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Group Volunteer Opportunities
Click Here to download a “Doorways Group Volunteer” flyer to share with your coworkers and friends!
Ways to Get Involved as a Group:
Host a Mini Walk-a-Thon – Organize a group of friends and neighbors to host a mini-walk to benefit Doorways! Each year the Fannie Mae Foundation holds a Help the Homeless Walk-a-Thon in Washington DC, and Doorways receives a portion of the proceeds based on the number of walkers who sign up with Doorways. However, another option, if you can’t make it out to this event, is to hold a mini walk-a-thon in your community to benefit Doorways! The guidelines for the mini walks can be found at www.helpthehomeless.org. These walks typically take place in September and October to get people excited for the big walk-a-thon in November!
Special Events – Your group can volunteer with Doorways special events to help, both the day of the event, as well as assisting with the pre-event tasks. We host two large events annually, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Or encourage your employees, friends and family to attend the event by sponsoring the event or hosting a table.
Collection Drives - With the many women, children and families assisted by Doorways each week, we are consistently in need of personal and baby care items, cleaning products including laundry detergent, and nonperishable food items to accommodate the families’ needs. We are looking for groups who would like to organize a collection drive of these much needed items on a monthly or quarterly basis. We can provide donation drop boxes, promotional fliers, and information brochures if your location requests them. For more information on the Summer 2008 service project, click here!
Day-to-Day Tasks – If your group of friends wants to get together on a regular basis and assist Doorways, you can volunteer to assist with the weekly grocery shopping for our Family Home, manage our agency storage and pantry or assist with on-going yard work at the Family Home. These are tasks that need to be done on a regular basis and are a great way to spend quality time with friends while providing a much needed service to Doorways!
Cell Phone Drives – Doorways also accepts the donation of used cell phones to be recycled. This is another great and easy option for organizations wanting to get involved with their community. Doorways sends these phones to a community partner who recycles them and in turn makes a monetary contribution to Doorways. New phones can award Doorways up to $20/phone! We can provide donation drop boxes, promotional fliers, and information brochures if your location requests them.
Furniture Delivery – Doorways receives offers from many individuals in the community wanting to donate furniture to our families who are moving out of our homes and into their own housing. However, we do not have the ability to pick up and deliver these furniture items and often have to turn away these much needed items as a result. If you have a truck or large van and want to spend a little time and energy to transport and unload furniture for our families, we would love to hear from you!
Offer a Class– Does your group have a specific expertise they would like to share with our clients such as how to organize finances, build a resume, or cook? Share these talents with Doorways and teach a class for HomeStart clients. Contact Doorways to find out how your group can assist the families accessing Doorways services.
Dinner with Friends – Dinner with Friends is a once-a-month dinner where families from Doorways’ homes and our HomeStart Supportive Housing Program come together for a meal and an educational program. Your group can volunteer to provide this monthly meal by soliciting and/or donating beverages, dinner, and the necessary dinnerware for approximately 50-60 of Doorways clients. This is a great event that allows our families to re-connect and re-charge. Support Dinner with Friends today!
To learn more about Doorways, please visit our website, www.doorwaysva.org. If you are interested in volunteering or making a donation, please contact Doorways at 703-522-8858.