Community Outreach and Volunteer Opportunities
Make a difference in young students' lives and our local community! Partner with local nonprofits as a student mentor, or volunteer in other ways! Help teach the value of education! Share your expertise! Build relationships that last a lifetime!
Community Outreach & Volunteer Opportunities
- Children First, Sarasota
- Children's Guardian Fund
- Just for Girls (Manatee County Girls Club, Inc.)
- Laurel Civic
- Take Stock in Children, Sarasota
- UnidosNow, Sarasota
- Visible Men Academy (VMA), Bradenton/Sarasota
About Children First
The mission of Children First is to strengthen children and families by improving the quality of their lives through a comprehensive approach to development, education, health and well-being.
This statement reflects the organization’s underlying aspiration for the successful achievement of Head Start and Early Head Start goals and objectives, and the main priority of kindergarten readiness for all the children served.
- Please go to http://www.childrenfirst.net​ to learn more about Children First's valuable programs.
- For upcoming Children First mentor & volunteer opportunities - CLICK HERE
About Children's Guardian Fund
Mission: The Children’s Guardian Fund provides funding for the immediate and ongoing needs of Normalcy and Enrichment of children removed from abusive and neglectful homes in Manatee, Sarasota, and De Soto Counties. Many of these children have never had a birthday cake, a book, or a stuffed animal, much less the calm, undivided attention of an adult in their lives.
Child Advocacy: Close to 200 children are currently on the waiting list for a personal advocate. A child without a personal advocate (Guardian ad Litem) is at risk of not receiving the services they need. Both Child Advocate training and visits with the children currently are being conducted virtually. Use your talents to make a significant difference in a child's life by becoming a Guardian ad Litem. Learn more here: https://www.childrensguardianfund.org/get-involved/become-a-gal-child-advocate/
Academic Tutoring: Through no fault of their own, most children in foster and state care are behind in school due to parental neglect, trauma, and frequent moves. COVID-19 has created additional challenges for our already academically deficient students. The Children’s Guardian Fund is addressing academic challenges, one child at a time, through their Academic Tutoring Program, which provides individualized trauma-informed tutoring through specially trained tutors who collaborate with the child’s caregiver, court-appointed Guardian ad Litem volunteer, and teachers (wherever possible) to tackle academic challenges. $1,000 ($40/week) provides a child with six months of vital academic tutoring, enough to provide critical study skills and give that child the tools he or she needs to become successful at learning independently. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today to provide a child in foster care with a tutor: https://www.childrensguardianfund.org/product/make-a-donation/ or contact the Children's Guardian Fund to get involved.
About Just for Girls
Three Building Blocks, One Mission: Just for Girls makes a positive impact on young women every single day with a dedicated team that works to make girls' lives better through academic, developmental, and prevention programs.
- Alternative Education: The alternative middle school is a haven for girls who have committed to turning their lives around after having had trouble succeeding in a traditional school; each year this program helps these girls map a new path to success, find their personal inspiration, and turn F's into A's.
- Before and After School Programs: Three centers keep girls safe during non-school hours, and caring staff help girls build internal strengths such as confidence, resiliency, empathy, and trust.
- Charter School: Just for Girls Academy for Kindergarten through 5th grades, opened in August of 2012 and is already making a measurable difference increasing the academic success of young students. The Academy's innovative programming includes character development, leadership training, and service learning, all of which boost academics as they work to strengthen girls' relationships with their peers, families, and community.
- Please go to www.JustForGirls.org to learn more about Just for Girls' valuable programs.
- For upcoming Just for Girls mentor & volunteer opportunities - CLICK HERE
Note: Volunteers in direct contact with students will be required to submit to fingerprinting and background security clearance. Administrative volunteer opportunities for events and awareness initiatives are also available throughout the year. Volunteers interested in working with the Leadership Team to plan and execute fundraising events may contact Andi Watson directly at Andi@myjfg.org or (941)202-2287.
About Laurel Civic“With our partners, we build strong foundations through programs that empower children and families to lead successful lives.”Laurel Civic (LC) is a community-based organization that shapes foundations for successful lives, serving youth and adults of all ages in Sarasota County, through education, life development skills, personal empowerment, community awareness, and opportunities for growth leading to self-sufficiency.
The organization's foundation is to make life better through education and support for the disenfranchised and those lacking opportunities.Laurel Civic provides both Youth After-School Programs and Adult Empowerment Programs.Youth After-School Programs • Homework Assistance (Monday-Friday, 3:30-5:30pm) provides tutoring, exceptional teachers and volunteers, intensive learning, targeted identification of student deficiencies, and a track record of measurably increasing students’ grades and test scores. 2022 included the addition of three 86” Interactive Smartboards to better engage and teach students; as academic skills improve, so do students' confidence and sense of achievement.
• STEM, in collaboration with Pine View High School volunteers, helps 3rd-8th grade children develop a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
• At Kids Café provides nutritious hot meals for all participants each day after school as well as weekend snack packs for participants to take home.
• Teen Empowerment, a seven-week proactive empowerment and prevention program, provides each participant with a post-high school graduate plan, supports personal growth through character development, and teaches teens to succeed by becoming lifelong learners, leaders, community role models, productive workers, and self-sufficient citizens.
• Earning By Learning, an incentive and performance-based summer reading program, helps prevent “summer slip” which often happens when children are out of school. In collaboration with the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, the program is designed for rising pre-K and elementary school students.
• Financial Literacy Training includes: Financial Wellness, Income & Lifestyle Choices, Spending & Saving, Managing Debt, Financial Peace of Mind
About Take Stock in Children
Take Stock in Children pairs students who have the odds stacked against them with mentors who provide the support, encouragement, and guidance they need to succeed in school. As a mentor, you’ll spend just one hour a week with your student – and the difference that you will make will last a lifetime. Students commit to keeping their grades up, staying away from drugs and crime, meeting with their mentor, attending school regularly, and focusing on high school graduation and college readiness. When students meet these requirements, they earn a college scholarship, which is what makes Take Stock in Children the only school-based, college attainment focused mentoring program of its kind.
- Learn more about how you can become a mentor and change the future for a local student at www.TakeStockSarasota.org.
- For Take Stock in Children mentor & volunteer opportunities - CLICK HERE
About UnidosNow
Empowering Latinos to achieve their American Dream
UnidosNow’s College Prep Series empowers our leaders of tomorrow to be agents of social change through college preparation, leadership training, and community service. Special programs exist for local middle school and high school youth, including the Future Leaders Academy, which guides both students and parents in the process of applying to post-secondary education in the United States.
- Please go to www.UnidosNow.org/ to help make a difference in a young person's life.
- For upcoming UnidosNow mentor and volunteer opportunities - CLICK HERE
o For the general volunteering opportunities online application, click here: Volunteer Application | cc.unidosnow.org
o For the mentoring opportunities online application, click here: Mentor Application | cc.unidosnow.org
About VMA
Visible Men Academy is a tuition free public charter school located in Bradenton, FL, educating students in Sarasota and Manatee counties in grades K-5.
The VMA Philosophy
VMA's MISSION is to provide boys with outstanding academic, character, and social education in a nurturing school environment.
VMA's PURPOSE and COMMITMENT are to deliver a high-quality educational experience that meets the specific needs of at-risk elementary and middle school aged boys through the collaborative efforts of administrators, teachers, parents, the broader community and the students themselves.
VMA's VISION is to lead boys toward a realization of their innate strong character – boys who are family orientated, community conscious, and globally aware.
Through a firm foundation of intellectual and academic diligence, VMA students are equipped to meet and exceed the expectations of challenging high school environments and are eager and determined to pursue college education.
Through the rigorous modeling experience of the Visible Men Success Curriculum, VMA students gain vast exposure to future personal and career possibilities. These combine to cultivate within VMA students an unyielding sense of control over their futures – a critical orientation for lifelong success, personal fulfillment, and societal contribution.
- Please go to VMAcademy.org to learn more about Visible Men Academy's valuable programs.
- For VMA mentor and volunteer opportunities - CLICK HERE
- For (VIRTUAL) VMA volunteer opportunities, please email Kayon Parker, Volunteer Coordinator, or call her directly at (941) 758-7588.