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!
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.
