Volunteer

Duties:  Help out at the Coalition’s major fundraising and family events.

Length of Commitment:  One day or evening (varies based on the event)

Times and Days Needed: Varies

Requirements:  Volunteers should dress in business attire and will be standing for most of the evening.  Dinner and an orientation will be provided.

Duties:  Help at our resale store, ReFresh, which provides clothing to youth in foster care at 90% off. Proceeds support our programs. Volunteers sort clothing donations, tag clothing, dress mannequins in the latest fashions, assist foster families and other customers shopping in the store, and help with other tasks as needed.

Length of Commitment: At least twenty hours.

Times and Days Needed: Volunteers can help in 3-4 hour shifts from Monday to Sunday.

Requirements: ReFresh volunteers must be at least 15 years or older and submit to an annual criminal background screening through the Family Care Safety Registry. The fashion-minded are encouraged to volunteer at ReFresh.

Contact: Interested in becoming a ReFresh volunteer? Contact Tammy Hayes at tammyhayes@foster-adopt.org.

Duties: Groups of 5-10 volunteers can sort through clothing donations and select the fashions to sell in the store, merchandise the store, use tagging guns to tag merchandise, and/or dress mannequins.

Times and Days Needed: Volunteer groups are scheduled for a 3 hour period between 11:30am-2:30pm on Thursdays or Saturdays.

Requirements: All volunteers in a group must be 13 years or older. An adult chaperone is required for every 4 youth.

Duties: Volunteer advocates serve as the “eyes and ears” of the court. They independently research and asess all aspects of their assigned child’s life (living condition, family, education, medical needs, other special needs, and more). They make sure the child is safe, and provide writ­ten, fac­tual reports and rec­om­men­da­tions to a judge about what is in the best interest of the child.

Length of Commitment:  Until permanency has been reached for the foster child (generally at least 12-18 months). The idea behind the CASA program is that the volunteer is a constant in the child’s life. Many volunteers are advocates for one specific child or sibling group for years.

Times and Days Needed:   Volunteer advocates need daytime flexibility, but much of the volunteer work can be done on evenings and weekends.

Location:  St. Louis City Court is on North Vandeventer (near St. Louis University), and the Family Court of St. Louis County is on South Brentwood Blvd (just north of the Galleria Mall and south of downtown Clayton).

Requirements:  Volunteer advocates must complete 33 hours of training and typically spend 10-15 hours each month on their assigned case. CASAs must be 21 years or older, pass a criminal background screening and child abuse/neglect screening, and be willing to make an 18 month minimum volunteer commitment.

Contact: stlcasa.org/volunteer

Duties: Host and supervise fun, safe events for children in foster care at places like America’s Incredible Pizza and Circus Flora. Foster Friends receive exclusive opportunities to support children who are waiting in foster care to be adopted, and are invited to volunteer at other Coalition events throughout the year.

Length of Commitment: Foster Friends have the opportunity to help at an event about once per month, but participation is not mandatory. Foster Friends is a flexible volunteer opportunity, allowing you to help when your schedule allows.

Times and Days Needed: Weekends or week nights.

Requirements:  All Foster Friends must be 21 years or older and submit an annual criminal background screening through the Family Care Safety Registry.

Visit the Foster Friends Page to Learn More

Duties:  Act as an ambassador for the Coalition in the community. Junior Board members host fundraisers, do community service projects with children in foster care, and help at other Coalition events. Fundraisers that the Junior Board members have planned include Spring diaper drive and annual trivia night.

Length of Commitment: Renewable yearly commitment

Times and Days Needed: Attend weeknight meetings the first Tuesday of every other month. In addition, Junior Board members are expected to help plan and participate in events, volunteer at occasional service projects, and act as an ambassador for the Coalition in their community.

Requirements:   Young professionals under 40 years of age. To apply, send a copy of your resume and a brief statement of interest to Jennifer Lunceford at jenniferlunceford@foster-adopt.org.

Duties: Help with a special data entry or clerical projects.  Most of these projects take 3-8 hours to complete.

Length of Commitment: Project-by-project basis.

Times and Days Needed: Weekdays between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Duties:  Organize a clothing drive at your church, school, company, or neighborhood to benefit foster children.  Gently used clothing donations for all ages and for any season are always appreciated. NEW socks and underwear are always needed, as well as diapers.

Duties:  Collect new backpacks and school supplies at your company, church, school, child’s troop or sports team, or in your neighborhood. The Coalition distributes these items to children impacted by foster care in August.

Duties:  Help a foster or adopted child who is a struggling reader improve his or her reading skills at a public library.

Length of Commitment:   9-12 month volunteer commitment.

Times and Days Needed:  Volunteer tutors meet with their learner twice a week for one hour each time, typically on weeknights and/or the weekend.

Location:  Volunteers choose public libraries where they are willing to tutor.  Then they are matched with a learner who is also able to meet at one of those libraries.

Requirements:  Volunteers must attend a tutor training, be 16 years or older, and have a clean criminal background screening.