Stay Connected

We are 30,000 hours away from our goal and 30 people away from having 500 Facebook followers.  If you haven't done so already, please like us on Facebook.

Volunteer opportunities will be posted on the sites below as well as reminders about events and logging your hours, community volunteer news updates, and other information about reaching 150,000 hours this year.

 @BeTheChangeEV

facebook.com/volunteerevanston

volunteerevanston.org

Upcoming Opportunities

Nurture Family Program is looking for volunteers at Kingsley Elementary School. Volunteers are needed as cooks, Spanish translators, assistant teachers, kitchen managers, and babysitters.  This five-year program gets kids excited about eating healthy foods and staying physically active. It also provides parents with tips and recipes for reinforcing these changes at home. Monthly exposure to increasingly complex topics over five years builds knowledge, skills and habits that help reduce the risk of developing nutrition-related diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes.   Volunteer by clicking here.

Harvest Food Pantry & Clothes Closet Wednesday evenings or 3rd Saturdays

Come and volunteer on a team of volunteers who distribute groceries and clothing to families in need. Pack bags, walk people through the distribution line, and more. Volunteers work from 5-8:30pm on Wednesdays or from 9am-12:30pm on the 3rd Saturday of each month.

Volunteers must be 12 and over. 
Volunteers must be able to lift filled grocery bags. 
Volunteers are trained by the Harvest's Coordinator at the beginning of the shift.   Sign up here.

The North Shore Senior Center is in need of volunteers to help provide transportation to seniors in the Evanston.  Transportation is an enormous issue for many seniors and this is a wonderful opportunity to be of real help as a driver to and from medical and dental appointments.   Find out more here.

CJE Senior Life is looking for volunteers who love people and enjoy interacting with the elderly. Volunteers are needed to help with activities and help serve snacks and lunch. Site is open weekdays from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.  Volunteer today by clicking here.

30,000 Hours To Go - Help Us Reach Our Goal of 150,000

We have two and a half months to get 30,000 hours of volunteering in to reach our goal for the 150th Anniversary for the City of Evanston.   We need your help to make it happen.   If you have been volunteering and not recording your hours, please be sure to enter them. You are able to backlog hours for months that  you may have missed.  Otherwise, check out these organizations that have helped get us to where we are now:

The CommUNITY Picnic,  in August volunteers logged 371 hours in an effort to make the Citywide celebration one of the best yet.

Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, since January Girl Scout leaders and volunteers have logged over 5,400 hours in the Evanston Community. GSGCNWI believes one girl can make a difference, and that girls together can change the world. The council launched July 1, 2008, following the merger of seven legacy councils and is now the largest council in the country.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational publishing company that is dedicated to having their employees volunteer in the community throughout the year.  Since January they have had 83 employees volunteer at several different agencies in the community for a total of 1,217 hours.  Part of their efforts include providing a weekly donation of homemade lunches to Connections for the Homeless. By year's end they will have donated at least 1,500 lunches, which translates to 3,000 sandwiches, beverages, pieces of fruit, and snacks.  They will close 2013 with their annual coat drive and Thanksgiving food drive.

Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management hosted their Kellogg Cares Day in October which had over 350 student volunteers that worked with over 20 different agencies.  In one weekend they were able to put in 1,372 hours of volunteering.

If you are inspired by the hard work of your fellow community members, please search a volunteer opportunity that suits you at www.volunteerevanston.org. 

 Together We Will Be The Change!

Agency Spotlight

The Woman's Club of Evanston The mission of the club is to advance philanthropic, educational, cultural, and humanitarian principles and activities; to assist organizations dedicated to such purposes; and to offer opportunities for women to share common interests and concerns. Description:  Since its founding in 1889, The Woman's Club of Evanston (WCE) has had a proud history of supporting organizations that make a difference in our community.  The WCE is dedicated to community service, philanthropic work and friendship and boasts more than 400 members from the North Shore, Chicago and surrounding communities. Last year, the club raised more than $100,000 for and contributed more than 5,000 volunteer hours to local organizations.  History:  The Woman's Club of Evanston (WCE) was founded by Elizabeth Boynton Harbert in 1889 to "secure better homes, wiser motherhood, better laws, truer citizenship and a nobler womanhood." Whether raising money for the first hospital and visiting nurse, supporting changes in child labor laws, sewing clothes for the poor, or offering courses in parliamentary procedure, the Woman's Club took seriously its role of educating its members and creating a better community. In 1913, the WCE opened its new clubhouse at 1702 Chicago Avenue. To this day it is one of the top philanthropic funders in Evanston. WCE made a number of lasting contributions to Evanston. Its initial support of Evanston Hospital, the Visiting Nurse Association, sanitary food inspection and the Community Kitchen helped fill the gaps in public health services in the early twentieth century. The Evanston Hospital continues to provide medical resources to the community to the present. WCE helped bring Evanston into contact with a number of national movements and causes such as the National Congress of Mothers (ultimately the PTA), Community Kitchen, Tuberculosis Seals, and the United Fund. It also supported the Northwestern Settlement House early in its history. The permanent home of the WCE at 1702 Chicago Avenue. was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. In addition to housing the club’s activities, its rental spaces have hosted community events for decades.  Upcoming Event: The Woman's Club is hosting The Fairy Tail Trail  to the public on October 25 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm & October 26 from 10am to 2 pm at 1702 Chicago Avenue in Evanston. Admission is $5 per person and all proceeds support their mission of serving children with special needs.  This event provides a safe, non-frightening, fun Halloween experience for children of all ages and abilities. Schools with programs for physically, cognitively or economically challenged students who may not otherwise experience Halloween due to physical or financial limitations, attend free of charge for a special weekday field trip. A nominal admission fee charged to the general public during weekend hours funds all expenses for running and maintaining the Trail, including bus scholarships. The Trail hosts approximately 400 school children and more than 1,000 additional visitors.  They are expecting over 300 volunteers to help run the event.