Developing good neighbors skills and values in children through programs that nourish, educate and support them while providing life-changing experiences for college students through leadership development internships.
MENTOR AND VOLUNTEER
“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
WEEKEND BAGS
Weekend bag volunteers work with Cindy Decker on Thursdays during the summer to pack and deliver food bags for the camps. If you have interest in volunteering for this effort, please email director@smlgoodneighbors.org
READING BUDDIES
Reading Buddies read one-on-one with children. On most days you will spend 30 minutes each with four different children. 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 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.
Please sign up even if you are unable to spend the entire week. Special bonds will form between you and the children - that is a guarantee!
INTERN ASSISTANTS
Intern Assistants, as the term implies, assist the interns in their daily work with the children. Children are divided into eight groups based on age and each group has a team of an intern and public school teacher. The interns are 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 or float as needed.
The tasks you will 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. We will work on a plan with you if your schedule does not 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.
CAMP FACILITATORS
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. Helping the camp director and assistant director setup for the reading buddies; re-shelving books; filling in as a ready buddy; sweeping floors; helping prepare 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 thing working smoothly.
We hope you can commit to an entire week from about 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. each day. If you cannot make a commitment this large, talk to us! We will work on a schedule that fits your needs.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMNTS
NOTE: Anyone working directly with children such as 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 the previous year, you do not need a new background check. All volunteers working with children are required to complete the SML GN safeguarding children training annually.