Opportunities From: Volunteer Iowa

Veterans can form a special bond with patients that have also served. We offer opportunities for companionship and to take part in honoring ceremonies. Veterans can provide assistance to patients with navigating paperwork associated with VA benefits 

Assist with food distribution at The Fellowship Cup Food Pantry on Thursday's, organizing donations as needed, and/or helping to deliver food to homebound individuals. 

If disaster strikes in Muscatine County and individuals and families find themselves in need of a safe place to stay, you will provide them shelter, food and most importantly, comfort through the crisis until they can get back home or start rebuilding.  The Red Cross offers extensive free training and support to make sure you are ready to help in a time of need.  If the disaster is larger, we will send more helpers to work alongside with you! People who are fully qualified to volunteer in local shelters can also choose to deploy to larger national disasters if they're interested.  All travel expenses are covered by the American Red Cross.  

The Red Cross currently requires all volunteers who will be performing in-person work to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination.  Shelters are always operated in person. 

The location?  The nearest local partner in Muscatine who has generously offered their church, school, or other facility as an emergency shelter.  It may even be where you worship or where your kids go to school.  

To learn more or get started on your application and training, please contact Connie at 309-207-5266 or email connie.dudgeon@redcross.org.  

The Salvation Army needs your help with our Food Pantry & Doing the Most Good Market from 10:00am-12:30pm Tuesday - Thursday each week. You can choose one or multiple days.

Your role is to help us prepare for the upcoming day, including accepting gleaned donations from stores, sorting through both the older and new foods to assure it is edible, putting food away, prepackaging boxes of foods we donate to other pantries/partners and so on. When/if there is a lull, you can help in other areas like stocking shelves, cleaning up the spaces, etc.

If you are interested, please call The Salvation Army of Story County at 515-233-3567 or email Lori.Stern@usc.salvationarmy.org

AlRazi Academy is in need for help in starting meals at our program following the child and adult food program standards and regulation . 75% of the families we serve are low income, refugees and immigrants. AlRazi Academy is in the process of starting food program to help serve Children and families who are in need. 

Many families and individuals in our community struggle daily to secure enough food to eat. The Coralville Community Food Pantry (CCFP) works to address this issue by offering weekly food assistance to anyone in Coralville who needs it.

Volunteers are needed to help prepare the pantry for our open hours to the public.  CCFP is a client-choice based pantry, which means it operates much like your local grocery store. Duties may include: unloading food deliveries, stocking shelves, sweeping/cleaning, breaking down cardboard boxes, etc. Opportunities exist Tuesday through Saturday, with some flexibility in time of shift.

Hope Ministries Thrift Store is great for small group’s 5-10 people.

Revenue from Hope Ministries Thrift supports Hope Ministries’ programs and services for men, women and children who are homeless, hungry, abused or addicted. Therefore, whether you are shopping at our stores, donating items that can be sold, or volunteering your time, you are helping support our food, shelter and recovery services!

We have two locations:

4640 Merle Hay Rd

500 E Army Post Rd

We invite you and your group of 5-10 people to volunteer for 3-4 hours at a time on our Corporate Friday’s of the month (every Friday is a Corporate Friday ;)

Possible duties include:

- Receiving and receipting donated items

-Sorting donated items into categories

-Tagging items into categories such as clothing, housewares, accessories, jewelry, etc.

-Testing electric items

-Preparing items for sale and putting items out on the sales floor purging unsold items from the sales floor

We would love to have you, thank you for your consideration.

If you’d like to schedule a Corporate Friday Volunteer shift please contact me, Leslie Green lgreen@hopeiowa.org or 515-265-7272

The Ottumwa Distribution Center is offering 2 shifts a month for food sorting at the Distribution Center. The shift would be 2-3 hours long. Volunteers must be 10 years or older. The volunteers will be sorting large quantities of food and also repackaging food into smaller quantities to be sent to food pantries to give to clients. 

Food Bank of Iowa is currently seeking volunteers to work the Oskaloosa Mobile Pantry. It's once a month, the second Monday of each month. Volunteers are needed from 3pm to 5:30pm to help organize food, sort food, pass out food, client intake and help clients to their vehicles. Volunteers must be 18 or older and have the ability to lift 25 pounds or more. 

We would love to inspire anyone to come down to Des Moines or a box pack if they are willing and able!

Please visit our website for up to date information regarding our efforts related to COVID-19. Donate today to help ensure we reach the kids out of school or workers with altered schedules. Volunteers are also in high need so please consider signing up for a shift.

We are in need of a few volunteers a week, once a week for about an hour, assist with free food service in the QC area.  It will be sorting food for all the people at risk, organizing the food in the pantry, and getting food to those who called for our services.

* In Order to Volunteer please sign up on the Food Bank of Iowa's Website*

Description:

Volunteers will pack food supplies for families in boxes or bags to be distributed at mobile pantry sites to accommodate the need for drive-thru and pick up models. This is an emergency response for the effects of COVID19.

Key Responsibilities:

Qualifications:

Support/Training: Instructions will be provided on-site at the beginning of the shift.

Age Requirement: Minimum age of 10

Dress Code: Closed-toed shoes are required; no exceptions. Dress comfortably. Gloves will be provided.

Location(s): Food Bank of Iowa has two volunteer centers

For more information contact Michaela Devaney at MDevaney@foodbankiowa.org or click Respond.

* In Order to Volunteer please sign up on the Food Bank of Iowa's Website*

Food/care packages for youth:

Due to Covid-19, we are unable to hold weekly groups where youth were provided at least one meal and at times food to take home. More concerning is the fact youth aren’t attending school where they were getting the majority of their nutrition. Many of the youth we serve are at risk of not having their daily food needs met and this is an especially challenging time for them. Our goal is to drop off bi-weekly food baskets/care packages for the most needy youth in our programs. 

Specific needs: The Program is seeking food donations that would consist of items that could be refrigerated, frozen, or that have preservatives. Ensuring that youth have food for several days. Overall, anything will help and is appreciated.

Note: In order to follow government safety protocols for Covid-19, we will work with each donor on a drop off site that they will be able to safely drop the donation without having any contact with anyone. Once they leave; we will have a team member get the food and distribute it accordingly. 

If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Director of the ManUp Iowa Mentoring Program, Zach Smith @ zachsmith@manupiowa.com or by cell @ 515-988-9358 (text or call) 

We work with Milestones Area Agency on Aging to deliver meals to homebound seniors, Monday through Friday. Most volunteers commit to volunteering one day a week, time commitment is about 1 hour each time. 

Food Sorting: Food Bank of Iowa receives donations of food items that need labeled, counted and boxed. We need volunteers to make this possible and opportunities are scheduled in advance before we know what the food items may be when they arrive. Help us accept more food and feed the 175,000 Iowans we serve!

Examples: Packing BackPack sacks, checking dates and food safety of food drive items, bagging bulk produce, putting bulk rice or pasta into family sized bags, boxing up like items into equally weighted boxes, and more!

GREAT FOR INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES & GROUPS (up to 20)!

Key Responsibilities:

Support/Training:  Volunteers will be given instructions upon arrival, and will have staff support throughout their shift.

Qualifications:

Age Requirement:  For safety reasons, all volunteers in the warehouse must be 10 or older.

Dress Code:  Closed-toe shoes are required in the warehouse.  Also, please dress comfortably and in layers.  The temperature in the warehouse can vary.

Looking for a group or individual to bring a baked good item in for our monthly men and women social hour. socials are every other Friday each month at 2:30 PM. Volunteers can bring them at any time before 2:30. Cookies, a cake or cupcakes are preferred for the socials. 

Work for the parents partaking in the nutrition programs by caring for their dependents in supervision, some cooking for children, and light clean up after messes.

YouthHope needs compassionate, responsible and dedicated volunteers to students at our Rock Island Youth Center. Our kids need you! We are looking for adults to lead small groups, teach Bible study, display respect, and be positive role models. You will be working with at-risk and low-income children. Requirements include a background check, commitment to serve at a program each week, and agreement with YouthHope's Statement of Faith.

YouthHope needs compassionate, responsible and dedicated volunteers to students at our Rock Island Youth Center. Our teens need you! We are looking for adults to lead small groups, teach Bible study, display respect, and be positive role models. You will be working with at-risk and low-income teens. Requirements include a background check, commitment to serve at a program each week, and agreement with YouthHope's Statement of Faith.

Volunteers will take the Food Bank of Iowa's van and deliver BackPack™ sacks to Des Moines area schools. Shifts will take place every other Wednesday and Friday morning throughout the school year. You can pick whichever day works for you! Valid driver's license required.

Key Responsibilities:

Qualifications:

Support/Training: Instructions will be provided on-site at the beginning of the shift. A map with the route along with a GPS will be provided.

Age Requirement: Minimum age of 18

Dress Code: Close-toed shoes are required; no exceptions. Dress comfortably.

5-2-1-0 is the foundation of change of an evidence-based childhood obesity prevention program addressing many aspects of wellness. Its message is used to aid children, ages birth to 18, make healthy lifestyle choices.  5-2-1-0 helps to create a sustainable healthy environment for staff, children and families.

Throughout the year we have several opportunities available to help with providing health and wellness information and education to the community.  Full training will be provided.

Some examples of activities you may be involved in, include;

Please note, all volunteers will be required to complete a background check, TB test and drug testing.

Adults to offer supervision of teens as they hand out in the center.  Provide homework help, mentoring opportunities plus play board games, pool, air hockey or whatever.  Also, assist in working in the coffee shop, assist with meal preparation and so on.

   Provide baked goods or treats on arranged dates for special events or fundraisers.  You choose how often you help, what you make and the quantities that you wish to donate.  Most times arrangements can be made to pick up baked goods if you have no transportation.