Sun city center connects - volunteer opportunities

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For email updates with new opportunities to connect near you, visit:

https://seniorsinservice.org/SCCC/

and select your areas of interest. It's easy! Have an opening for participants? Post your opening! 

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNTIES:

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Life path Hospice are in need of volunteers. Very rewarding and a great spiritual  experience. Contact Cary Blalock at her office 8136421827 or cell 8134176247. Cary will be delighted to get you call

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Florida’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program needs volunteers to join its corps of dedicated advocates who protect the rights of elders who live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult family care homes. The program’s local councils are seeking additional volunteers to identify, investigate and resolve residents’ concerns. Special training and certification is provided.

All interested individuals who care about protecting the health, safety, welfare and rights of long-term care facility residents -- who often have no one else to advocate for them -- are encouraged to call toll-free 1-888-831-0404 or visit the program’s website at http://ombudsman.myflorida.com.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Sun City Center Meals on Wheels Needs Volunteers

How can you make a difference to your neighbors in Sun City Center? SCC Meals on Wheels is an important community service which provides meals to those that need them. During the COVID 19 pandemic it is especially crucial since so many residents are not able to leave their homes.  In some cases this is the only meal they have daily. Meals on Wheels was started in 1973 by GFWC SCC Woman’s Club.  It eventually became the joint responsibility of 3 organizations with Woman’s Club handling the volunteers and delivery, Samaritan Services providing information, taking orders and collecting money, and South Bay Hospital preparing the meals and packaging for distribution.  If you want to order meals, please call Samaritan Services at  813-634-9283 and they will help you get started.  Every month a different local church or organization volunteers to deliver the meals daily.  This is such a rewarding opportunity and needed service for all of us in giving back to the community. Please ask your organization or group to volunteer to help, contact Susan Royal at royalsusan2@gmail.com or 813-404-4794 for more information.

AARP SMART DRIVER CLASSROOM VOLUNTEERS: SEEKING VOLUNTEERS - RESPONSIBILITIES: Actively organize, promote and conduct AARP Smart Driver classrooms. Conduct at least 3 classroom courses annually . Experience teaching, facilitating and public speaking. Training provided for more info go to www.aarp.org/volunteernow

ARTREACH TO PREVENT HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN:  ARTREACH is a program for Middle School students (those at highest risk of being trafficked) to learn about all forms of human trafficking; then collaborate to create artistic messages to teach others.  Volunteers are needed to work together with students for five 2-hour sessions, discussing what they learned and how to express it in art, writings, or skits for students to share with their peers.  Art will be displayed at school and in public places.  Call June Wallace 813-419-4053.

CAMP BAYOU: Love the outdoors? Love interacting with kids? Love spreading knowledge and skills to others? Then you might just love volunteering at Camp Bayou! Camp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center is currently seeking additional instructors for our K-12 Nature Programs. Training provided. Volunteers are mainly needed Thursday and Friday, from 10 to noon, throughout the year. Call 813-641-8545 or email campbayou@gmail.com for more information. A volunteer form can be downloaded from www.campbayou.org.

C.A.R.E.S. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED ~ C.A.R.E. our local animal rescue in Ruskin is looking for volunteers and donations. C.A.R.E. is a no-kill, volunteer run, animal shelter for neglected, abused and unwanted cats and dogs in Ruskin. Volunteers are always needed at the shelter - the hours are (mornings) 7:00 am - 11:30 am or (afternoons) 11:30 am - 3:30 pm and any combination of hours in-between. Our "animal volunteers" perform a multitude of tasks throughout their day to help with finding all of our animals a forever home. Volunteers are needed seven days per week rain or shine all year long. If you have any availability, please email us at careshelter@aol.com  or call 813-645-2273

DAV TRANSPORTATION Volunteers are needed to assist us with the operation of our van that transports local Veterans to and from the James Haley VA Medical Center.  We need volunteers with basic telephone and computer skills to receive and process requests for rides from Veterans in the Sun City Center/Ruskin area.  The work would be carried out in your home using our telephone but your computer.  Dispatchers complete basic Excel forms and place them in the van for use by our drivers.    For more detailed information, please contact Stu Swayze, Transportation Coordinator, DAV, Chapter 110, Sun City Center. Tel: 813-642-0302. 

ECHO - The Emergency Care Help Organization in Riverview seeks volunteers to improve services to South County families in need of assistance. They are in need of volunteers to assist in providing food, clothing, and other supplies to families that have experienced a sudden life-altering event. If you have 3 or 5 hours, or an entire day or two that you might enjoy helping, please call (813)685-0935

FELINE FOLKS is a 501©3, totally not for profit operating on donations and through the kindness of volunteers.  Currently there is a need for help feeding the community cats.  Contact us at Info@FelineFolks.us or better yet, stop by the Meow Mixer.

FIREHOUSE CULTURAL CENTER: Have time & talent to spare? Volunteers needed at Firehouse Cultural Center! Donate your time & talent for Events or Office Support. Call the Firehouse Cultural Center and ask for Frances 813-645-7651 

HEARING AIDS TO DONATE: Do you have hearing aids that no longer work? DON'T THROW THEM OUT! Lyle Watson, along with the Sun City Center Men's Club is helping under privileged children and adults receive recycled hearing aids. If you have good batteries and old hearing aids that are working or not, please drrop them off into a Sertoma Florida Speech and Hearing Foundation canister stationed at several locations around Sun City Center. Canisters are blue and white with the picture of a little girl. 

Recepticals are at several locations near you: Sun Towers Retirement Community (mail room), SCC Chamber of Commerce, Southshore United Church of Christ, Boggs Jewelry, SCC Funerral Home, Reedmer Lutheran Church, Aston Gardens, Aston Gardens North, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Freedom Plaza, Karen's Style/Roy's Barber, Sun City Center Library, Eye Associates. If you have questions or would like to host a receptical at your place of business, please call Lyle at 813-633-9096. 

MANATEE VIEWING CENTER: The Florida Aquarium, 701 Channelside Drive, Tampa. The Florida Aquarium is recruiting volunteers to assist guests at the Cownose Cove touch pool at the Manatee Viewing Center. These volunteers will receive excellent training about customer service, as well as the natural history of the animals who live in the habitat. We host information sessions about our Cownose Cove Volunteer Program at the main Aquarium. For more information, please contact Rebecca Hughes, rhughes@flaquarium.org, 813-367-4075.

MARY & MARTHA HOUSE: Calling all year-round and seasonal residents. Looking for a place to volunteer your skills and talents?  Come help us out right here in Ruskin at Mary and Martha House. We are especially looking for volunteers with Event Planning experience to help the agency with its fund-raising efforts.   If you have experience with non-profit organizations as a Team Leader, Fund-raiser or Event Planner please consider joining our volunteers.  Mary & Martha House provides emergency and transitional housing and support services to homeless women, victims of domestic violence and their dependent children and serves all of  Hillsborough County. We encourage and help them to realize that their life is not over, it has just begun. The need is great and we cannot do this without the help of the community.  Please consider donating your time to help support our mission. For more information on volunteering call 645-7874 or visit our website at www.marymarthahouse.org.

MARY PETRO FUND provides financial assistance and referral information to many of our low income senior residents in Sun City Center who need assistance with purchasing food and medicine or have other related quality of life needs.  We are located at United Methodist Church and meet in room #12. If you can spare four hours per month we would love to have your help.  We are open every Tuesday and Thursday between 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and our team of two volunteers meet, greet and assist your neighbors in need.  You can set your own schedule.  Why not visit us and see how we help others?  Please call 813-634-8306 for more information.

MENTORING - Campaign Against Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence, known as CAHT, has a volunteer mentoring program headed by CAHT board member, Deborah Petrocelli.  The program partners with other organizations in the area, such as schools, churches, food pantries and youth organizations offering tutoring, life- skill coaching, counseling and plain old “we care about you” messages and services.  Some of our mentor volunteers have developed close relationships with their students, helping them as they advance through the school systems, career planning, and supporting their families’ struggles with the financial changes caused by the COVID19 epidemic.  Bonnie Doll, CAHT volunteer and board member, and Lennard High School graduate Larissa Saldano, are one of the successful mentoring teams. They have developed a rewarding relationship where Larissa knows she can reach out to Bonnie at any time, even enjoying a lunch out. “Larissa is also one of this year’s CAHT scholarship winners, which will help her continue her dream of becoming a nurse,” states Bonnie Doll.  This year CAHT awarded 7 scholarships to aspiring graduates.  If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact Debbie Petrocelli at 813-922-4580.  CAHT is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Sun City Center. Our mission is to prevent the spread of human trafficking and domestic violence in the south shore area through funding, prevention/education programs for all ages, mentoring, and a safe shelter program that removes individuals or families out of harm’s way.  For more information contact  President Annie Garrison at 813-938-5660 or anngarrison66@gmail.com

NEARLY NEW SHOP IN SUN CITY CENTER: Volunteers are needed at the Nearly New Shop in the Sun City Center Plaza. This time of year with Sno-Birds leaving and vacations more frequent the Nearly New Shop becomes understaffed. Needed are willing workers who can put in 3 hours or more a week helping with the necessary chores and duties that make the Nearly New a successful endeavor. Interested parties can call 813-642-9099. The shop is located in the rear of the Sun City Center Plaza behind Cali Nails. The Nearly New Shop is a project of the Sun City Center Interfaith Social Action Council and raises funds through the sale of donated goods. Prior to Covid-19. hours for the shop: Confirm open hours for sales from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon on Saturdays during the summer months. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. for donations.   

OMBUDSMAN PROGRAM: Reaching Out to Long-Term Care Residents - Florida’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program has advocate positions available in the Hillsborough and Manatee areas. Volunteers visit with residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult-family care homes to ensure they are treated with dignity and respect. Training and certification are provided and volunteers participate in council meetings, administrative assessments and complaint resolution in facilities. If you would like to become an ombudsman and make a difference in your community, visit ombudsman.myflorida.com, search for us on Facebook or call 1-888-831-0404.

OUR LADY'S PANTRY:  Can you help feed our neighbors? By sharing your time? “It requires a considerable effort to run Our Lady's Pantry," says Anita Bullaro, co-director of Our Lady’s Pantry, along with her husband Tom. "We could never do this work without our many helpers. Volunteers come when they can, and leave whenever they wish. No formal commitment is required. If you would like some more information about helping out, just stop in some Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday morning.” You can find us immediately south of Sun City Center Blvd., on U.S. Highway 301, in Wimauma. We are in back of the classroom building on the far right-hand corner of the Mission Center. We welcome donations of unexpired, non-perishable, nutritious food. Kindly bring your donations to the Pantry whenever it is open. "Every little bit helps," says Anita. We purchase most of our food for $.18 a pound at Feeding America, a regional food bank in Tampa Bay. Feeding America, however, supports more than 100 other food pantries in Central Florida. Sometimes there's not enough food to go around. On those occasions, we must purchase food at current market prices, considerably draining our resources. If you can help, kindly send a check to Our Lady’s Pantry — Food, c/o Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Migrant Mission, 16650 U.S. Highway South; Wimauma, Fl. 33598. Thank you for your help. 

SHINE Program (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) is currently recruiting volunteers to help Medicare beneficiaries in all five counties of our Planning and Service area. SHINE is a free, unbiased Medicare and health insurance, counseling, and assistance program whose specially trained volunteers assist seniors in making informed health care decisions.

As a SHINE volunteer, you serve your community by performing at least one of the following functions – provide Medicare and health insurance information, counseling, and assistance, deliver educational presentations or speeches, distribute educational and promotional materials in your community, provide training and leadership to other volunteers, or assist with general program support.  

The Senior Connection Center supports its volunteers through a network of paid staff and volunteer local coordinators. The Department of Elder Affairs provides training and technical assistance.  Volunteers also receive local mentoring and support from the Senior Connection Center.  We also have opportunities in the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Task Force. SMP’s mission is to empower and assist Medicare beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers to prevent, detect, and report suspected health care fraud, errors, and abuse through outreach, counseling, and education. Volunteer Basic Training is currently being offered virtually through ZOOM in early 2021 and throughout the year.  

The rewards for volunteer service are plentiful. Since the Program’s inception in 1992, SHINE volunteers have helped Florida elders and their caregivers save millions of dollars, and they have brought peace of mind to those who needed guidance in understanding and accessing health insurance options. To inquire about volunteer opportunities or to request SHINE services in your community, contact the Elder Helpline at 1-800-96-ELDER (1-800-963-5337) or visit us online at www.floridashine.org.

SOUTH BAY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS - The South Bay Genealogical Society is going on summer hiatus and will not meet for its regular meetings until September.  SBGS will still have our volunteers to assist anyone with their genealogy during the summer and for the rest of the year on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 am until noon at the SouthShore Regional Library in the Genealogy Center.    

SOUTH SHORE COALITION FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND AGING: Seeking volunteers to contribute to several initiatives: Memory Screenings, creation of "Wraparound for Seniors" and gathering of data for our annual Community Resource guide. Want to stay behind the scenes and assist? A bit of clerical skill is all we need. Interested? Please call Debbie Caneen 813-892-2990 or email us at office@mentalhealthandaging.org

SUN CITY CENTER EMERGENCY SQUAD: Opportunity! Receive the reward of helping your neighbor with as little as 5 hours per week. Need something rewarding to occupy your time? Visit the Sun City Center Emergency Squad today. Learn about the different ways you can contribute! Medical background is not a requirement. Like to cook? Enjoy puttering around the house with projects? Knowledgeable about vehicle maintenance? Want to wash an Emergency Vehicle or greet new faces as a Receptionist? Have computer knowledge that you would like to share? These are all opportunities for you to contribute to “Neighbors Helping Neighbors”.  For more info, call 813-633-1411 today and ask for Robin Watt.

SUN CITY CENTER WOMAN'S CLUB: The Sun City Center Woman's Club, Inc. meets the 3rd Thursday from September thru May at Sun City Center Community Hall, 1009 South Pebble Beach Blvd., Sun City Center.  The social hour starts at 11:00 a.m. with a meeting, catered lunch and program to follow. The Sun City Center Woman's Club, Inc. offers many opportunities for volunteering in our community alongside other caring ladies.  If you live in Sun City Center or Kings Point, please join the Sun City Center Woman's Club, Inc. to have fun and help us do good things for our community and surrounding areas.  Contact Membership Chair Linda Raymond at sumrluv21@aol.com or call 813-331-3108 for more information.

VOLUNTEER MATCH TO BE CONNECTED WITH OPPORTUNITIES: Not sure what to do? Get notifications of opportunities. For email updates with new opportunities to connect near you, visit: https://www.volunteermatch.org/ and select your areas of interest. It's easy! Have an opening for participants? Post your opening! 

WIMAUMA SENIOR CENTER NEEDS: Bi-lingual English-Creole volunteer. We are looking for volunteer that will come 2x a week to help translate for one of our new clients. For more information and eligibility requirements please email brewingtona@HCFLGOV.net  or apply online at: https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?ap=1583617405