The Salvation Army in Greater Columbus

Holiday Volunteering 2009 - Please note: 2009 schedule should be available Sept. 18, 2009.

Skip to:

Red Kettles
Christmas Cheer Registration
Christmas Cheer Distribution
Christmas Cheer Cart Runners
Christmas Cheer Fork Lift Drivers
Adopt-a-Family
Toy and Food Drives
Choice Pantries

Dear Volunteer:

This holiday season The Salvation Army will provide food, toys and warm winter coats to thousands of Central Ohio families in need, and we are looking to the generosity of the community to help make this possible.

Thanks to YOU, last year The Salvation Army was able to provide Christmas toys and food to more than 6,600 families, raise more than $500,000 through the Red Kettles and provide 2,187 adults and children with warm winter coats. This year, with so many families facing economic hardships and uncertainty, the need will be even greater. Together we can bring these families joy and hope as we help meet their needs this holiday season.

Below is a description of our volunteer opportunities during the next few months. The volunteer age policies are listed at the end of each volunteer description. Please note that the Christmas Cheer volunteer schedule typically fills up quickly. If you are unable to participate as a Cheer volunteer, I encourage you to consider the many other opportunities we offer to serve others during the holidays and throughout the year.

Christmas Kettles

One of the most recognized symbols of The Salvation Army is the bell ringer with a Red Kettle standing in front of a grocery store or shopping mall. Each year the Red Kettle effort raises hundreds of thousands of dollars to support ALL of our social service programs and ministries.

We are looking for friendly volunteers to stand at a Kettle and ring a bell for The Salvation Army. The Kettle Campaign runs from November 20th through December 24th. There are many days, times and locations available. Volunteers must be at least 13 years old. If you would like to volunteer at a Kettle, please contact Stephanie Koscher at 614.403.0404 or sykoscher@hotmail.com. Check out our locations and choose your favorites before calling!

Christmas Cheer Registration (Dates TBA)

Families must register to receive assistance through Christmas Cheer. Volunteers are needed at our worship and service centers to greet families and help the head of household complete registration information. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old.

Volunteer Shifts for Christmas Cheer Registration:

Location	Mon. Nov. ? Mon. Dec. ?	Tues. Nov. ? Tues. Dec. ?	Wed. Nov. ? Wed. Dec. ?	Thurs. Nov. ? Thurs. Dec. ?	Fri. Nov. ? Fri. Dec. ?
760 Worthington Woods Blvd.	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p
3167 Cleveland Ave.	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p
2300 W. Mound St.	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p
966 E. Main St.	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p	9:30a—2:30p, 4:30p—8:00p	9:30a—2:30p

Christmas Cheer (December 14 - 18) -

The Christmas Cheer program takes place at the DiSalle Center at the Ohio State Fair Grounds. Volunteers are needed to assemble boxes, decorate the Center, sort food and toys, fill food boxes, register families, give out toys and clean up. Unless otherwise noted, all volunteers for the Cheer program must be at least 13 years old.

**Volunteer Shifts for Christmas Cheer (NOT including Toy Shop and Shoppers):**

Fri. Dec. 11 Set-Up**	Mon. Dec. 14 Set-Up	Tues. Dec. 15 Set-Up	Wed. Dec. 16 Distribution	Thurs. Dec. 17 Distribution	Fri. Dec. 20 Clean-Up**
9:00a – 3:00p	8:30a – 12:30p	9:00a – 11:30a	8:30a – 10:30a	8:30a – 11:30a	8:30a –2:00p
	12:15p – 3:15p	11:15a – 2:15p	10:30a – 1:30p	11:15a – 1:45p
	3:00p – 5:00p	2:00p – 5:00p	1:15p – 4:15p	1:30p – 4:15p
			4:00p – 6:45 p	4:00p – 6:45p
			6:30p – 9:30p	6:30p – 9:30p

**Volunteers for the two Friday shifts need to be able to lift heavy items and unload delivery trucks.

**Volunteer Shifts for Christmas Cheer Toy Shop and Shoppers (must be at least 18 years old):**

Wed. Dec. 16 Distribution	Thurs. Dec. 17 Distribution
10:30a – 1:30p	8:30a – 11:30a
1:15p – 4:15p	11:15a – 1:45p
4:00p – 6:45 p	1:30p – 4:15p
6:30p – 9:30p (Toy Shop only)	4:00p – 6:45p
	6:30p – 9:30p

Cart Runners-

In addition to the Christmas Cheer needs listed above, we need volunteers to help families out to their cars with their food boxes. These volunteers are called Cart Runners. We need Cart Runners during the following shifts:

Dates TBA

2:15p – 4:15p

4:00p – 6:45p

6:30p – 9:30p

Cart Runners must be at least 13 years old and able to lift a box weighing approximately 30 lbs.

Christmas Cheer Fork Lift Drivers -

We need forklift drivers on Monday, December 14th through Friday, December 18th to help load and unload items from semi trucks. If you or anyone you know may be interested, please let me know.

Adopt-a-Family -

Each year families in need are adopted by corporate and community sponsors through The Salvation Army’s Adopt-a-Family program. We need volunteers on Monday December 14th through Wednesday December 16th to help with intake and distribution of gifts to the adopted families. Please contact Jean for more details.

Toy and Food Drives

The Salvation Army is looking for groups to sponsor new toy drives and canned food drives for our Cheer distribution. We can pick up the collected items during the first two weeks of December at your convenience. The food and toys will supplement the holiday baskets given to families during Cheer. If you are interested in sponsoring a toy drive, please contact Major Bonnie Kirk at 614.437.2131, or e-mail us at info.salvationarmycolumbus.org. For food drives, please contact Beth Fetzer-Rice at 614.437.2148, or e-mail her at bfetzer-rice@use.salvationarmy.org.

New Opportunity: We also need people to assist with pick-ups of donated items. If you have a van or truck and would be interested in picking up toy and food donations around Columbus during the first two weeks of December, please contact me.

Office Helpers

The holiday season is an especially busy time in our Columbus Area Services office. We have opportunities for volunteers to help with mailings (folding and stuffing envelopes) and other light office work (copying, filing) on Mondays through Thursdays anytime between 9am and 5pm. Columbus Area Services is located at 966. E. Main St., Columbus, Ohio 43205. If you are interested in helping in our office, please contact me for details.

Holiday Shoppers

Calling all bargain hunters! If you like to shop, this is the perfect opportunity for you. We need people to shop for toys, food and other needed items for families registered for our Christmas Cheer and Adopt-a-Family programs. This shopping usually occurs immediately prior to Christmas Cheer week (December 14-18). Once all food and toy donations have been received, we will determine what items are still needed and send out our shopping volunteers. Please contact me for more details.

Other Volunteer Opportunities:

Choice Food Pantries

The Salvation Army operates four Choice Food Pantries in the Greater Columbus area. Since last year the number of people we serve in our Pantries has increased 67%. By volunteering just two hours a week you can help up to 10 people choose nutritious food for their families. We have volunteer opportunities at all four Choice Pantry locations for two and three-hour shifts on weekdays between 9:00am and 3:00pm. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old. The West Mound location is in the greatest need of volunteers. Pantry locations include:

East Main Choice Pantry:                              966 E. Main St. in Columbus
West Mound Choice Pantry:                       2300 W. Mound St. in Columbus
Citadel Worship and Service Center 3976 Karl Rd. Columbus, OH 43224
Worthington Woods Choice Pantry:        760 Worthington Woods Blvd. in Worthington

After-School Learning Centers

The Salvation Army provides tutoring to children in grades 1 through 8 at four after-school learning centers. These centers are located in some of the highest-need areas of Columbus. Our goal is to provide one-on-one tutoring, which is the most effective way to meet the specific needs of each child participating in the after-school learning programs.

We are recruiting volunteers to tutor children after school one day a week (Mon.-Thurs.) for two hours at our Learning Center locations (Volunteers must be at least 16 years old):

Thank you for partnering with The Salvation Army to help families in need during the holidays and throughout the year! Your care and compassion will make a difference in the lives of many people throughout Central Ohio. Unless another contact person is listed above, you can contact me for more information and/or to sign up to volunteer at jean.griffith@use.salvationarmy.org, or 614.358.2627.