Volunteer Opportunities at WACOSA

Volunteering at WACOSA has many benefits. Your volunteer efforts are felt by our staff, our clients, and, or course, by you! If you would like to get more involved in volunteer work this year, WACOSA has plenty of opportunities available. Read more about some of these roles below:

Activities Assistant

As an Activities Assistant for WACOSA, you will assist staff members with scheduled activities on the weekly calendar. You would help set up for, clean up after, and assist the clients in these weekly activities. You can also add any expertise you might have by teaching the client information that you are passionate about.

Shifts for an Activities Assistant are available Monday through Friday between 8:45 AM–4 PM at all WACOSA sites. We prefer if you commit to a minimum of 2 hours per month.

Mender/Sewer/Class Instruction

Our clients are always eager to learn a new skill. If you are proficient in sewing, volunteer your time to teach others. You can also utilize your skills to create new and repair existing clothing, weighted vests, weighted blankets and other alteration requests in the comfort of your home. Time commitment can range from approximately four to twelve hours per month.

Environmental Projects Assistant

Through environmental projects, we work to develop our clients’ ability to complete paid work, but also to interact with non-paid projects and activities. In this role, you will be working to enhance the quality of the environment for clients. This can include landscaping, gardening, patio design, care, and other duties. You may also be responsible for maintenance tasks on vehicles and accessible equipment for staff and clients alike. If you like working with your hands, this is the volunteer opportunity for you!

To volunteer for these tasks, you must have experience with basic shop procedures, yard equipment, and tools. You must also have the ability to lift and carry 20 pounds, handle intermittent bending, twisting and reaching, and stand for up to four hours while performing tasks. (A driver's license and health card are required to drive WACOSA vehicles but is not necessary to fulfill this position.) Shifts for the Environmental Projects Assistant are available Monday through Friday between 6 AM and 2 PM at 320 Sundial Drive, Waite Park.

Curriculum Assistant

Would you like to help others to develop basic computer skills? How about learn more about digital cameras and photography? Do you enjoy leading classes and teaching new skills to others? Volunteer as a Curriculum Assistant! Use your abilities to help others learn basic computer skills, such as accessing the internet, cutting and pasting images, saving documents into proper folders, and basic typing.You can also help with basic photography skills, such as taking photographs, saving photographs on the computer, and laminating and printing photographs.

Curriculum Assistants also aide in preparing materials needed for other client classes, such as sewing, gardening, musical therapy, creative movements, etc. Shifts are available Monday through Friday between 8:30 AM–4 PM, at 320 Sundial Drive, Waite Park.

Musical Therapy Provider

Anyone with a background (or love of) music will tell you that music can provide therapy. If you have musical skills, volunteer to spread your talent by providing musical entertainment to clients.In the past, our clients have enjoyed acoustic guitar, accordion, piano and electric organ sessions. (We have an electric organ at the Waite Park location for your use.)

Shifts last 1-2 hours and are available Monday through Friday between 8:45 AM - 4 PM at all WACOSA sites. We prefer that our Musical Therapy Providers commit to one hour or more each month.

Retail Assistant at ThriftWorks!

As a Retail Assistant, you will volunteer your time to assist staff members with sorting and pricing merchandise, store stocking, customer service, donation drop-off and maintaining a pleasant environment for customers. A minimum of 2-hour scheduled shift per week is required at our ThriftWorks! store. You can schedule your volunteer opportunity here.

Wellness Assistant

As a wellness Assistant, use your skills to help our staff teach our clients healthy eating skills and workouts to be adapted for a variety of different abilities and needs. Shifts are available Monday through Friday at various times, depending on class schedules.

Not only are there plenty of opportunities to volunteer, but there are multiple ways to apply! To contact WACOSA’s volunteer services, you can fill out an application and email it to Andrea Harrell at aharrell@wacosa.org or fax it to 320-259-4679. You can even mail it to us at PO Box 757, Waite Park, MN 56387.

Don’t have the time to dedicate to volunteer work? There are plenty of other ways that you can help give back. Learn more on our Ways to Give page.

We hope to hear from you soon!

Spotlight on Sauk Centre

Providing individuals with disabilities the opportunity to work and live in their community is exactly what WACOSA’s mission is all about. WACOSA has two locations - one in Waite Park and one in Sauk Centre. Our Sauk Centre location provides many services to the community, including contract packaging and assembly work, “Can-do” Crews, and business staffing.

The first Business Solution offered at WACOSA’s Sauk Centre location is contract packaging and assembly work. Our sales and production staff strive to have a complete understanding of your project, whatever you needs happen to be. Some services include inventory control, pre-operational checklists and training, re-work, and quality checking. Outsourcing to WACOSA can benefit your company in many ways; cutting your costs, boosting your revenue, easing labour shortages and much more.

Our “Can Do” Crews are another option to help your local businesses. Our crews consist of five to seven people and we offer cleaning services, product tear-down, assembly, packaging, labelling, and quality checking and re-work. With a 97% satisfaction rating, it’s easy to see why our “Can Do” Crews are so popular around the St. Cloud region.

Staffing your business is another service of WACOSA’s Sauk Centre location. When set to staff your business, we are committed to the highest standards in job training, coaching, and support. We work diligently with each client to get teams trained until they feel comfortable to produce their own work. We also find it important to have follow-ups with our staffing clients to keep in touch and ensure success within their business.

Although Sauk Centre does not have a thrift store, we do still accept donations at the location. Docu-Shred is also only available at the Waite Park Location, but the Waite Park location works with customers at Sauk Centre to shred their documents.

Our vision at WACOSA is that individuals of all abilities are empowered to reach their full potential. Our vision is made possible through the array of services we offer the community. To get updates about WACOSA, like us on Facebook.

Preparing for Give to the Max Day 2015

Preparing for Give to the Max Day 2015

 

Minnesotans around the state are gearing themselves for Give to the Max Day in hopes of breaking last year’s record of  $18 million donated to schools and nonprofits throughout the land of 10,000 lakes.

Give to the Max day is extremely important for nonprofits because it strengthens the nonprofit community by making their organizations more well known in the area. Creating relationships with community members helps find supporters that are passionate about the same goals and missions of making the community a better place.

GiveMn is a resource to help connect people with organizations within Minnesota. Every year, GiveMn sets aside one day to fundraise as much as possible for local schools and nonprofits in our community called Give to the Max Day. Fundraising is a major part of Give to the Max Day. Fundraising for your favorite organization can be difficult, but don’t let that stop you- there are tons of simple ways to get involved:

Use the Media

Using media to your advantage helps get the word out to all people in your communities. Contacting news stations, local newspapers, radio talk shows, and social media help spread the world about your passion for fundraising. The more people that know about the event, the more donors you receive.

MORE is More

Focus on getting multiple donors rather than focusing on the amount each individual donor gives. If you spend your time getting people to donate, they will be more interested in the cause with which you are participating rather than just solely asking for a number. Fundraising is all about the way you present it. Grab your audience’s attention making them want to support your mission.

Cite your Source

If you want people to donate to an organization because it means something special to you, tell them why it is important. Explain to potential donors why the organization is important to you and what, in your eyes, makes it special and worth funding. genuine appreciation through the eyes of someone involved will speak much louder than any other selling tactic you can think of.

This year, Give to the Max day is set for November 12, 2015, so grab your best fundraising skills, make a plan,  and let’s do our best to earn some funds for Minnesota Schools and nonprofits! If you have yet to choose a nonprofit, make WACOSA your organization of choice by visiting our Give MN page.

The Benefits of Volunteering

Some say the greatest gift you can give a person is your time. In today’s fast paced society, time is of the essence and is greatly valued when it is freely offered. These days, a person’s time is very valuable. With the average American working nearly 47 hours per week, there is rarely extra time in one’s day. This is troubling for businesses and nonprofits who are looking for volunteers. Here are some reasons why offering your time and volunteering for WACOSA can be beneficial:

Increases Self Confidence and Overall Happiness

Volunteering allows people the opportunity to change lives directly. At WACOSA, we offer many volunteer opportunities that allow you to interact and help others directly. One of these opportunities includes a wellness specialist. In this position, you get to help people learn various healthy living skills including yoga, aerobics, walking and meditation as well as healthy eating skills. This in-turn can be very beneficial to the volunteer because you are directly affecting someone’s life. You are seeing the results and the effect you are causing; which can increase your self-confidence and overall happiness.

 

Fulfillment

Overall, the biggest benefit of volunteering has to be the overall fulfillment of helping others. Since the beginning of time, humans have always had a relenting passion to help one another. It is at the core of our being and it is natural to want to help. That is why when we do volunteer, we receive a sense of gratification and fulfillment. And that is something money cannot buy.

Connections

Often times people shy away from volunteering because there is no compensation. While there is no pay, volunteering can still assist you in advancing your career. It allows you to get out and connect with people and is a great addition to your resume. For instance, someone who is looking to become an event planner may want to volunteer in our special event support position. This opportunity would look great on a resume, and it would allow you to meet others who can help you reach your ultimate goal of starting your career.

At WACOSA we are always looking for volunteers, and we have a wide range of opportunities. For more information on WACOSA’s volunteer positions, visit our website.

Volunteer Position: Retail Specialist

Retail Specialist

Provide upbeat, positive customer service to all who enter WACOSA’s ThriftWorks! store. Manage donation drop-off, including assisting customers with accepting donations and providing receipts as directed by staff members. Sort and/or price donations. May include operating cash register and/or merchandising items on the store floor. This volunteer position is available Monday through Friday between 10:00am - 7:00pm, and Saturdays from 9:00am - 5:00pm. We ask that you volunteer for a minimum 4-hour per week shift. The day / time you are scheduled may vary according to your availability and the needs of our organization. This volunteer position is available at 310 Sundial Drive, Waite Park, MN. 

Interested in Volunteering? 

Contact Andrea Harrell 

320-251-0087 ext 227

aharrell@wacosa.org

http://wacosa.org/ways-help/volunteer/