Lend A Hand (1/29/12)

Call the Volunteer Center of the United Way at 524-1307 or e-mail volunteer@uwaystan.org.

AMERICAN RED CROSS — Car wash fund-raiser will be held Feb. 4 and 11 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1528 Oakdale Road, Modesto. A student-driven Enochs High School community service project will support emergency services in the community. Volunteers 15 and older are needed to help wash and detail cars. Monetary and blanket donations are appreciated and can be dropped off at the car wash. Volunteers also are needed to assist with Save-a-Life Saturday March 10 at multiple sites throughout Stanislaus County. For the past 30 years, ARC has educated the community through the annual CPR Saturday. This year, the agency will expand this effort to include disaster preparedness with this national project. The public will "get a kit, make a plan, be informed" and learn how to be prepared for themselves, their families and their businesses through informational booths, a special children's preparedness activities area, compressional-only CPR classes, etc. Interested individuals for the Save-a-Life event or ongoing first aid teams and community outreach education opportunities are asked to attend a volunteer orientation from 5:30 to 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of every month. The next two orientations will be held Feb. 7 and March 7 at the agency's office.

CENTER FOR HUMAN SERVICES — Harvesting Futures, a new gleaning project focusing on youth development and entrepreneurship, invites youth 14 and older and adults to help reduce the amount of wasted fruit and help increase access of fresh produce to low-income families in our area. Volunteers will play a vital role in the success of this pilot project and it's a fun way to make a difference in the community! A large amount of citrus fruit in back yards falls to the ground and goes to waste while area food banks are challenged with providing fresh produce to their clients. Beginning in February, volunteers are needed in two critical areas: 1) to distribute informational fliers to citrus tree owners in the College and La Loma neighborhoods and 2) to glean/harvest citrus from registered tree donors in those neighborhoods. All volunteers must attend a brief orientation prior to the harvest event dates to learn safety, use of harvesting equipment, and gleaning etiquette. Volunteer teams of young people, supervised by an adult volunteer, will harvest the citrus and deliver produce to local area food banks.

CENTER FOR HUMAN SERVICES HUTTON HOUSE — Aid runaway and homeless youth in crisis. Adult volunteers are needed at the shelter site to answer the crisis line, perform intakes, lead recreational activities, tutor youth, co-facilitate groups with group leaders, transport youth to meetings, events and appointments, interact with youth, chart in files, and participate in other activities to provide support to youth and families. Volunteers attend 18 hours of initial program and CPR/first-aid trainings and monthly training meetings. Training will be held March 5-20, Monday and Tuesday evenings between 5 and 8. Scheduled volunteer interviews will be held Feb. 21 between 1 and 4:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

THE FIRST TEE OF CENTRAL VALLEY — The Learning Life Skills Through Golf Program offers life skills instruction, clinics, rounds of golf and outings to benefit more than 3,000 Central Valley area youth, ages 5 to 17, each year. Ten-week 1-hour clinics will be held between March and October, weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings, primarily at the Modesto Municipal Golf Course. Volunteer coaches and mentors are needed. No special skills are needed and it is not necessary to know how to play golf. Interested volunteers are asked to attend one of the following program trainings: Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 25 at 9 a.m. and Feb. 29 at 5:30 p.m. All trainings will be held in Modesto. Mentors meet with youth in a group setting every other Tuesday continuing throughout the season at Mancini Hall and participate in two summer field trips. Volunteers must be at least 18.