The following information was provided by the Community Service Center and Rebuild Tuscaloosa.
Highlighted Volunteer Opportunities for Tuesday, May 17, 2011:
1. URGENT NEED: City of Tuscaloosa Volunteer Hotline: We are staffing the City of Tuscaloosa volunteer hotline call center with UA students. We will be doing this Monday-Friday from 7 am to 7 pm, Saturday from 8 am to 7 pm, Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm. The shifts are 7 am to 11 am, 11 am to 3 pm, and 3 pm to 7 pm. If you want to volunteer for any of these shifts, please email Barbara Grimes at [email protected] or call at 205-348-2865 and let her know which day and which shifts you would like to volunteer for. The call center is located in the McAbee Center at 3801 Loop Road (take 15th Street/Veterans Memorial Parkway out passed Home Depot. There will be sign for Loop Road/Veteran’s Hospital/UA Arboretum. You will loop to the right and then take a left into the road for the McAbee Center. It is a large building with a blue roof. Please enter the door with the awning over it.) Please make sure to contact Barbara to sign up because space is limited at each shift.
2. URGENT NEED: Volunteers for Volunteer Registration Center: The City needs volunteers to help register volunteers at the Volunteer Registration Center at the McAbee Center each day. The hours are M-F from 7 am to 7 pm; Saturday from 8 am to 7 pm; and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm. If you would like to sign up for a shift, please Barbara Grimes at [email protected] or call at 205-348-2865 and let her know which day and which shifts you would like to volunteer for. The call center is located in the McAbee Center at 3801 Loop Road (take 15th Street/Veterans Memorial Parkway out passed Home Depot. There will be sign for Loop Road/Veteran’s Hospital/UA Arboretum. You will loop to the right and then take a left into the road for the McAbee Center. It is a large building with a blue roof. Please enter the door with the awning over it.) Please make sure to contact Barbara to sign up because space is limited at each shift. If you send us an email after 5:00 pm for a shift the next day, just show up the next day at the McAbee Center.
3. Office Help at Temporary Emergency Services: TES is looking for individuals who would want to come in and be consistent volunteers who could help answer the phones and help with other office projects. Their office staff is stretched thin because of so many individuals needing help. If you would like to volunteer to be a consistent volunteer a few hours a week, please contact Sharon at 205-758-5535 and let her know that you are a University of Alabama student who wants to volunteer in the office.
4. URGENT NEED: 2 Temporary Emergency Services Warehouses: TES is in desperate need of individuals who can help to sort items at both of their warehouse locations. At the primary location (1705 15th Street), volunteers are need to sort donations. At the secondary location (5510 McFarland Blvd., Northport – Old Foodmax Building), volunteers are needed to unload trucks and sort donations. Their hours are Monday-Saturday from 8 am to 6 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Go by to volunteer or call 205-758-5535 to schedule a time to volunteer.
5. Tuscaloosa’s One Place (TOP): Volunteers are needed at Tuscaloosa’s One Place at 867 Redmont Drive, Tuscaloosa 35404 for 2 different programs. (1) Volunteers are needed to work with TOP in partnership with Hopewell Baptist Church (which is next door) to help sort and distribute donated items. Volunteers are needed from 10 am to 5 pm Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays. Please go by the TOP office first and let them know you are there to volunteer. (2) Volunteers are needed to work with participants of their program to work on resumes and apply for jobs online. Students who help should be knowledgeable about computers. Volunteers are needed from 8 am to 4:30 pm on Mondays/Thursdays/Fridays. Please contact Emerald Autry at 205-462-1000, ext.33 to sign up for a time to volunteer. TOP is located about a half mile from the Winn Dixie in 5 Points (From the Winn Dixie traveling on University Blvd towards campus, Redmont Drive will be on your right immediately after Hopewell Baptist Church. TOP is a blue house).
6. Project Blessings: Project Blessings located at Woodland Forest Baptist Church (6701 Hargrove Road East) needs volunteers to help sort items and help with other recovery efforts. Their hours of operation are M-F from 9 am to 4 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm. They would appreciate consistent volunteers who can be trained and continue to help. They also have a great need for plastic storage bins if you know anyone who would like to make a donation. The person in charge at the location is Chase Sprayberry. Please check out their website for more information about what they are doing at www.projectblessings.org.
7. Holt Community Partnership: The Holt Community Partnership needs volunteers (about 50 per day) to help out Monday-Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. The Partnership is located at Holt Baptist Church at 3101 Alabama Avenue Northeast. The hotline number there is 205-523-3817. Please call to schedule times you would like to volunteer. They are no longer accepting clothing donations or furniture and appliance donations.
8. Tuscaloosa City Schools Supply Donation Center: The Tuscaloosa City Schools has opened a School Supply Donation Center at the Central Office to house donated supplies. The supplies are being used to assist teachers and students who were affected by the April 27 tornado. The center is manned by volunteers during each school day. Supplies have been received from local individuals and groups as well as from across Alabama and other states. The donated supplies are available to teachers who make requests to principals. They also will be available for the 2011-2012 school year as teachers and students displaced by the tornado begin classes in temporary locations. Persons interested in making donations should contact the School Supply Center at 205-759-8300 or the Central Office at 205-759-3700. Rebecca Rothman and Frannie James are coordinating volunteers who assist in this endeavor.
9. Backpack Meal Preparation: Volunteers are meeting at Verner Elementary School each day to prepare meals (over 900 per day) to send home in the backpacks of all students who were impacted. Volunteers generally meet from 8 am to 10 am on weekdays to sort donations, assemble meal bags, and deliver them to the schools. For those interested in donating to this project, needed items include single serving, easy- open cans of ravioli, spaghettios, Vienna sausage, potted meat, beans and weenies, and similar items. Also needed are single serving, easy-open cans/cups of fruit and applesauce, cereal boxes, Pop Tarts, and plastic forks and spoons. Deliveries and volunteers should come to the Verner Elementary School gym.
10. Volunteering with the Red Cross: If you are interested in becoming a Red Cross volunteer and helping out at the Red Cross Shelter, please go to the Red Cross table at the McAbee Center to let them know. They are taking the names of individuals who would like to be Red Cross volunteers.
11. Holt Relief Center – Requesting volunteers on a daily basis. They’re going to be in the area long-term & are feeding hundreds per day. They REALLY NEED MORE TABLES ASAP so they don’t have to put donated goods, etc. on the ground! (Operating out of tents on the corner of Keene Dr. & Crescent Ridge Rd. NE)
On Going Volunteer Sign Up and Service Locations:
· Temporary Emergency Services on 15th Street needs volunteers to help sort and distribute donations. They are open from 8am – 6pm M-S and Sundays 10am – 6pm. They need your help to sort donations so they can be given to those who need the items.
· Samaritan’s Purse at First Baptist Church downtown is doing volunteer orientations each day at 8 am and 1 pm. You need to go to one of the orientations in order to be placed.
· Warehouse Assistance: The City of Tuscaloosa has opened a new warehouse to house donations that have been given. They need help each day from 8 am to 5 pm to help with deliveries. The warehouse is the Phifer Warehouse located at 2505 Greensboro Avenue. You MUST become a credentialed volunteer through the VRC at the McAbee Center in order to volunteer here.
