Activities & Volunteer Opportunities

Looking for a way to get involved?

SAMARITANS OF FALL RIVER/NEW BEDFORD INC.

Find out how YOU can help the Samaritans of Fall River/New Bedford INC!

Hi everyone! My name is Morgan Browning and I volunteer for the Samaritans, an emotional support/crisis hotline for our area.  It is an amazing and rewarding experience.  It involves some classroom training and then shadow shifts, and then once you finish training, you are expected to do a couple of shifts a week.  You don’t have to have a mental health or counseling background to volunteer; training involves everything you need to know.  You just need to be ready to help and willing to listen without judgment.
Address specific questions to samaritanscoordinator@gmail.com 

GIFTS TO GIVE

We are reaching out to all members on behalf of Gifts to Give owner Jim Stevens.  A quick update, GTG Charity closed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19. Under Governor Baker’s Guidance, the GTG Thrift Store & the Charity reopened in October 2022.  Jim put in place a Covid-19 protocol to keep the small number of UBER volunteers, who agreed to resume volunteering safe, while in the building.   Mary O’Keefe and Christine Voss returned to GTG in October.

Even though the virus still has a major impact on our daily lives, it also has had a dramatic and desperate impact on the lives of children and families living in poverty alone the SE Coast. Their needs did not vanish and in fact they got worse and GTG has stepped up to help.

Right now, Jim does not allow any group of volunteers, adult or student, to come into the building.  Keeping the volunteer numbers low ensures a safer controlled environment with social distancing, mandatory masks, and sanitizing station the norm. For that reason, we are only looking for 4 – 5 additional volunteers. Although it had been a “drop-in practice” in the past, right now we need to know your schedule in advance to make sure we keep the numbers low and the volunteers safe.  If you turn up unannounced, you will find the outside doors locked.

Volunteer Opportunity – High Priority

Right now GTG doesn’t have enough volunteers to process the new and used children’s clothing that has been donated.  Can you volunteer a few hours one morning or one afternoon each week to sort and process children’s clothing?

Volunteer Opportunity

The GTG Thrift Store Home Goods section is expanding, so I am looking for a couple of people to join me on my team.  We process incoming home goods donations, wash items when necessary and stack them on the shelves.  If you have a creative flare, your talent could help us display items in the store.  Can you volunteer a few hours one morning or one afternoon each week?

Volunteer Opportunity

GTG gets a lot of jewelry donated, both dress jewelry and valuable jewelry.  It needs to be sorted and displayed in the jewelry glass cabinets.  Can you volunteer a few hours one morning or one afternoon each week? You should be confident in identifying dress vs silver/gold pieces.

If you have any questions about the Thrift Store or jewelry opportunity, please don’t hesitate to Christine Voss. Mary O’Keefe has also been kind enough to offer to field any questions about processing the children’s clothing. We are hopeful that several of you will join us, even if it is just thru spring.

1 Titleist Drive, Acushnet, MA
www.giftstogive.org
Member Contact – Mary O’Keefe