Volunteer Spotlight: A Year in Review
Volunteers are a key component of the YWRC’s success. We are excited to take a moment to celebrate their positive impact as we reflect on the past fiscal year. Our volunteers include those who help with one-time projects and/or weekly tasks, our Board of Directors and multiple committees.
The YWRC receives significant community support from these volunteers to achieve our mission to help young women become strong, self-confident and successful. Volunteers ensure our programs work by providing a variety of critical support and skills. Last year, 338 volunteers spent 2750+ hours driving our mission forward by volunteering to donate meals, care for children, bundle diapers, and everything in between.
The most robust part of our volunteer program is our Childcare program. Childcare volunteers are responsible for the well-being of our Young Moms’ children for a few hours every week, but it’s more than keeping them safe; Childcare volunteers practice motor skill and reading development, too. Childcare volunteers also develop strong, supportive relationships with our Young Moms. These relationships help our Young Moms, and their children, feel safe and supported while at the YWRC.
Another way volunteers support our Young Moms programming is by providing a nutritious meal. With significant food insecurity in our client base, Meal Donation Providers are an essential component of removing barriers to programming. One of our favorite meals this year was donated by Brightside Kitchen. Brightside Kitchen provided food and volunteers to teach our Young Moms about how to put together a nutritious, plant-based meal. Other volunteers teamed up to put together a walking taco bar for our Back to School Bash, which was customize-able and gave our participants power of choice with their food. Meal donations are a great opportunity to flex culinary skills, put your twist on a dinner and provide our clients with a basic need.
One of the little-know parts of the YWRC volunteer program is our Y-Dub Club. The Y-Dub Club volunteers take on just about any project around the YWRC, including projects that make it easier for us to connect clients with in-kind donations. This includes tasks like sorting and labeling baby clothes, organizing hygiene products and restocking our bathrooms with menstrual products.
Y-Dub volunteers also get a chance to try out unique one-time volunteer opportunities, such as decorating the Conference or Board rooms with all-red decorations for period parties during Summer Programs. One volunteer donated an afternoon to cut cheese and meat for the 40th Anniversary Menstrual Social event in February. Another was able to sanitize breast pumps and digitize our on-site library. We also have several volunteers who give their time and talent through providing event photography.
Committees and boards are a large part of the YWRC’s success. These groups are made of volunteers who meet regularly to lend their skills in a variety of areas, such as fund development, marketing, event planning, programming and finance. These groups offer support for our staff and are a vital connection to our community. One of our most active committees is our Young Empowerment Partnership (YEP). YEP is made up of young adults who provide support through the planning of our annual Fun in the Sun event, Sex Trivia Night, donation drives and more.
Do any of these opportunities sound interesting to you? We are always looking to add new volunteers to our team and have a variety of options available. If you’d like more information or to join the team, visit our ‘Get Involved’ page or contact Max via email or at 515.244.4901.
THANK YOU to everyone who has given their time and skills to advance the critical services we provide. You have made a significant investment in our community and future leaders, and we are grateful.