Volunteer Opportunities

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Food rescue is the process of gathering donated, excess food that would otherwise be thrown away from food service providers and giving it to hungry people.

Eat Greater Des Moines rescues food as a core part of our services. We act as a bridge between those with extra food and those in need.

When a company has a pallet of oranges in need of a home, or dozens of pre-packaged day-old sandwiches that would otherwise be thrown away, we send drivers to pick it up.

It’s then transported to local organizations to distribute, such as libraries, homeless shelters, youth programs, and schools.

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This advisory board is integral in ensuring DMPA’s messaging and programming is representative of its community and continues to challenge and expand perspectives culturally and artistically. Members of this board play a vital role in helping DMPA learn how best to serve various aspects of our community. The social and educational benefits to participants are great in that they will work alongside other community members to help guide decisions and practices for DMPA as they pertain to EDAI.

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As a volunteer at Break Time, you will have an opportunity to make a loving impression on the kids who attend while having a lot of fun! By contributing to the success of Break Time, you allow single parents time for a much-needed break to recharge, and you show them that there are people who recognize their needs and want to contribute in helping to meet them. You have the opportunity to show love to a great group of kids by engaging them in a variety of activities like games, crafts, and snacks.

Break Times occur once a month and we will continue to add dates to our website as the year goes on.

Volunteers 18 and older are required to complete a background check prior to serving.

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Dates of Position: 2 month minimum- 6 month maximum
Time Commitment: 6-10 hours a week; flexible based on needs of the student
Supervisor: Meredith Batz & Maggie Siwinski, Volunteer Coordinator
Requirements: Must be 16 years of age or older

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The Downtown Farmers’ Market presented by UnityPoint Health – Des Moines returns to the Historic Court District on Saturday, May 6, 2023. It runs every Saturday from 7 a.m. – Noon (May – September) and 8 a.m. – Noon (October). The Market offers a variety of attractions and activities including shopping for fresh produce, ready-to-eat-food, live entertainment, and much more.

Volunteer shifts start at 5:15 am each Saturday with setup and then starting at 11:45am teardown. Three Saturdays during the season, volunteers also have the opportunity to help run The Market!

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Meet us at the Market! The Downtown Des Moines Farmers’ Market is a summer tradition and one of our favorite ways to get involved with DMARC through Meals from the Market. All materials are provided and some lifting is required.

Volunteers are needed every Saturday from May to October (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) to help collect produce items from vendors who would like to donate to the DMARC Food Pantry Network. This is a great group activity.

Learn more and sign up: https://bit.ly/MealsfromtheMarket

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We need your help packaging life-saving meals for the hungry in Iowa, across the nation and around the world at the Meals From the Heartland packaging center in West Des Moines. Most people package over 400 meals during their two-hour shift, so you are making a huge difference in the lives of lots of children. We have a variety of shifts available Tuesday through Saturday each week. Individuals (ages 8-105), small teams and large groups are all welcome! Bring your friends, teams, coworkers and family. People work as a team to scoop dry food ingredients into bags, weigh and seal them and put them in boxes.

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Provide customer support in the gift shop.

Our gift shop will be a year old in November, so the employees are our primary customer base until we get the word out. They scan their badges for purchases which gives them a payroll deduct on all purchases.

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Watch a group of children while the parents are in a meeting down the hall to ensure children are safe. We are hoping for a couple of volunteers each month depending on amount of interest.

Meeting dates are Sept 5^th, Oct 3^rd, Nov 6^th, Jan 9^th, Feb 5^th, March 5^th, April 2^nd and May 7^th.  

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We have youth soccer coming up next week! We still are looking for a few coaches for this upcoming season. If you have a passion for soccer and would like to get volunteer hours in during the fall, this is the place for you! There are no practices during the week. You would be needed on Tuesday nights at the Waukee YMCA and possibly Thursday nights at Colby Park in West Des Moines.

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YMCA Flag Football is coming up and we are still looking for volunteers to coach a few teams for the upcoming season. If you are interested in coaching flag football and have a passion for helping our community grow this is the place for you. We hold games on Saturdays at Valley Stadium. If you have time for practices during the week, you can also receive more hours doing that. It’s up to you!

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Each Sunday, we have 8 dance classes to allow children of all ability levels to participate in dance. We would love the volunteer to participate every Sunday to allow for some consistency with our dancers. Only 1 hour is needed each week (more classes if you wish). You will be assisting children to dance or dancing along side our dancers. They all have their own abilities.

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Volunteer to help operate the concession stand for home football games. Cashier, Food Prep, Runner, Griller, etc.

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Sunday evening childcare for a Faith event, there are roughly 10 children each week between the ages of 2 and 11. We would need assistance walking them through the dinner line and then take the younger children back to the nursery and another group to a classroom with the older kids. Toys and games, along with books and crafts are available to the children.

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Thursday, October 12, 5:15 – 7:30PM
• Assistant to Cashier: greet customer, help cashier scan product, place in bag
• Hand out popcorn
Saturday, October 14
• Guest counter: help us keep track of visitors as they enter the sales room! 10AM – 1:30PM or 1:30 – 5PM
• Assistant to Cashier: greet customer, help cashier scan product, place in bag. 10AM – 1:30PM

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Families who attend Paint a Pumpkin will receive a pumpkin, paint brushes, paints, snacks, and goodies. We’ll also offer face/hand painting.

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Raccoon River Rally 2023

The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce and the City of West Des Moines are excited to announce the 3rd Annual Racoon River Rally scheduled for October 14, 2023. This is a FREE family-friendly, rain-or-shine event and everyone is invited!

Raccoon River Rally is a unique fall festival at Raccoon River Park celebrating WDM’s community and waters. Attractions for the event include live music, cardboard boat races, fun activities for kids, local food trucks, a variety of beverages, and much more!

A portion of sponsorship proceeds will benefit the Athene Pedestrian Bridge capital campaign.

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The IMT Des Moines Marathon is a premier distance running event that showcases our capital city and benefits surrounding communities. This fall event couldn’t happen without the assistance of wonderful volunteers each year.
With a variety of volunteer opportunities, there is a place for everyone to get involved. See website link for more specific information.

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The Iowa Wild hockey team has invited Adaptive Sports Iowa to be the recipients of the “Split the Pot” raffle that takes place at all home games throughout the 2023-24 season. The volunteers will assist in selling raffle tickets throughout the games up until the end of the second intermission. At that point, a drawing will take place and the proceeds raised during the game will be split between the winning ticket and Adaptive Sports Iowa. This is a tremendous fundraising opportunity for our organization that will have profound effects on our ability to serve our mission.

The system in place for the volunteers is extremely user-friendly. Each volunteer will have a wireless device that will print the ticket as well as update a real-time amount ticker on the scoreboard. Each volunteer will receive free admission into the game as a volunteer.

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Help us celebrate Night Eyes, October 19 – 22 & 26 – 29. We are looking for volunteers who want to have fun and celebrate Halloween at the Zoo!

Volunteer Age Requirement: 13 & Up!

Volunteer opportunities include: Candy Runners, Treat Stations, Specialized costume characters, Zone Captains, Fun Zone Attendants

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Waukee YMCA’s Truck or Treat is a fun family event with opportunities to touch and explore a variety of vehicles from the community while trick or treating along the way. Volunteers will help with a variety of tasks such as set up/tear down, dressing up in costumes for kids, vendor set up, face painting, and overall operations of the event.

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The Taste of Norway is a bake/craft show to raise money for our non-profit lodge. Students will check in at the entrance of the cafeteria with lodge members and be directed to supervising adult.

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Saturday, Oct 28, Trick or Trees Activity Tables: Volunteer with activities such as Gourd Guts, Carnivorous Plants, and Bat Pollination! This role is fun for those who are outgoing and enjoy helping people learn. Trick or Trees is a family-friendly event offering interactive activities and entertainment. Volunteers serve as activity table leaders, engaging guests to learn about trees and spooky botanicals throughout the Botanical Garden. The activities are easy to learn, and volunteers are provided information and talking points in advance. Day of, staff will touch base at the start of the shift to review the activity and answer questions. Costumes are encouraged for both volunteers and attendees! Shifts: 10AM – 12:30PM, 12:30 – 3PM, 3 – 5PM

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Please report to South Middle School in Waukee. Address is 2350 SE LA Grant Pkwy, Waukee, IA 50263. The Clive Parks and Recreation Youth Basketball league is held on Sundays, beginning November 5th. This position will be setting up and/or tearing down tables and chairs, scoreboards, lowering hoops, etc. for youth basketball league play.

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Jolly Holiday Lights is Make-A-Wish Iowa’s biggest annual fundraiser that allows us to grant many wishes for wish kids across all of Iowa! This event starts on November 17 and ends on January 7 with multiple volunteer shifts each day in the Wish Shop! The Wish Shop is located in a suite at the Outlets of Des Moines where guests will enjoy meeting Santa and participating in all the Wish Shop has to offer! Volunteers will help guide guests throughout their experience in the Wish Shop by greeting them at the door, selling merchandise, and collecting donations. This is an indoor opportunity and any person or group under the age of 18 must be accompanied by one adult.

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The Des Moines Turkey Trot is the largest thanksgiving celebration in Iowa, it takes a large army of people to make this happen. You could be doing a variety of different things during your time with us. This could include anywhere from handing out fun swag, passing out things at the end of the race, helping the aid station, and also set up and take down. We would love for you to join us in our celebration!!

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Each Safety City volunteers are paired with one or two children going into Kindergarten. Our sessions run for five days and meet 2.5 hours each day with morning and afternoon sessions available. The volunteers mentor their assigned kindergartners through several safety lessons and assist them with different activities throughout the week. Waukee Police Officers facilitate the class and lead everyone in a fun, healthy, safe environment.