Hello VAC Volunteers!

November 15th, 2011 Here is your weekly update on service opportunities and other news in NWA
Look for this medallion on the newsletter and on volunteer.uark.edu for holiday projects.

*Please click on the thumbnails for more details about its project.

Adopt a Childs Star for the Holidays

Leverett Elementary School provides opportunities for generous individuals or groups to provide gifts to children for the holidays. These "Stars" are a chance to fulfill requests by families in need for specific items. Most requests include clothing and additional gift or two. Each star will include information on gender, clothing sizes, individual requests, and wishes for gifts. These gifts can make a tremendous difference in a child's life. It is an opportunity for volunteers to fulfill a holiday wish and provide useful new clothes for the winter. Please bring your heart to this opportunity to help a child for the holidays!

Leverett Elementary Families In Need

Many Leverett Elementary families are dependent on the school meals programs as a primary source of nutrition for their children. The holidays pose a hardship for many of our families since the school is closed during those times. Leverett Elementary School accepts food donations to help these families through the holidays. This is an opportunity for volunteers to help sort and package donated food items for our families in need. The work will be easy and rewarding. This is a chance to provide a very important service to children and families in our community during the holidays. There are no training requirements for this opportunity. Please wear comfortable shoes and casual clothing that is appropriate for light work in a public school setting.

Parson Hills Elementary

Due to the tremendous need of our families. Parson Hills Elementary provides a Snack Pack for all 650 of our students for the two week winter/Christmas break. Because most of the students at Parson Hills are on free/

cause most of the students at Parson Hills are on free/ reduced lunch, they depend on the meals they get at school to keep from going hungry. There are about 175 students that receive a snack pack on Fridays for the weekend. Those students are especially in need of extra snacks during a long school break. Therefore, we at Parson Hills provide a winter break snack pack with 14 snacks one for everyday of the break. We are asking for donations of pudding cups at this time. We will need 650 by Friday, December 16th 2011. Volunteers will then be needed on December 15th, Thursday, to put the winter break snack packs together. Volunteers are also needed weekly to help make the weekend snack packs. Please learn more about this ongoing opportunity on our site.

Warming Up the Hill

Students Advocating Stronger Sisterhood is collaborating with various organizations throughout campus to collect white socks, large blankets, sleeping bags, mens jean sizes (28-34), coats, and 2 to 1 man tents for the 7hills Homeless Center. Donation boxes are located at the Multicultural Center (4th floor of the Arkansas Union), Pomfret, NW Quad, Reid, Maple Hill, Gregson, Gibson, Yocum, Humphreys, & Buchanan-Droke. This is an ongoing event that begins on Friday Nov 11th- Friday Dec 9th. Volunteers are also needed to pick up the donations on November 18th, December 2nd, & December 8th at either one of these grouped locations: (NW Quad, Maple, Reid), (Gibson, Gregson, Humphreys, Yocum), & (Buchanon-Droke, Pomfret).

NWA Womens Shelter

NWAWS in Rogers, AR needs help from UA students who are not afraid of some moderate lifting. We are in the process of moving donated items from the shelter to our thrift store. We need all hands on deck to move boxes and bags full of clothing and household items. Volunteers will be needed everyday from November 8th to November 30th between 8:00AM4:00PM. There is no training requirement for this event. This can be a single time activity or something you do on a regular basis.

Fayetteville Half Marathon

This is event is looking for volunteers. Please register to volunteer today and help everyone make it safely to the finish line. More than 500 volunteers are needed for this year's events, which include a Health and Fitness Expo and a Pasta Dinner, in addition to the Half Marathon, Community Fundraiser 5K, Magic Mile and One Mile Fun Run & Walk. Volunteering at the Fayetteville Half Marathon and the other weekend's events is both fun and rewarding! The Fayetteville Half Marathon is not a success without a great volunteer

and rewarding! The Fayetteville Half Marathon is not a success without a great volunteer organization. There will be over a thousand participants from around the world who will be training for this years races. These participants will need all our help on race weekend and our community will be relying on our local knowledge to help make this event a success! If you would like to volunteer, please go to this site and fill out a registration form.

Outstanding Volunteer of the Month

The Student Volunteer of the Month and Employee Volunteer of the Month awards were established by the University of Arkansas Center for Community Engagement in order to recognize members of the U of A community who are impacting the Northwest Arkansas area through service. The Volunteer of the Month must display strong servant leadership and a consistent commitment to helping others. Volunteers may self-nominate, be nominated by another university community member or by an agency for which they have volunteered. The nomination process is open, meaning there is no deadline for applications. Nominees will be entered into a pool once their applications are received and approved. The Volunteer of the Month is selected from that pool and will be announced the beginning of each month. Nominees not selected will remain in the pool and be eligible for future selection. To nominate a University of Arkansas Student or Employee for this great honor, find the application on service.uark.edu/vtm and return it to the Center for Community Engagement, Arkansas Union A643, (479) 575-4365. For questions or comments contact Ivy Mullen at imullen@uark.edu.

VAC Literacy Program

The goal of the VAC Literacy Program is to foster a love of reading and to improve literacy among grade school students. University of Arkansas volunteers commit to one semester of reading with a student for one hour a week. The program takes place at a local elementary school's after school program. The Volunteer Action Center is currently accepting applications for a board member who will serve as the VAC Literacy Program Co-Chair for the spring 2012 semester and 2012-2013 academic year, and for a VAC Literacy Intern for spring 2012. The intern will be responsible for working with the VAC Literacy Chairs to recruit volunteers for the program, enter data, evaluate the program, visit the schools where the program takes place, work in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Club of Fayetteville, and other responsibilities. If you are interested and return it to the Center for Community Engagement, ARKU A643, by December 2, 2011 at 4 p.m. VAC Literacy Program Co-Chair Application | VAC Literacy Intern Application

Alternative Spring Break 2012: Dream B.I.G Mentors

This year the ASB program, Dream B.I.G. (Believing in Girls), will be held on March 18-21. It will consist of female student mentors facilitating two, three-day girl empowerment camps for high school girls from the Arkansas Delta region. The overnight camp will take place at

from the Arkansas Delta region. The overnight camp will take place at Mt. Sequoyah in Fayetteville and will engage 50-75 girls. The day camp will be in Southwest Arkansas focused around the Texarkana/ Hope area. To participate as a Mentor for ASB, please complete the Mentor Application and return it to the Center for Community Engagement, ARKU A643. The deadline to apply for Fayetteville Lead Mentor is December 2, 2011 at 4 p.m. To apply for other Mentor positions, you must return the application by January 20, 2012 at 4 p.m. Interest meetings will be held November 16th from 5:00PM - 6:00PM in ARKU 305 and November 17th from 5:00PM - 6:00PM in ARKU 312. There will also be a University Programs event to learn more about the Delta and the Dream B.I.G program on Tuesday November 29th. A reception and gallery viewing at Anne Kittrel will be held from 7:00PM - 8:00PM, followed by a video at the Union Theatre at 8:00PM. ASB 2012 Mentor Applications

VACS FEATURED BLOGGER Dan Ashley, Public Relations and Volunteer Coordinator, talks about the Salvation Army and what you can do to help this holiday season!

Visit the BLOG!

More opportunities at VOLUNTEER.UARK.EDU!

For more information, contact Sylvia at vacint@uark.edu.