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Volunteers Needed for Project Connect
It will take a lot of volunteers to put on the fourth annual Charlevoix-Emmet-Antrim Project Connect. which will be held Wednesday, February 2 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Petoskey. Char-Em United Way is recruiting and placing volunteers to make the event a success. Project Connect connects people in need with a range of health and human services needed to improve their lives.
“Last year, 288 volunteers helped with Project Connect at a value to our community of $21, 262,” said Ben Crockett AmeriCorps VISTA at United Way, who is coordinating the volunteers for Project Connect. “Tasked ranged from skilled volunteers such as hair stylists, nurses, opticians, and tax preparers to general volunteers who helped direct our guests and distributed giveaway items. We are again in need of many people who can volunteer their time in advance and at the event.”
Individual volunteer opportunities are posted on United Way’s Volunteer Connections website, www.tinyurl.org/volunteerconnections. Visitors to the site can search on the keywords Project Connect to see what is needed and respond directly through the website. Those without internet access can call United Way at 231-487-1006 for individual assistance.
Project Connect involved over 50 local non-profit agencies, as well as some businesses, which are on hand to provide a wide variety of services and resources. All services are free. They include: housing programs; utility support; food assistance; tax preparation; health screenings and services; children’s activities, and much more. Haircuts and chair massages will be available throughout the day. A hot lunch will be served. Guests can receive gifts of food, personal care items, and clothing, while they last. It is recommended that people bring picture ID, birth certificate, and income information with them, if they wish to apply for benefits.
A variety of donated items and the funds to purchase them are also needed for Project Connect. Drop boxes are located at stores throughout Charlevoix and Emmet Counties, and a list of items that are needed is available on the United Way website. Project Connect organizers request that donations be dropped off by January 26 and not taken directly to the event.
For more information about Project Connect, to volunteer goods, services or funds, contact United Way at 231-487-1006, info@charemunitedway.org or Hart at 231-347-8852, manna@mannafoodproject.org. Information and materials are also available on the Char-Em United Way website www.charemunitedway.org. A video of last year’s Project Connect can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA2AMgNc7k4
Project Connect is a project of the Poverty Reduction Initiative and Homeless Continuum of Care workgroup of the Charlevoix-Emmet Human Services Coordinating Body
Pictures from last year . . .
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