Tuesday, October 1, 2013

National Family Volunteer Day


Pictures from National Family Volunteer Day 2013!

National Family Volunteer Day, a Points of Light signature day of service, demonstrates and celebrates the power of families who volunteer together, supporting their neighborhoods, communities and the world.

For 22 years, Family Volunteer Day has been held on the Saturday before Thanksgiving to “kick-off” the holiday season with giving and service. This year Family Volunteer Day takes place on November 23rd.

Family volunteering encourages the members of a family to volunteer as a unit. It can be done by the whole family together, by one parent and one child or teen, or with extended family such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It can be as simple as creating cards for children in the hospital or as complex as bonding hundreds of families together in a day of service at a community park. However families choose to do it, families engaged in service can help mobilize thousands of new volunteers and instill in the next generation a lifelong commitment to volunteering.

Get Involved!
The County-wide Food Drive wraps on November 23rd in honor of National Family Volunteer Day! Like with any good service project, the work starts long before that!

Beginning on October 26th for "Make a Difference Day" families, groups, and businesses will begin to hold Mini-Drives throughout Ionia County.  Several schools usually get involved with this event often offering prizes to the classroom or grade that collects the most donations.  Youth can get involved by holding a "Mini-Bag" drive among their friends and family with a simple template that can be download from our Food Drive website.  Donations are collected through November 22nd.  You can learn more about conducting a mini-drive by attending the Mini-Drive Workshop on October 21st at the Ionia ISD from 4-7pm or visiting our Food Drive Website

That is when the real work begins!  Volunteers (yes it could be YOU!) gather to count, sort, and organize all the donations as they come in to the Ionia ISD from 9am to 6pm on Nov. 22nd.  More volunteers will take donated funds to go shopping for the most needed items.  Volunteers will work till 8pm making final arrangements for the big distribution day on National Family Volunteer day!

For the final event...volunteers of all ages will staff the Distribution Day Site to help up to 10 local food pantries collect and box up their share of the donations.  Volunteers will arrive at  8am where they will be treated to breakfast goodies, given instructions, and assigned a job.  Food Pantries will arrive at 9am to get registered and begin the distribution process!  If all goes well, Volunteers will be finished and cleaned up by noon leaving you the rest of the day to spend with your FAMILY!


Register for these opportunities on Get Connected!  http://volunteer.liveunitedm-i.org/ 
or call 616-755-8050 to talk to a Food Drive Committee Member!

Food Drive Committee

Volunteers Needed to join the 2013 Food Drive Committee! Meetings will be scheduled in the evening to be flexible for volunteers. Most work will be done via email. Please direct any questions you may have to Penny Beeman at 616-755-8050 or mailto:iccfoodnetwork@gmail.com

Food Pantry Workshop

Non-profits interested in applying must attend a Registration Workshop on September 30th.  Volunteers will be available to help you from 4-7pm at the MSU Extension Office.  You may send any representative from your organization!

Volunteers needed to set up stations at this workshop including Sign In, Interviews, Training, Online Registration Station, and Supply Pick Up.

Mini-Drive Workshop

There will be a Mini-Drive Kick-Off on October 21st at the Ionia Co Intermediate School District Admin Building from 4-7pm.  Mini-Drive hosts are encouraged to stop in to pick up supplies, pick up marketing materials, and chat with the Food Drive Committee.

Volunteers needed to set up stations at this workshop including Sign In, Mini-Drive Planning Station, Training, Online Registration Station, and Supply Pick Up.

Food Drive Unloaders

Volunteers needed to load and unload large deliveries from local community mini-drive locations. Mini-Drive locations such as the Ionia Middle School and Belding Middle School need volunteers to pick up food drive donations and deliver them to the ISD.

Extra volunteers are needed at the ISD to unload large deliveries. More information and exact times will be posted as mini-drives needing assistance are determined.

This is a great opportunity for Boy Scouts, school groups, or sports teams to get involved together. Your group can give 30 minutes worth of effort that will benefit Food Pantries across Ionia County and help to feed Ionia County Families in need!

Donations Manager

Donations Managers are needed to help organize and supervise the collection of Food Donations. All non-perishable foods will be delivered to the ISD on November 22nd from 8am to 8pm. Donations Managers can sign up for 1-4 hour shifts within that time frame.

Volunteers will be responsible for counting all donations as they come. Donations Managers will also be responsible for tracking volunteer hours as donations are unloaded and sorted. For more information contact the Community Food Network.

CANNED Art Coordinator NEEDED!


The CANNED Art Coordinator will be responsible for signing in all registrations, organizing the display area for photos, and supervising the voting area on November 23rd from 8am to 11am.  Beginning at 11am, the Coordinator will close voting and supervise the counting of tickets for each entry to determine the winner.

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