What volunteering programs can members choose?

FIND volunteer program (Friend in Neighborhood Detail)- A member can choose to become a FIND volunteer. This volunteering activity consists of answering questions for younger members new to an area because of school, new job, or military situations. The FIND volunteer may also volunteer to assist a new mother with small children or a caretaker of a parent. The volunteer coordinator will match each FIND volunteer with a member requesting this assistance.

BEST volunteer program (Benevolent Elder Safety Team)-The volunteer coordinator will maintain a database of elder members who have indicated a desire for a visit or assistance during unusual weather conditions (heat/cold waves, wind/snow/ice storms). Members can form BEST groups in their local area. The volunteer coordinator will match up a BEST team with individual elder members.

TASK volunteer program (Temporary Act of Social Kindness)– Any m ember can request social support during a period of personal stress or an emergency situation. The hotline operator will match up a member’s assistance request with a TASK volunteer in the local area at the time of the emergency request. Examples of this assistance are: drive to a hospital for a traveling spouse with stomach pains, directions for someone stuck in a blizzard.

NOTE: All FIND, BEST and TASKvolunteers will have extensive background checks before acceptance in order to provide secure personal encounters.

Skill-based civilian volunteer program - During local/national disaster or missing child incidents, members can contact the volunteer coordinator to offer their assistance. The coordinator matches a member’s skills to the needs of the official helping agencies and then provides specific contact information to the member.

Assistance request bulletin board - Members can post assistance requests on the official task bulletin board. Task can be one-time i.e. repairing a gate; recurring i.e. drives to a doctor’s office; or large i.e. rebuilding a porch. A member wishing to perform a task will contact the hotline and requests a listing of tasks in their zip code. After choosing a specific task they contact the volunteer coordinator, who will provide the task details and contact information. To avoid abuse, members can only have only one task listed at a time and maximum of two per year.