Volunteer and Mentor
EVENT VOLUNTEERS
In addition to program-related volunteer roles, SML Good Neighbors, Inc. offers a variety of volunteer opportunities that support the vital operations and fundraising efforts that make our mission possible.
Our organization relies on year-round community support to sustain both our programs and day-to-day operations, and fundraising events are a critical part of that success.
Volunteers are essential to the smooth running of signature events such as Battle of the Bands, SML Wine Festival, SML Charity Home Tour, Giving Tuesday Story Shares, SML Gives, Bingo Bonanza, Hook, Lines & Singers Songwriter Festival, and Neighbors in Need - Coves at SML Concerts.
By lending your time and talent to these events, you help ensure we can continue providing services and resources that make a lasting impact in our community. If interested, please click the link below.
Summer Program Volunteers
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.
If you are interested in signing up for a summer volunteer position please check back March 2026 for an application.
INTERN ASSISTANTS
Intern Assistants, as the term implies, assist the interns in their daily work with the children. Children are divided into classes based on age and each class 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 classes or float 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 who provide the labor needed to meet a multitude of physical needs at camp. This will include helping setup and cleanup after breakfast, lunch and snacks. Activities might also include helping the camp director and assistant director setup for the reading buddies; re-shelving books; filling in as a Ready Buddies; 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 summer program coordinator and assistant camp 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.