Cleaning up the trash around a community center, walking dogs that belong to a shelter, or helping set up a fund raising event are all roles one can play in the big heart of volunteering. When the temperatures drop and snow starts to fall, the need for these public services rises.
Jake Bollinger is the volunteering and grants specialist at The Kitchen in Springfield. The Kitchen is an organization striving to end homelessness by doing more than just providing a place to stay.
“The Kitchen started 40 years ago as a simple soup kitchen made by Sister Lorraine [Biebel],” Bollinger said. “When they opened their doors the first day, she realized that there was a much higher need than they anticipated, that progressed over time to what we are now.”
Volunteers play a major role in keeping the kitchen open. Not only does the service help those in the community, but it can also open people’s minds to a new perspective.
“It’s kind of like a hospital,” Bollinger said. “With nurses, they’re the kind of ones that run the place. … There’s been a lot of cases where someone will volunteer and they didn’t realize exactly how bad situations are out there. Then, it kind of hits them that they have taken their life for granted. It’s a little bit better feeling you’re helping people, not just the community as a whole, [but] individuals.”
Even small acts can lead to something big.
“People drop off truckloads of stuff and I have to get through all of it before I can hand it out,” Bollinger said. “We like to treat our participants with as much respect and dignity as we can, and I don’t wanna give you a stained pair of socks If I don’t have to … Even though you’re kind of in the background, sorting through a truckload of clothing, that is helping.”
Rather than serving food directly from The Kitchen, Rare Breed is the youth branch of the organization that has scheduled times for volunteers to bring meals for those in need.
“All year round at the Rare Breed, you can serve dinner,” Bollinger said. “You can prepare your own meals for up to 40 people.”
If giving up time does not fit into one’s schedule, food donations are a good way to get involved with volunteering.
“Jelly Roll played a concert and donated a large amount of food to us,” Bollinger said. “He called; then an hour later his manager called; another hour later he showed up with a van full of food.”
Care to Learn is a non-profit organization around the Ozarks that meets students’ health and hygiene needs.
“If a teacher or a staff member reaches out to me and refers a student, my goal is that we have enough finds, at all times, that we can always say yes to any of those requests or referrals that come in,”Annie Zimmerman, physical educator at Nixa High School and Care to Learn liaison said.
Zimmerman’s first experience with volunteering comes from the Care to Learn organization.
“I’ve learned that the main thing is that there are so many good people out in our community that are willing to help and they want to help,” Zimmerman said. “They want to make a difference.”
Aside from impacting one’s long-term perspective and well-being, volunteering can improve college and business opportunities.
“Educational institutions love seeing those volunteer hours,” Zimmerman said. “The value in that is you’re gaining experience. To serve others is such an important part of our daily society and an important part of what everyone should be doing all the time. For younger people to find the importance of that it speaks very highly of them as individuals.”
Finding a group to get involved with can be difficult for some teens. Sophomore Haiden Forsythe has volunteered with various organizations in the past.
“How a lot of people can start is just look around at your community,” Forsythe said. “It doesn’t even have to be an event, it doesn’t have to be through an organization. If you see trash on the ground, pick it up. If you see someone who needs help, help them.”
There are a variety of organizations that provide volunteering opportunities for students.
“I first got involved through library programs, but also Boy Scouts,” Forsythe said. “So mostly just looking at what’s in my community and finding resources around me, what makes the most impact, whereas, like Boy Scouts, I wanted to be more involved in my community and remember myself as a person, and the library seemed helpful for the community.”
Volunteering can give people an opportunity to come together.
“It brings a sense of community and a sense of togetherness that you don’t get without doing any of those sorts of things,” Forsythe said.
With the changing seasons, the cold offers new opportunities for student volunteers.
“The holiday season, especially food banks, [it] is a lot busier,” Forsythe said. “There are a lot more families looking for that. There’s especially with
Missouri’s Stream Teams; there’s a lot less opportunity there because the lakes are frozen, and it’s colder outside, so we can’t really do trash pickups.”
It can be difficult for those under the age of 18 to get directly involved with volunteering, but spreading the word about the importance of giving back can provide second-hand support.
“For someone who’s in high school, do your own research,” Bollinger said. “Tell your friends, tell your family what’s actually going on. If you can donate an hour of your time, $10 of your time, a truckload of food or your time. We will take all of that.”