HANDSON | Volunteering

HandsOn Volunteer Network of the Valley, engagesg 21st century volunteers to improve civic health and social conditions by reaching out to volunteers to raise awareness and inspire them to make a difference. It provides people with access to projects and other opportunities to learn new skills and engage in work to improve their communities and mobilizes people to use their time, talent, money and voice to create community change. The office is at 5500 Market St., Suite 110, Boardman. HandsOn is a monthly column that serves to communicate the impact that volunteering can have on our community. To express interest in one of the opportunities below, contact HOVN at 330-782-5877, fax to 330-782-5001 or visit its website at www.HOVN.org.

OPPORTUNITIES

RSVP Lead with experience volunteers: HandsOn Volunteer Network is helping to build on a national campaign that encourages organizations and communities to unleash the power of age during Older Americans Month in May. HandsOn will participate by inviting those 55 and older to become RSVP Lead with Experience volunteers to prove that older Americans have a lot to offer. RSVP Volunteers will help tutor children, build stronger nonprofit boards, assist local nonprofits with program development, help hungry families find resources and many other tasks. To become an RSVP volunteer, contact Marlene Braunlich in the HOVN office.

Ohio Benefit Bank Mobile Volunteers: This summer, volunteers are needed to help to connect low- and moderate- income Ohioans with work supports and tax credits. The program is urged for students 18 and older who are interested in careers in social-service fields. Counselors assist individuals by meeting them in their own communities to walk them through electronic applications for programs. Volunteers need only basic computer skills. Openings exist throughout Mahoning County. For information, email mbraunlich@hovn.org, or call 330-782-5877. Ohio Benefit Bank training will take place in Trumbull County from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 6 at the Girard Multi-Generational Center.

Scrappers School Day Games: Twenty volunteers are needed to assist the Mahoning Valley Scrappers crew with their annual School Day Games, an event at which Eastwood Field hosts the YSU Penguins baseball team for area students on Tuesday. Volunteers will help in the concession stands, direct students from the bus to their designated seats and then back to their bus after the game, and help pass out lunches. Call Kristen at 330-782-5877 or email kgallagher@HOVN.org.

Frisky Ferrets, Fuzzies & Feathered Friends Rescue & Sanctuary: The Frisky Ferrets, Fuzzies & Feathered Friends Rescue & Sanctuary (F5RS) is dedicated to the practice and promotion of the idea that life is guaranteed to all healthy, sick, injured or behaviorally unsound animals where medical and/or behavioral intervention can provide quality of life. The group provides care and treatment for all animals as needed. Volunteers are needed in many capacities: assisting in the organization’s rescue store; managing online presence; working fundraising events; writing newsletters; baking or creating crafts for fundraising events; picking up pet supplies and donations to bring to rescue; and photographing animals up for adoption.

Veterans Administration van driver: Volunteers are needed to transport veterans from Youngstown to Cleveland once a week using the agency van. Screening and proof of valid driver’s license required, along with clean driving record.

Veterans Support Associate: Volunteers will provide reminders of medical appointments or optometry assistance and make referrals as necessary.

Delivery Driver for the Ursuline Sisters HIV/AIDS Ministry: Help the Ursuline Sisters by picking up and delivering food from Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley to the Ursuline Motherhouse.

Area Relay for Life volunteers: The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life events are underway, and help is always needed to ensure a successful event for the team participants and, most importantly, cancer survivors. At each event, volunteers are needed to assist with survivor registration as well as walk with the survivors during the opening lap to ensure their safety, providing wheelchairs if needed. HandsOn also can help families, friends, co-workers or club members who have been touched by cancer get started in creating a Relay team and choosing which local Relay for Life event to participate in.

Special Olympics Ohio Volunteers: Volunteers are needed for the Special Olympics Mahoning County 44th Annual Invitational Track and Field Meet, and will offer assistance by escorting athletes to their events and to the awards stand, marking and recording distances and times, and cheering on and encouraging the participants. The event is Austintown Fitch High School Stadium on June 8. Volunteers will need to be at the stadium by 8:45 a.m. and attend the volunteers’ meeting at 9 a.m. Lunch will be provided to all volunteers, and a concession stand also will be available all day. The meet usually is completed about 3 p.m., however, you have the option to leave when the event you’re assigned to is completed.

Grow Youngstown Volunteers: Grow Youngstown is seeking two volunteer pickup managers in their locations at Fellows Riverside Gardens or the East Side Library. Volunteers are needed June through November, required for 18 or 25 weeks, and they will be asked to work 3:15 to 6 p.m. Tuesday each week. As a stipend, volunteers will be given a family share of produce. Volunteers must own a midsized to large vehicle and be prepared to transport crops in personal vehicle and transport them to a pick up location. Among other tasks, volunteers must accept cash and Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT)/Ohio Direction Card Vouchers; track who picks up their produce and their payments by category with a provided tracking sheet; call in EBT voucher-confirmation numbers to the GY program coordinator the same evening; and take or mail received money and vouchers to Grow Youngstown office by noon the day after the pickup. Grow Youngstown cannot provide gas mileage, vehicles or money in return for your time. Contact Elsa Higby at 330-286-0688 or email csa@grow-youngstown.org

Junior Achievement Volunteers: Volunteers are needed to teach Junior Achievement lessons for kindergarten through fifth grades at Paul C. Bunn Elementary in Youngstown from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

Compass Family and Community Services Assistant: Compass Family and Community Services is seeking a computer and information technology assistant who will help install software on computer workstations, minor computer hardware installation, and troubleshooting network problems.

Animal Charity of Ohio Receptionist and Humane Department Volunteers: Animal Charity of Ohio needs a volunteer receptionist to answer phones, greet clients, and other tasks as needed for the veterinary office. A humane department volunteer also is needed to assist the department with record keeping and answering phones.

Iron Soup Historical Preservation Co. Volunteer Saturdays: The Iron Soup Historical Preservation Co. will host volunteer Saturdays now through Aug. 31. Volunteers are needed for projects that will maintain the historical significance of local sites.

The Concern of Sebring Food Pantry Associate: A food- pantry associate is needed to stock shelves and pack food for food distributions, pickup and unload deliveries, and help with fundraising, food drives and assisting with Ohio Benefits Bank access.