Chattanooga State Community College hosts an annual Volunteer Fair designed as an interactive, fun networking event.
The goals of the fair are three-fold:
1.) Help connect students with non-profit organizations they are interested in volunteering and/or interning with (all first-year students and TN Promise students have a community service hours requirement).
2.) Connect faculty with local organizations so that, together, they can brainstorm ways to serve the community via service/community-based learning assignments and curriculum.
3.) Encourage the Chattanooga State campus community to give their time (and dollars!) to support the work of the great organizations that serve the Chattanooga community.
For more information on Chattanooga State’s Volunteer Fair, contact Melanie Ribaric at (423) 697-2574 or email melanie.ribaric@chattanoogastate.edu.
Website: www.bbbschatt.org
Email: ansley@bbbschatt.org
423-698-8016
Mission: To Create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
Accountability Statement: We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community and hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving:
- Higher aspirations, greater confidence, and better relationships
- Avoidance of risky behaviors
- Educational success
Community Based Program: This is the classic pairing of adult volunteer mentors (“Big Brothers or Sisters”) with youth. The mentoring relationship is designed to provide the extra time and attention youth need to foster their intellectual and emotional development. The volunteers are adults who are willing to commit at least one year to be a Big Brother or Big Sister. Before a match takes place, potential volunteers must complete a screening process. After the assessment is completed, volunteers and youth are matched according to personality, interests, and experience. The volunteer is expected to spend time with their “Little” 4-6 hours per month, usually twice a month.
- Couples Matches & Family Matches - A couple or family mentors one Little together. This can consist of a married couple or a couple in a long term committed partnership, or a couple or single parent with their child(ren) mentoring one Little. The program is not intended for partners to be able to trade off meetings, but mentors may meet with the Little independently according to staff’s discretion (i.e., one partner is deployed for several months; one partner is recovering from knee surgery, etc.).
Site Based Program: This is the pairing of a volunteer “Big Brother or Sister” with a child where all contact between the youth and volunteer takes place at the child’s school or after school program. Before a Match takes place, potential volunteers must complete a screening process. After the assessment is completed, volunteers and children are matched according to personality, interests, and experience.
Mission: To lead a network of partners in eliminating hunger and promoting better nutrition in our region.
Volunteer Hours: Monday - Thursday (9am - 12 noon & 1pm - 4pm) & Fridays ( 9am - 12 noon)
The Chattanooga Area Food Bank serves 20 counties, 11 in Tennessee and 9 in Georgia. They provide assistance to around 137,051 food insecure individuals each year. That is 1 in 5 children and 1 in 8 adults in the 7,000 square mile service area. Anyone interested in volunteering are asked to sign up on the Chattanooga Area Food Bank website.
Activities can include, sorting donated food items, making “emergency food boxes” of which we give out the back door, making sack packs that are distributed to elementary school age children in our twenty county service area and assisting in our “emergency food box area” where the food is given to clients. Activities can change daily based on the need of the day.
Upcoming “mobile pantries” are also listed on our website where volunteers are needed in assisting with food distributions at local schools and churches both during the week and some weekends.
Website: www.cefchattanoga.org
Email: chattcef@gmail.com
Phone #: 423-622-1736
Description
Child Evangelism Fellowship was founded in 1937. It has been ministering in Chattanooga for over 50 years. It is the largest Bible-centered mission organization to children in the world. We conduct after school Good News Clubs in all of Hamilton county elementary schools with only a couple exceptions. We also conduct Good News Clubs in Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in Georgia and have expanded into Bradley, Marion and McMinn counties.
- In the 2019-2020 school year, over 2500 children attended the Good News Clubs.
- We do facepainting at fairs and festivals such as J-Fest and the Hamilton County Fair.
- We do a summer ministry that trains teenagers to conduct 5-Day Bible Clubs with elementary children. In 2019, over 3500 children attended these summer clubs.
Volunteer Opportunities
- During this time of virtual meetings - I.T. people who are fluent in using Zoom should submit a volunteer application, plus complete a background check.
- When we are able to conduct in-person meetings again - Facepainting and/or Making Wordless Book bracelets
- With training and passing a background check - Helping in a Good News Club and/or Helping in our preschool ministry
- Drivers for our summer ministry - a 3 year MVR (Motor Vehicle Report) is required
- www.partnershipfca.com, npatric@partnershipfca.com, cstgermaine@partnershipfca.com, 423-755-2848 (Natalie), 423-755-2872 (Christina)
- The Partnership for Families, Children and Adults is a non-profit organization serving the Tennessee Valley community for 140 years through counseling, crisis intervention and prevention services.
- Victim Support Services Volunteer Opportunities: Crisis Hotline volunteers and Child care volunteers
Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center is an environmental learning hub that reconnects Chattanoogans with nature. Filling an important need for outdoor experience in our technology-driven world, we envision a healthier, more creative city whose residents become stewards of their natural surroundings.
Volunteer Opportunities
wildlife, nursery, gardens, invasive species, operations, office
Bess Turner bess@reflectionriding.org
Communications & Engagement Coordinator
400 Garden Road
Chattanooga, TN 37419
423.821.1160
volunteer@reflectionriding.org
Website - https://www.stalexiusoutreach.org/
Email - haleystacey@stalexiusoutreach.org
Phone Number - 423-755-3440
Description & Volunteer Opportunities
St. Alexius Outreach Ministries is a volunteer-driven ministry. We have many volunteer opportunities available based on the interests and skills of volunteer applicants. We have 3 different areas or programs:
- Hospitality at Home is a presence-based ministry sustained by committed and caring volunteers offering friendship and supportive services to assist in the alleviation of isolation and loneliness of seniors age 70 and older. As the program continues to develop, we are finding that the least of the least from this population are often those who struggle with self-neglect. Therefore, we work directly with government agencies, such as Adult Protective Services, to identify individuals who can benefit from our program. At this time, volunteers are needed in this program to make Reassurance Calls rather than visits due to social distancing practices. We are working on a plan to have our volunteers back in the homes of these lonely seniors as we are seeing the impact of isolation due to covid-19 has severely affected the mental health of many of our participants.
- Our More Than Food Program was established in response to the COVID-19 crisis, our More Than Food pantry provides food, household, and hygiene supplies to older adults in crisis. These supplies can be picked-up by the referring agency or delivered at no cost to those who qualify. Volunteers assist with this program by packing the emergency food and PPE bags as well as assisting in delivering the bags to the households.
- Also in response to COVID-19, we began utilizing our Delivery Shuttle for a partnership with the Chattanooga Food Bank delivering food boxes to residents of the greater Chattanooga area who have barriers preventing them from being able to take their voucher to pick up the boxes on their own. We typically serve 20-30 households/day with this partnership. Volunteers assist our transportation director in picking up and delivering these food boxes.
Website - tnAchieves.org
Email - tyler@tnAchieves.org
309-945-3446
Description
tnAchieves is the partnering organization to the TN Promise Scholarship in 90 of the 95 counties in Tennessee. Our mission is to increase higher education opportunities for Tennessee high school students by providing last-dollar scholarships with mentor guidance.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer Mentoring. tnAchieves recruits more than 9,000 volunteer mentors each year to support high school seniors in their transition to college. Mentors spend about one hour per month serving as a task master, resource and encourager for students as they work to realize their full potential. Mentoring will be entirely virtual in 2021, with the support of our new virtual mentoring platform, tnAchieves CONNECT
Website: www.unifi-ed.org
Email: Matt@unifi-ed.org
423-991-7790
Founded in 2014, UnifiEd is a community-led movement of parents, teachers, and residents who want every student in Hamilton County to have the chance to attend great public schools. We believe that if community members are informed about how to help teachers and students, given the training and tools to advocate for them, and encouraged to unite our voices – we can create real and lasting change. Together, we can ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn, grow, thrive, and prosper.
Volunteer Opportunities
- Help us get the word out about voting
- Make phone calls (remotely) or knock on doors to tell others about UnifiEd.