September 2008 - The Parklander Magazine

COMMUNITY SERVICE
Lend a Helping Hand
By Mina Radman
For those with extra time to lend a hand and a calling to help others,
volunteering is a way to get involved in the community and to help
those in need. Adults and teens alike can find enjoyment and
fulfillment from volunteering, and teens also require at least 40
hours to complete their high school graduation requirements.
Broward County has a multitude of organizations that are dedicated
to helping people in various ways.
In today’s tough times, unemployment leading to poverty has
become a growing issue amongst families. Now families who
need help can turn to specific organizations, such as food banks,
to help them out. The four organizations listed here, as well as many
others in our area, offer varying degrees of help from finding housing
to providing food, and are always looking for support from volunteers to help
keep them up and running.
Habitat for Humanity of Broward County
Located in Fort Lauderdale, Habitat for Humanity is a Christian
housing ministry dedicated to eliminating substandard housing from
Broward. Since its establishment in 1983, Habitat for Humanity has,
with the help of many volunteers, built over 250 homes and changed the
lives of 1,200 children and adults in the county.
For those itching to grab a hammer and jump on the construction sites,
sites are open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.,
and all volunteers must arrive by 7:30 a.m. in order to participate. For
safety reasons, all interested volunteers must be at least 16 years old.
If you’re interested in volunteering but construction work isn’t exactly
your forte, there are other ways to help, such as volunteering at the
Re-Store. “[Re-store] is a retail outlet where quality used home
furnishings and surplus building materials are sold at a fraction of their
original price.” According to Corporate Relations Manager Melissa
McDonald “Proceeds from the Re-Store help fund the construction of
Habitat houses within our community.”
All Re-Store volunteers must be at least 14 years old, so teens who are
too young to help at the construction sites can still donate time to the
organization.
For more information, contact Jim McLemore at (954) 396-3030 or via
email at jim@habitatbroward.org.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army has been around for over 100 years, and active in
Broward County since 1926. Located in Fort Lauderdale, the Salvation
Army has helped to better peoples’ lives through a series of programs
ranging from help with housing to the community food pantry. Each year,
many people volunteer to help keep this organization running smoothly.
Those interested in volunteering can help in various ways. Volunteers in
the food pantry help bag and sort food for less fortunate families while
kitchen volunteers help serve hot meals.
The Salvation Army is widely known for its involvement with food
drives, where volunteers help organize drives in their own communities
and all the food is donated to the food pantry.
Volunteers can also help in their mentoring program or host a life-skills
class for adults. Volunteers are generally at least 16 years old, but
younger children can volunteer if accompanied by a parent or guardian.
For more information, call Claudia Green at (954) 712-2630 or email
Claudia_green@uss.salvationarmy.org.
Daily Bread Food Bank
The Daily Bread Food Bank, a non-profit organization, provides food
and grocery products to those in need. Founded in 1981, the
organization also helps to educate others on the importance of not
letting food go to waste.
“Daily Bread operates on a very simple principle: reduce hunger by
reducing waste,” said volunteer coordinator Jennifer Wescott.
“Twenty percent of all food produced in the United States goes to
waste,” she added.
Volunteers help to organize the food products brought in at one of their
three warehouses in South Florida, located in West Palm Beach,
Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale. Volunteers age 16 or 17 must be accompanied
by a parent, and no one younger than 16 is allowed to volunteer.
Contact Jennifer Wescott at (305) 474-8805 or via email at
jwescott@dailybread.org for more information.
54 SEPTEMBER 2008