Volunteer With Us
We're so glad you're here! Every hour given is a quiet act of care for the spaces, the supplies, and the small details that make our clubhouse feel like home. And every hour given gives our team more room to focus on the kids on their roster.
Here's a little about how volunteering at our chapter works.
Volunteering with us looks a little different
At Friends of the Children, the adults who spend one-to-one time with our youth are paid, professional mentors. We call them Friends, and each one walks alongside the children on their roster from kindergarten through high school graduation - 12+ years, no matter what.
Because that long-term, consistent relationship is the heart of our model, the people who spend direct time with our enrolled youth are paid staff, certified tutors, or community Partners we've specifically invited into the work. That means most of our volunteer opportunities happen behind the scenes, and those hours make a real difference.
Before you get started
Because we work with young people who have experienced complex adversity, every volunteer at our chapter goes through a short two-step process:
- Complete our volunteer application. This helps us understand your skills, interests, and availability, and makes sure your offer reaches the right person on our team.
- A team member will reach out with confidentiality agreements and next steps.
We can't wait to work with you!
Where we need help
These are the tasks our team has flagged as the most useful right now.
Weekly
- Clubhouse tidy-up
- Donating and assembling after-school and summer clubhouse snack bags
Monthly
- Assembling family food boxes from pantry donations
- Cardboard takedown and curbside pickup (second Monday of the month)
- Library tidying and sorting
- Flower bed weeding (summer and fall)
- Cleaning the classroom chalkboard
Once in a while
- Garage clean-up (spring and fall)
- Cleaning outdoor play structures (spring)
Hoping to spend time with our kids?
We hear from many community members who would love to mentor or spend time at the clubhouse, and we love that interest. Direct-service roles are by invitation and reserved for certified tutors and community Partners: think tutoring, cooking instruction, and other specialty skills that complement the work our Friends do every day.
One of those people is Alicia Johnson, one of our very first tutors:
"I am so honored to be able to do this service and be a part of helping a young person believe that they are capable! The staff has been so helpful in making sure I have tools to be able to do something that I don't do every day."
If that's the kind of role you're hoping for, please still submit an application and share your skills. We'll keep your information on file and reach out as opportunities open up!
Another way to stand with our kids
If volunteering in person doesn't fit your schedule right now, that's OK. A recurring monthly gift is one of the most powerful ways to support our work; it gives our Friends the steadiness they need to keep showing up for the children on their roster, year after year.