Volunteer Opportunities

There is always a need for volunteers in the building in many different ways. We have volunteers that come to us on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis to help in such areas as coffee time, thrift store and sorting of clothing, day programmes, advocacy office reception, foot washing, completion of income tax forms to name a few. There are times when volunteering can be seasonal such as helping with our Christmas Card Program or helping with a special meals.

Volunteering is also possible without actually being in the building. There are a number of people who regularly make sandwiches for our coffee time or complete income tax forms off site. This can be a once a month commitment or more frequently if people choose to. Volunteers are also needed to collect and organize items for donations for First United.

Thrift Store – Help in our thrift store. Store hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Individual shifts or shifts for groups are available for one day a week 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. or 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. There is lots of opportunity for interaction. Responsibilities would include sorting, customer service and organizing.

Office Administration – Help at the office reception assisting people with getting their mail, toiletries and chatting with people. Opportunities available: Wednesday or Friday 1 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. or Thursday 8:30 a.m. – noon

Shelter /Reception – Be present and visit with people at the shelter we have operating 7 days a week for 23 hours a day. Shifts could be 8 p.m. – midnight or midnight  – 6 a.m. any evening Sunday through Saturday or 7 a.m. – 1 p.m. or 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and holidays.

Storage Support – Help people of the dtes  store their things in the storage area. This is a unique and important opportunity. Volunteers are needed 7:30 – 10:30 a.m., 2  – 5 p.m. and 7:30 – 10:30 p.m.  Opportunities available Monday through Sunday .

Telephone Work – Opportunity for volunteers to work with our database manger in contacting donors to thank them and also to contact people in our donor database to update their information.  Opportunities are available weekdays, evenings or weekends.

Foot Care – person to work with another volunteer on Saturday mornings from 9:a.m. – 11 a.m. to provide opportunities for people to soak their feet in warm water, Epson salts, and tea tree oil to promote healthier feet.

Program Volunteers – are you interested in working with people in the area of Karaoke, resume writing, yoga, do you like to play cards or board games, can you do Origami, gi gong, tai chi, creative writing, interested in a crib tournament, knitting, beading, drumming circle or do you have other areas of interest that you would like to share with others?  We would be interested in discussing possibilities with you.

Hairdresser/Barber – opportunity for a person with their own hair cutting tools to volunteer to cut hair for people.  Barber chairs provided.

Bread Slicer – volunteer needed to work  in our kitchen slicing bread with electric bread slicer Wednesday or Thursdays. Two hours shift and training provided.

To learn more about volunteer opportunities please contact Marion Young, Volunteer Coordinator, First United Church Mission, at 604-681-8365 ex. 108 or mcyoung@firstunited.ca