Become part of our Good Neighbors family; it will enrich your life and the lives of the children.

   1.  Reading Buddies read one-on-one with the children. On most days you will spend 30 minutes each with four different children. And, we try to pair you with the same children each day you are at camp. We hope you can commit to a full-week from about 9:45 to 12 noon. If you haven’t attended the orientation and “safeguarding children” program before your first day of camp, you will need to arrive by 8:30 on your first day.  But, please sign on even if you can’t spend the entire week. Special bonds will form between you and the children—that’s a guarantee!

   2.  Intern Assistants, as the term implies, assist the interns in their daily work with the children. Children are divided in to four groups based on age, and each group has a team of two interns. The interns are the primary facilitators at the camps. The assistance of volunteers is essential. As an Intern Assistant you will be assigned to one of the groups of children. The tasks you perform will depend on the needs of the kids and the help the interns need. Those tasks will vary from day to day and sometimes from minute to minute. The most important role is to simply be present for the children and to be a helper for the interns as needed. Additionally, the Lead Intern/Assistant Camp Director will also work with you to coordinate the work and assign you to the most pressing needs. Being flexible and patient is important. We hope you can commit to full-days for an entire week. The hours are approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. But, we will work on a plan with you if your schedule doesn’t allow the weekly commitment. You will have a wonderful week and find it hard to say goodbye to the kids and the interns; it may be a transformational experience.

   3.  Camp Facilitators are the behind-the-scenes volunteers that provide the labor needed to meet a multitude of physical needs at camp. This will include helping setup and cleanup breakfast, lunch and snacks; moving lunches from the cafeteria to the classrooms where the kids eat lunch; helping the camp director and assistant director setup for the reading buddies; reshelving books; filling in as a reading buddy; sweeping floors; helping prepare the fruits and vegetables; and other duties as assigned. In other words, the facilitators do anything needed to support the camp’s physical needs. The camp director and assistant director work closely with you. You are a vital part of the team that keeps things working smoothly. We hope you can commit to an entire week from about 9 a.m. to 3:15 each day. If you can’t make a commitment this large, talk to us; we will work on a schedule that fits your needs. 

   4.  The Moving Company moves our camp supplies from our storage in Thaxton before the first camp, moves the camp materials from the first camp site to the second camp site, and then moves the camp supplies back to Thaxton at the end of the second camp. This does not require a large time commitment; two to three hours on three separate occasions.

   5.  Drivers are needed to pick up prepared lunches and milk each day in Rocky Mount and transport them to camp. 

   6.  Summer School Lunch and Backpack preparers work with Colleen McNulty to pack and deliver backpacks one day per week for the camps and for summer schools in six elementary schools. Additionally, this group also picks up sack lunches in Rocky Mount, Monday through Thursday and delivers them to Moneta, Body Camp and Huddleston Elementary Schools during the three weeks of their summer school. 

    7.  Assist the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Coordinator, Sue Becker, pick up and deliver fresh produce to the camp sites and assist in preparation of these for the kids as needed.

NOTE: Reading Buddies, Intern Assistants and Camp Facilitators are required to have Background Checks. Details of the procedures will be provided when you sign up as a volunteer. If you worked as a volunteer with Good Neighbors in 2011, you do not need a new background check.

If you are interested in volunteering during the school year, we have a need for in-school mentors. This is a small program at Dudley Elementary and Moneta Elementary. Time commitments and schedules are tailored to meet your schedule.

If you are interested in becoming a "Good Neighbor", please contact the appropriate coordinator listed below.

       1.  Sandy Kelso, Volunteer Director at: skelso@gmu.edu for Reading Buddies, Intern Assistants,Camp Facilitators, Moving Company and Drivers

       2.  Colleen McNulty, Nutrition Coordinator at: minimc@b2xonline.com for summer school lunch and backpack preparers

       3.  Sue Becker, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Coordinator at: bcooky@gmail.com for the fresh fruit and vegetable program.

       4.  Cindy Decker, In-School Mentor Program Coordinator at: thedeckers@centurylink.net

 .