Volunteers help touch lives through nonprofits

Helping nonprofits stretch their budgets isn’t the only benefit volunteers provide. Their work also touches people’s lives.

FREE SHOPPING SPREE

On a recent shopping trip, a Detwiler Elementary School first-grader received new clothing that included two outfits for school, one for the weekend, underwear and a pair of shoes, all at no cost to her family.

“I like what I got today,” 6-year-old Keishanie said during an Operation School Bell shopping excursion Sept. 8. “I got a pretty pink jacket, and I even got to pick out my own shoes. I haven’t really shopped like this before.”

The 35-year-old program, offered by the Assistance League of Las Vegas, 6446 W. Charleston Blvd., operates solely on volunteer labor and focuses on providing at-risk and homeless children in kindergarten through eighth grade with clothing and basic hygiene products. The program has provided free clothing for 92,000 children at low-income schools since it began.

“We will surpass 100,000 kids this year,” Operation School Bell co-chairwoman Lisa Clarke said. “Last year, we helped 8,351 kids, so for this year, we are looking to help over 8,000 more at least.”

The Clark County School District selects students for the program, Clarke said.

“So if a parent asks and needs help with buying clothes for their kids, they can go to their student counselor at the school, which then arranges a day for students at that school to come here, and then they get clothing,” she said.

Operation School Bell provides clothing for about 40 children daily from Monday through Friday and 60 to 70 children on Saturday. For those unable to attend the shopping day, a bag is prepared for them by volunteers.

“The reason this program is so important for these students is that by giving them new clothing, they don’t have to worry about what they will wear the following day at school,” Assistance League of Las Vegas president Dana Weisner said. “It helps improve attendance at school and helps them stay focused in the classroom so that they do better and are more productive.”

Clarke said the program provides the types of clothing children want to wear.

“We go to the off-price mart here in Las Vegas twice a year, and we purchase the items there,” she said. “We get things kids would want to wear to school so they don’t feel bad about the clothes they receive here and can look like the other kids. Even though they are receiving clothing for free, the point is to make them feel normal.”

For more information about the program, visit allv.org or call 702-870-2002.

CREATING TOYS FOR CHILDREN

The benefits of volunteering for Toys 4 Smiles are twofold, according to the nonprofit’s president.

Volunteers help lift children’s moods and put a smile on their faces by giving them their hand-crafted wooden toys, Rex Doty said. They also have a chance to create friendships with other volunteers while building the toys, he said.

The group, based at 3170 Polaris St., Suite 17, was created in 2005 and is 100 percent volunteer-based, Doty said. Also, the wood from which the toys are made is donated.

More than 195,000 toys have been given away since the organization began, and 90 percent are distributed in Southern Nevada, he said.

Volunteers can donate whatever time they have. They must be 18 or older and work with the equipment used for production. Doty said the shop has no temperature control, and that affects the number of people who show up to lend a hand.

For more information, visit toys4smileslasvegas.org or call 702-232-8191.

EVERY HELPER COUNTS

Preparing the Opportunity Village campus for its annual HallOVeen event might prove scary without volunteer assistance.

“We need over 10,000 volunteers annually to support our events that help to keep the doors open for our clients with intellectual disabilities at Opportunity Village,” said Jane Bjorklund, director of corporate relations.

The nonprofit, at 6300 W. Oakey Blvd., is 80 percent self-funded, she said. Money comes from fundraisers, donations and sponsorships. Volunteer hours “(allow) every dollar that we raise to go directly back into the programs and services for those living with intellectual disabilities that are coming to Opportunity Village.”

Opportunity Village was founded in 1954 by a small group of parent volunteers who had family members with intellectual disabilities and wanted to improve their lives.

“Opportunity Village is here to be able to give pride, purpose and a paycheck to those that are adults, in which at age 22, the school bus stops coming to their home, so we are founded upon the principle to allow them to have something to do throughout their adult years and to be able to give them not only a sense of community but to be able to be as meaningful as anyone else in society,” Bjorklund said.

Volunteers can help set up and run seasonal events such as HallOVeen, planned from 6-10 p.m. Oct. 24-26 and 30-31, the Magical Forest, scheduled for Nov. 21-Jan. 4, and the Las Vegas Great Santa Run, slated to take place Dec. 6 in downtown Las Vegas. There are corporate team volunteer opportunities, as well. In addition, people can volunteer with the organization year-round.

“Any volunteer that has a want and a willingness to help out those that we serve — those adults with intellectual disabilities in the community,” Bjorklund said.

“We would just like to thank the community and their volunteer support, because without the community’s volunteer support, we would not be able to be the Opportunity Village that we are today,” Bjorklund said.

For more information, visit opportunityvillage.org or call 702-259-3741.

===============

BREAKOUT:

— The Windmill Library, 7060 W. Windmill Lane; the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd.; and the Spring Valley Library, 4280 S. Jones Blvd., have the following volunteer positions available: adult services; shelver and holds processing; tutor for Computer Assisted Literacy in Libraries; and young people’s library. Those interested should contact Clark County Library District volunteer coordinator Leslie Valdes at 702-507-6181.

— The United Way of Southern Nevada, 5830 W. Flamingo Road, has seasonal volunteer opportunities coming up. The Dynamo Day Clean-Up is planned from 9 a.m. to noon Nov. 1 at Hollingsworth Elementary School, 1776 E. Ogden Ave. The Holiday of Giving is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at multiple locations around the valley. Volunteers younger than 18 must have a waiver signed by an adult. For more information, call 702-892-2300 or visit uwsn.org/volunteer.

— Helping Hands of Vegas Valley, 2320 Paseo Del Prado, Suite 112, is seeking volunteer drivers, social media experts and food drive coordinators. Those interested can contact volunteer coordinator Erick Ramirez at erick.ramirez@hhovv.org or 702-633-7264, ext. 30.