or rrpardella@ccdoc.org

All volunteers must complete a background check and Safe Environment online prior to volunteering.

The Shalom Project is looking for Companion volunteers, individuals willing to walk alongside these brave women in their journey out of poverty, supporting them through encouragement, goal setting, and accountability. One of our returning Companions, Nancy, describes her experience volunteering this way: “I find my work with Flourish extremely fulfilling. There are many ways to "help" people who are struggling financially but this is the only organization I know of where we build relationships with the people we are wanting to help. I am certainly giving of myself each week but I am also receiving. I am inspired by these strong, determined women committed to their growth.”

The role of the Companion is to attend our weekly meetings and provide encouragement, help with goal setting, and accountability for the women in our program (Achievers). You will be placed in a small group with two of the women and at least one other Companion to debrief our weekly presentations, discuss goals, and generally build relationships with them. We ask that you also make some contact--preferably in person--with your Achiever once a month outside of our weekly meeting.

The meetings are on Monday evenings beginning with a free meal from 5:30-6:30 and then our meeting from 6:30-8 with free childcare.

Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!

Tiny House Community Development in Greensboro has a recycling warehouse that recycles styrofoam to save the environment from products that do not break down in landfills. This center accepts both clean food service containers – cups, egg cartons, and take-out boxes – as well as packaging materials used for coolers and shipping fragile products.

Volunteers can assist on Mondays and Fridays with this process:

1. Verify that the material is clean and free from tape and labels.

2. Feed the material into the densifier. The foam is ground up, heated, and extruded.

3. Shape the extruded material into manageable bricklike ingots.

The ingots are then stacked on shipping pallets for shipping to manufacturers who will start the material on its next journey of usefulness. 



Sign-Up to Volunteer Here!

New Arrivals Institute (NAI)

College Interns are needed for the Summer Literacy Art Music and Movement Program (SLAMM.) The New Arrivals Institute in Greensboro seeks college interns to plan, lead, and manage a summer literacy-based program under the direction of NAI staff. SLAMM offers refugee and immigrant youth opportunities to improve their literacy in a fun, inclusive environment. SLAMM takes place Monday through Friday and service hours are 9:00am to 1:00. Interns may serve 2-5 days per week. The program includes literacy activities, science, technology, soccer, art, crafts, financial literacy, dance, drama, music, Legos, and more

Interns serving 225+ hours will qualify for a $2,500 stipend!

To learn more, visit their website or email Lynn Thompson.

Moravian Ministries Foundation in America (MMFA)

MMFA, located in Winston-Salem, is looking for an individual who can offer their own set of skills, knowledge, gifts, and interests to support and enhance their work. MMFA helps individuals, churches, and agencies grow and sustain the ministries that are central to the Moravian faith. They do this through four primary services: investments, stewardship, gifts, and grants. 

The intern will learn and gain experience in a variety of programmatic, operational, and relationship-building tasks. This internship is an excellent opportunity for exposure and hands-on experience in nonprofit management, grant-making, marketing, and communications.

You can view the Summer Intern Job description here. If you have any questions or are ready to apply, please contact Laura Watson, Vice President/Director of Programs (lwatson@mmfa.com/336.725.2589).

As HandsOn leans into our EIGHTEENTH year of providing top-notch service to the community in 2025, we want to make sure that we bring our partners and volunteers along with us--because we can't do the work of mobilizing people and organizations that inspire community change without YOU!

We encourage you to make a gift in honor of your favorite volunteer (we'll send a letter to them!) or provide a year of Supporting Partnership to another nonprofit. We've grown our impact and area served this year, and your support will help keep that success on track.

There are so many ways in which a single gift to HandsOn, no matter how small, is leveraged multiple times over the course of a single year! Your end-of-year gift can help HandsOn keep harnessing the power of volunteer efforts and providing support to hundreds of other nonprofits and causes across our community! Got questions? Don't hesitate to reach out to Amy Lytle, Executive Director.

For all of our local volunteer opportunities across Forsyth, Surry, Stokes, Davie, Davidson, Yadkin, and now Guilford Counties, please visit GetConnected.

And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for timely opportunities and other information!

HandsOnNWNC.org

phone: 336.724.2866