Volunteer Opportunity with YMCA
YMCA Calomiris Program Center
1906 Allison Street, NE
Washington, DC 20018
202-526-4233

Volunteers are needed to assist the teachers with childcare, helping students with projects, homework, and other activities including the transfer/transition from school.
Volunteers are needed 1 to 2 days a week, Monday to Thursday for 2- 4 hours between 2pm- 5:30pm.  For more information please contact Carolyn Samuel-King via email at Csking@ymcadc.org or telephone at (202) 526-4233.

 

March
 
Fort DuPont Marathon
3/29/08
7:00 am - 1:00 pm

The National Marathon will be held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, March 29^th and the course includes Minnesota Avenue from Pennsylvania Avenue to East Capital.  Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena will host a Spirit Station at Randle Circle and Minnesota Avenue and you can join the fun!  A spirit station includes a water/Gatorade station where the runners grab cups of drinks as they run by, and volunteers line the course to cheer on the runners.  Cheering can include playing upbeat music on a boom box, playing live music, ringing noisemakers and cowbells, and cheering and clapping for the runners as they run past.  The runners are doing a 26 mile course and Minnesota Avenue is the last leg of the race.  They will be tired and pushing hard to finish.  Your support and cheering can make the difference for them! 

We need volunteers to help set up and help clean up, hand out cups of water, and cheer the runners.  All ages welcome.  The race begins at 7:00 am.  We anticipate runners passing our station between 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. We need volunteers as early as 8:30 am as we have to set up the station and mix the Gatorade.  And, we will need volunteers to stay until about 1:30 pm to help clean up.  Volunteers need to sign up in advance to receive the race t-shirt.  High school students may earn volunteer service hours. 

 

  Walk for Epilepsy
3/29/08
10am-3pm

Epilepsy is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system.

• It affects people of all ages, races, and ethnic backgrounds.
• More than 3 million Americans of all ages are living with epilepsy.
• Every year, 200,000 Americans will develop seizures and epilepsy for the first time.
• Epilepsy can develop at any time of life, especially in early childhood and old age.
• Epilepsy is a neurological condition that makes people susceptible to seizures. A seizure is a change in sensation, awareness, or behavior brought about by a brief electrical disturbance in the brain.

Seizures vary from a momentary disruption of the senses, to short periods of unconsciousness or staring spells, to convulsions. Some people have just one type of seizure. Others have more than one type.

Although they look different, all seizures are caused by the same thing: a sudden change in how the cells of the brain send electrical signals to each other.

Volunteers are needed to distribute chips, shirts, water and to keep time.

 

 April

Saturday of Service
4/5/08
8-12PM

Saturday of Service is an annual day of service for the University of Maryland campus and local community. TERPcorps works with a variety of community and university groups to co-sponsor this event which has taken place at Lake Artemesia for the past few years. Planning for this event includes negotiating logistics with site staff, coordinating registration and marketing, as well as preparing site leaders with reflection activities. If you would like to help plan this year’s Saturday of Service, please contact us via email at terpcorps@gmail.com.

 

Kids Enjoy Exercise Now! Greater DC
4/13/08

KEEN is a volunteer-run, nonprofit -- 501(c)(3) --organization headquartered in the Washington, DC area. A Board of Directors comprised of parents, volunteers, and members of the community oversees the operation of KEEN’s affiliates, insuring that they remain true to KEEN’s mission: providing free recreational opportunities to children and young adults with disabilities by pairing them with trained volunteers for fun, noncompetitive activities. Sports Programs are held in either Montgomery County or Southeast DC. Montgomery County programs are also offered for 3 different age groups: kids, teens and young adults. During the Sports Program, athletes and volunteers come together for one-to-one activities. They have a group warm up, and then move to individual activities which are tailored solely to the needs of the athlete. They may throw a basketball or kick a soccer ball, or they may take a walk around the outdoor track. Many love to bounce on 36” balls or be pulled along the floor on a flat wheeled scooter. A group may form for Duck, Duck, Goose. The session ends with everyone coming together in a circle (although some athletes still need to run around its periphery, and that’s okay) and sharing with the group what they did that day “that made them very Proud.” They literally go out dancing: the Hokey Pokey for the younger kids and the Macarena for the teens and young adults. Athletes burn energy, meet and interact with new volunteers, see old friends, and then rejoin their parents, who have had some precious respite time. www.keengreaterdc.org

 

A Wider Circle Organization
4/19/08
10-1pm or 1-5pm

A Wider Circle is a 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit organization that serves individuals and families living in poverty in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. Our programs reach low-income children, teens, seniors, individuals who are disabled, and adults who lack access to the resources that many of us take for granted. We like to have at least 20 people every Saturday. We  may have volunteers assisting in storage, going out on trucks, or doing a combination of both. The Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program, A Wider Circle's largest program, provides furniture and other home items to families moving out of shelters or otherwise living without their basic needs. The formula is simple: we take donated furniture and give it to families who have previously been sleeping on the floor.  www.awidercircle.org


Additional aspects of this program include:

• Maintenance of a storage facility where all donations are stored and families come to pick out items
• Emergency response for victims of fires or crime, and for new mothers unable to bring children home due to insufficient resources (crib, clothes, food, etc.)
• Families who receive items also receive a wellness basket containing healthy snacks, fresh fruit, and information such as Healthy Eating, Relaxation Techniques, Creativity Exercises, and Better Sleep Tips

 

May

Walk for Diabetes
5/4/08
5:00 am - 1:00 pm

JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL (JDRF)

Dedicated to Finding a Cure
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF) is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 (juvenile) diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Positions are available for tasks like setup, walker registration, food and beverage distribution, activities, and walk logistics to name a few.

Depending on your skills and interests we will discuss your placement.

Shifts are available from 5:30am-1pm; usually volunteers sign up for a 3-5 hour time slot.

Directions
Metro Accessible: Union Station, Smithsonian, Gallery Place/Chinatown
Van---apply 30 days ahead

ALL students are welcome to attend. If you have any questions please email: CRDPreMedicalSociety@gmail.com