By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A new volunteer opportunity is being made available at the United Way of Greater St. Joseph.
Rather than volunteering out in the community, President Kylee Strough says they wanted to find some easy volunteer chances within the United Way offices.
"Where we can also talk about the need that is being met by the project we're working on," Strough tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So that's what the Caring Connections series is, and we're inviting people to be part of the Caring Connection Crew and show up and volunteer."
The first Caring Connections volunteer opportunity is tomorrow where volunteers will pack meal kits which will be distributed through Interserv
Strough says the goal is to offer these opportunities monthly, but currently they don't have them quite all lined out
"We know we're going to do a series where we do cleaning kits that will be given out by social service agencies to the clients that they serve," Strough explains. "So, we're trying to kind of align what some of the needs are that are hard to meet in the community and how we can match that with willing volunteers to meet the need."
Strough says these events are designed to be more intimate, to explain why they are doing what they are doing, and to get people more interested in volunteering
"We're trying to create it where it's a little bit more of a forum where you get a little more deeply engaged than just on the specific thing you're doing, like reading to a child or collecting school supplies," Strough says. "Now, if all somebody wants to do is show up for two hours, pack meal supplies, and never think about it again, that's ok too, we welcome that, but it will create the forum where they can learn a little bit about the community need and ways to address it."
The first opportunity tomorrow is already full. You can sign up for a waitlist to learn about future opportunities on the United Way website.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.