Volunteer Opportunities
January – July 2008

Operation Shoestring’s
Project KIDS After-School/Summer
Enrichment Program

After-School & Summer Help (January - July):

• Monday through Thursday 3:15 – 4:00 P. M., assist teachers with instructional program.
• Tuesday and Thursday, 4:00-4:45, read to children, tell stories, facilitate an arts instruction session (music, painting, etc.) or share a video of your travels.
• Monday through Friday 7:30 A. M. – 5:30 P. M., volunteer for the Summer Enrichment Program (June & July only).
• Wouldn’t your church, work or civic group like to provide breakfast and a brief morning devotional to our summer campers (75 breakfasts)? It’s great fun!

• 8:00-8:40 A. M., Mon., Wed., or Fri., (June & July only).
• Bring your children!

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• Operation Shoestring’s
  Stamp Out Drop Out (SODO)
  Prevention Project
• In conjunction with JPS, Girl Scouts, the I.S. Sanders YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Bethlehem Center, we are working with 50 children in the neighborhood to help avoid the pitfalls directly linked to dropping out of school.
• This new program requires a variety of goods and services to achieve its projected goals. The short list includes:
  • Volunteers
  • Books
  • Book Covers
  • Construction Paper
  • Plastic Organization Totes
  • Crayons
  • Pre-school manipulatives, i.e. blocks, modeling clay, puzzles,
    calendars, journals, pens and other like items

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Operation Shoestring’s
Family Development/Christian Children’s Fund
(CCF) Program

• This program affords 800 children and families a variety of self-efficacy opportunities including books to assist in building a family library, workshops which provide skills in self-empowerment, arts and crafts, music and cultural exposure.
• Some items needed by this program are:
  • Books
  • Educational Games
  • Photo-grade Copier Paper
  • Cleaning Supplies
  • School Supplies
  • Infant & Toddler Disposable Diapers

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Other Projects

Playground Maintenance. Our Project KIDS playground area needs regular maintenance. Show off your gardening skills! —mowing, edging, planting flowers, etc.

Monday Pantry Party and Tuesday Food Distribution is a unique opportunity offering volunteers the opportunity to help get food to seniors and struggling families.

A. On Mondays at 10:00 a.m., we need three volunteers with a pickup truck (or large SUV or wagon) to go to the MS Food Network to pick up ordered food items. Upon return to Operation Shoestring, the volunteers would organize the food on the shelves in the food pantry. Once the food is organized on the shelves, 35 boxes will then be filled for Tuesday morning distribution.

B. On Tuesdays at 8:00, we need two volunteers to load approx. 35 boxes of food into recipients’ cars.

C. We invite you to bring non-perishable food items to the Operation Shoestring Pantry anytime. We welcome your donations.

Book Drives! You and your co-workers or church group could purchase a number of specific books for a class of children, and then come present them to the class. This is great and easy way to help kids with literacy skills! Contact: DeMatt Harkins, 601-353-6336. We will have a list of appropriate books from which to choose.

Life skills Workshops! We need qualified, skilled presenters for 45-minute sessions on the following topics one Saturday each month. Suggestions are given as pointers for topics. Contact: Ada Robinson, 601-353-6336.

1. My Child’s Education: How to represent your child to support his/her education (What kinds of questions should a parent ask? What are volunteer opportunities? How can I learn what is expected of my child academically? How can I be a resource to my child’s teacher and class?)

2. Debt Management: Budgeting week to week and month to month on a limited budget; What should I pay off first?; Help me develop a budget; Immediate financial concerns; Long-term financial planning; Explain interest rates on my credit card. (Remember, these are mostly low-income parents)

3. Shoestring Shopping on a Limited Budget: Given a certain amount of money, what are the priorities for shopping for my family, considering grocery shopping?

4. Stress Management: What are some simple strategies to lessen my stress level?; What are the two types are stress and how do they each affect my health level?

5. Job Interview Skills: Dressing for getting the job; Eye contact; Questions I should ask; What I should learn about the job I am interviewing for before my scheduled interview; Responding to a written portion of the interview.

6. Family Health Issues: Any Health Issues facing Women; The Developmental Stages of Women; Emotional Concerns of Women; Rearing Children and Keeping Them Healthy; Mental Health Concerns for Women; Mental Health Concerns for Children; Where can I find health referral sources for my family.

7. Setting Achievable Family Goals: Covering the Stages of Goal Setting; Writing personal or family goals.

8. Family Dynamics: Improving family relationships among family members.

To volunteer or to ask a question:
DeMatt Harkins
Operation Shoestring
PO Box 11223, 1711 Bailey Ave.
Jackson, MS 39283-1223
601-353-6336
dharkins@operationshoestring.org

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