Giving Back with ChangeTheWorld: Weekend 1

Weekend one of ChangeTheWorld was awesome!  Check out the photos below of the great team of volunteers who joined the One Tomato Project at the new community garden at First Christian Reformed Church on the corner of Exmouth St. & Murphy Rd.

These volunteers put in more than 50 hours of work to turn what started as a a lawn into a sustainable garden.  This garden will provide vegetables to local food banks, the church parish and community members. 

    

If you want to be a part of something that will have a long-term, positive impact on the community, join us for weekend 2 of ChangeTheWorld this weekend.

Put Your Shovel Where Your Mouth Is

OK Sarnia-Lambton, ChangeTheWorld kicked-off 5 days ago and now our first big volunteer event is about to happen.  This weekend we're building not 1, but 2 community gardens.  Since it's also Earth Day on Sunday we thought we'd throw in the extra challenge of updating an existing garden as well. 

So, get your shovels, garden gloves, sneakers, camera, video camera and/or notepad ready and join the One Tomato Project and ChangeTheWorld to make a difference.  Keep reading to find out where we'll be.

Saturday, April 21, 2012, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
First Christian Reformed Church, Murphy at Exmouth St., Sarnia

Sunday, April 22, 2012, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Happy Earth Day)
Lambton Meadowview Villa,  Petrolia
One Tomato Project Downtown Garden, Sarnia

Starbucks partners will be there volunteering to celebrate Global Month of Service and making sure everyone stays hydrated and refreshed.  For more information, or if you want to sign up in advance you can email Darren.

2nd Annual Volunteer Showcase

Thank you again to all of the organizations, partners and community members who came out to our 2nd Annual Volunteer Showcase held on Tuesday at the Dante Club. As always, we are excited about any opportunity to promote volunteerism in Sarnia-Lambton and introduce volunteer opportunities to the community. 

 This year we were even more excited to have the Showcase be a part of ChangeTheWorld, in addition to National Volunteer Week. We invite all local high school students to become a part of ChangeTheWorld by participating in a Community Garden Build, blogging about volunteering or volunteering with any Sarnia-Lambton not-for-profit organization between April 15 - May 6, 2012.

If you missed the Showcase, you can always visit the Sarnia Gives website for up-to-date information on volunteering and available opportunities.

 

For more photos, visit our Facebook Album to see photos from the event and don't forget to visit www.sarniagives.com to find out more about the organizations that participated. 

Remember to take the time to celebrate National Volunteer Week by thanking local volunteers.

CTW Challenge Kick-Off

Well, it's finally here.  ChangeTheWorld has launched for the very first time in Sarnia-Lambton! 

We want to encourage all of you to get out there over these next 3 weeks and get involved.  All we're asking for is 3 hours of your time - and those 3 hours not only go to a good cause, but they count towards your community service credit.  If you can't give 3 hours, then give what you can!

This challenge is about more than just meeting a goal: it's about finding opportunities that interest you, leaning about what you can do for your community, becoming engaged citizens and, most important, it's about making a difference.

We had a great time kicking things off this morning with the partners at Starbucks on London Road.  They're doing double duty this month by celebrating ChangeTheWorld with us along with their own Global Month of Service. They'll be out volunteering and providing refreshments at all four of our Community Garden Builds this months so make sure you come out and join them.

ChangeTheWorld

ChangeTheWorld is coming to Sarnia-Lambton for the very first time! Sarnia Gives & the Sarnia Community Foundation are proud to be able to bring the Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge to our community.  

The ChangeTheWorld – Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge is a campaign to encourage and increase youth volunteerism and to encourage and foster a life-long commitment to volunteering. This year there are 25 volunteer centers and organizations across Ontario who are participating. The initiative is a challenge for youth, ages 14 to 18 years, to get involved by volunteering and to be a force for change and for good in their local community.

During the campaign our goal is to reach 7,500 volunteer hours.  We're asking local youth to give just 3 hours of their time and be a part of this amazing challenge.

Check out our schedule of Community Garden Builds and volunteer with us, find an opportunity on the website or email us and let us know what you're already doing.

• One Tomato Community Garden Builds: 
  If digging isn't your thing we're looking for photographer, videographers and bloggers too - there's something for everyone.

• 2nd Annual Sarnia Gives Volunteer Showcase
  Tuesday, April 17, 2012 10 a.m - 6 p.m. at the Dante Club

• ChangeTheWorld: Ontario Youth Volunteer Challenge Volunteer Celebration
  Tuesday, May 1, 2012 (details to come)

  

Finding the Right Opportunity

Sarnia Gives is about connecting people and organizations and we put a lot of thought in to how to do that. The searches that we came up with are the heart of our website, www.sarniagives.com.

Knowing that you can search for volunteer opportunities is a great thing, but having inside tips on how to make the search work to the best of its ability is even better. So, we’ve put together some instructions and tips for community members looking to give back to Sarnia-Lambton.

To find your ideal volunteer opportunity, you can utilize one of our two search methods:

1. Use the Criteria Search to find opportunities based on Interests, Skills and Location within Lambton County. 
2. Use the Map Search to find opportunities that are in your neighbourhood or close to school.

All opportunities listed on SarniaGives.com provide you with the basic volunteer requirements, a description of the position and contact information for the organization.


CRITERIA SEARCH

• Go to www.sarniagives.com
• Click on the “Opportunities” heading on the menu and select “Criteria Search”
• Select the Interests, Skills and Locations that you are interested in
• Once you have finished, click “Search”
• Your results will be divided into categories based on the Search Criteria. The results you see at the top of the list are your best matches.
• To view the details of an opportunity, click “View Opportunity”

MAP SEARCH

• Go to www.sarniagives.com 
• Click on the “Opportunities” heading on the menu and select “Map Search” 
• Input your address and the distance you are willing to travel 
• Once you have finished, click “Submit Query” 
• Your results will appear as pins on a map. If you hover over a pin it will show you the number of opportunities available at that location. Clicking on a pin will give you a preview of the opportunities. 
• To view the details of an opportunity, click “View Opportunity”

Tips for Organizations

We want all of our Sarnia Gives members to have the best expereicne possible each and every time that they use the website so, we’ve put together some helpful tips for you.

PROFILE INFORMATION

Your profile is your first impression.

• Highlight the work your organization does and the causes that you support
• Give complete information.
• Keep your information up-to-date

VOLUNTEER POSTINGS

When a community member completes a criteria search they are matched with organizations that are looking for someone with those same criteria.

• Don’t forget to provide a title, this is the first thing people will see in the search results
• Use the description to give details about the opportunity rather than the organization
• Always make sure you review the Skills, Interests & Location categories and check that the criteria you’ve selected relates to the opportunity

NAVIGATION

• You can login or access your profile from anywhere on the site using the options at the top right of the screen
• Links to tools, resources or other websites will open in a new tab or window for you
• The scrolling menu you see on the home page is on the bottom of all other pages 

If there’s something we’ve missed or you have a tip you would like to share, leave it in the comments section or email us at info@sarniagives.com.