Aug. 14, 2002
The Arlington County Volunteer Office offers these and hundreds of other volunteer opportunities. Call Jean Berg at 703-228-1760:
* The Arlington Agency on Aging is in need of personal service volunteers. Volunteers will assist residents over the age 60 to receive the help they need in negotiating their way through the maze of information about medical insurance and available aging services. Volunteers will be trained to assist recipients with a variety of needs, such as arranging ongoing home care, assistance after hospital discharge, exploring housing options, filling out forms or determining eligibility for services. Specialized training will be available for those interested in working with insurance issues, such as Medicare, Medigap, long-term-care insurance and managed care. Training is provided on Saturdays and evenings. A September orientation is scheduled. Call Lori Hughes, personal advocate services coordinator, at 703-228-1734.
* The Arlington/Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless is in need of volunteers to be on-call to help clients in their moving process or assist in pickup or delivery of furniture donations. Special donations are needed to assist families including Target/Walmart gift certificates to help in purchasing clothing for children in the Adopt-a-Family program; food for the food pantry (stocks are low at this time — please call or e-mail for list of needed items); and a computer, TV or other furniture items for a young family with small children who will soon be moving to their first apartment.
* The 2002 National Run for Recovery 5K race benefiting drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs will take place on Sept. 21 at 10 a.m. at Seventh and Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Navy Memorial/Archives Metro Station). Those wishing to register may do so online at http://www.vanguardservices/org/events.html or call 703 920-0156, Ext. 1.
* The Army 10-Miler will be run on Sunday, Oct. 20, at the Pentagon. Volunteers are needed to staff various positions throughout race weekend. Help is needed with security; distribution of runner timing-chips and T-shirts and packet pickup (Friday and Saturday, Oct. 18 and 19); setting up, organizing and distributing water to runners; setting up Kids Zone; helping with crowd control; monitoring and logging in garments at check station; organizing and distributing post-race food to runners; working at the finish line directing runners to timing-chip return and water areas; processing and restringing chips; and more. Register on line at http://www.armytenmiler.com.
* The Capital Area Food Bank is recruiting volunteers to help produce 25,000 bags of food per week through August in order to meet the need for the Food for Kids Summer Project. Volunteers can work at the food bank's D.C. location packaging bags of groceries any time Monday-Friday between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., and from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays.
* The Arlington Department of Human Services Community Outreach Program is requesting donations of working sewing machines, fabric, needles, thread, scissors and craft materials for its Berkeley Center.
* Arlington Central Library is seeking a volunteer to work with its Ellipse Literary Series. The series showcases local authors reading from their works, small presses presenting new publications, and winners of the "Moving Words" competition featuring Arlington's child poets. The volunteer will act as liaison with library staff, coordinate programs with the Cultural Affairs Coordinator, attend readings by Arlington authors (six to eight times per year on Thursday evenings) and will help sell the author's works at these readings. In addition, approximately one or two hours a month are required for preparation or coordination of activities. There is also an opportunity to assist the materials-management staff with filing and copying projects related to the purchase of library materials. Help is requested three hours a week during daytime hours. The following abilities are needed: computer keyboard skills; knowledge of Microsoft Word; and familiarity with filing rules.
* Inova HealthSource is recruiting adult volunteers to staff Flu Clinics, which will be held October-December. Volunteers will be needed for four-hour shifts at Safeway stores and other public locations throughout Northern Virginia and will assist a nurse by registering clients, helping people complete forms, and collecting fees. Register now to attend training, which will be held in September.
* Cherrydale Health and Rehab Center has many opportunities for volunteers to become involved with the residents. Volunteers can distribute ice; distribute mail; help residents check e-mail and respond to e-mail; lead Bingo; set up and help with blackjack; play card games and pokeno; take patients for walks; help in the coffee shop; lead sing-alongs; organize the library and pass books out to residents; bring their animals to visit (bring their shot records); help in the garden; assist with arts and crafts; help transport patients, serve food, or other tasks involved with special events for the residents. Flexible hours are possible for many opportunities
* The Friends of the Kennedy Center needs volunteers to help with the Open House on Sunday, Sept. 8, from noon- 6 p.m. The Open House includes free performances of theater, dance, and classical and jazz music. Volunteers can be information floaters, help the stage crew, work in crowd management or provide artist hospitality. Volunteers need to attend an orientation and be willing to work a four-hour shift.