Project MYSELF Volunteer Opportunities

As you are aware, Community Volunteering was added as a component to the Project MYSELF Program in September, 2005. Several participants selected or were chosen to complete volunteer service hours for their program requirement. Each participant in the Community Volunteering component of the program must volunteer a minimum of twenty (20) hours per semester.

Each participant that was chosen to complete service hours was randomly selected by the Project MYSELF program staff and was based on what each participant had chosen on the evaluation survey. Participants that were chosen to complete community service hours and do not complete them before the end of the semester may be subject to forfeiture of their New Jersey Foster Care Scholarship.

To help you get started with your volunteer hours and to ensure that you find a volunteer opportunity that interests you below you will find a step-by-step list that should help you along the way.

1. To find volunteer opportunities in your area, you can search go to either of the links below. These links will help you search for volunteer opportunities in your area by zip code or opportunity type.

http://www.volunteermatch.com/ or http://www.volunteersolutions.org/

If you do not see any opportunities that you are interested in on those websites, please contact the United Way, the Volunteer Center or the American Red Cross Affiliate in your area. These organizations can help you find other opportunities.

2. You will undoubtedly find several volunteer opportunities that are available in your area. Once you have done this, call the agency that is offering the opportunity directly. Ask to speak with the agency's "Volunteer Coordinator", or anyone who can give you more information about the opportunities that you are interested in. Once you get in tough with the proper person, you should ask the following questions:

> What exactly are volunteers required to do?

> Are there a minimum or maximum number of hours that I must complete?

> How can I sign up to volunteer?

3. After you have signed-up to participate in the volunteer opportunity of your choice, simply follow the instructions that you've been given by the volunteer agency staff person that you contacted.

4. Document your service hours. All Project MYSELF participants that have been selected or chose to perform volunteer hours, must complete twenty (20) service hours per semester. This can be done by volunteering one or two hour a week per semester. So please make sure that you get credit for your service hours.

To make sure you get credit for your service hours, you must have a supervisor at the volunteer location complete the volunteer service hours form provided to you by the Project MYSELF staff. If you need the form, one can be downloaded from our site by going to the "Resources" section on this site and look under "Project MYSELF Documentation" and download the "Project MYSELF Volunteer Service Documentation Form". If you are volunteering at different agencies, you must use a different form for each.

All documentation of community service hour(s) must be submitted within thirty (30) day of completing the service hours. For instance, if you volunteer on the 1st of the month, those volunteer hours must be submitted before the 1st of the next month. Please do not submit documentation forms for hour(s) that you are going to do. For each volunteer hour(s) that you do, you must submit the paperwork AFTER you complete the service hour(s).

The Good News:

INCENTIVES for completing additional service hours will be given. At the end of the year, a participant that completed the most service hours will receive the following incentive:

> 1st Place: LAPTOP COMPUTER

> 2nd Place: DIGITAL CAMERA

> 3rd Place: MP3 PLAYER

Questions:

If you have any questions about volunteer hours or you cannot find volunteer opportunities in your area, please feel free to contact the Project MYSELF program staff and they will try to assist you.

As always, good luck and have fun while giving back to your community. You are making a difference!

VOLUNTEER AGENCY'S BY COUNTY