Volunteer Opportunities

How You Can Make A Difference!

The Weekend Backpack Program – provides 50 students from very low- income families with a backpack filled with nutritious, non-perishable food each weekend to combat hunger and help them come to school Monday ready to learn. The program is a partnership with the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina and its Bayer CropScience Backpack Program. 

Funding Opportunities:

·$25 feeds a child every weekend for a month

·$250 feeds one child every weekend for the school year

·$5,000 feeds 20 children every weekend for the school year

Sponsor a Week: Corporations, churches, and civic groups have found this to be a rewarding group building activity.

·Bring a group of 5-15 volunteers to fill backpacks

·Organize a mini-food drive; and

·Contribute $500

Volunteer Opportunities: Help us fill backpacks and deliver them to the children in their classrooms each Thursday at 2:30 pm.

The Durham Performance Learning Center - is a non-traditional Durham High School located at Northgate Mall that targets students who have dropped out, or are at risk of dropping out of school. The students must pass an interview, must read and do math on at least an 8^th-grade level, and are typically referred by guidance counselors. In this small, personal atmosphere, we strive to help students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college and careers. Our goal is to find a mentor for every student, offer them job shadowing and internship opportunities, to bring in speakers to introduce them to various career paths and college opportunities.  

Volunteer/information contact: Amanda Parris, PLC Services Coordinator, at amanda@cisdurham.org or 560-9190 x11230. 

Mentoring: PLC mentors meet with their mentee once a week at lunchtime, for 30 to 60 minutes. (Mentors can come any time between 12:45pm and1:45pm.) We ask mentors to commit to one school year.  

One of the five principles of Communities in Schools of Durham is to offer each student a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult. Mentoring a PLC student is one of the most productive and satisfying ways you can make a difference in Durham.  

Job Shadowing: Volunteers allow a student or students to spend a day accompanying him or her during a typical day on the job -- including attending meetings, working on projects – and talking with the student about what your job is like. This helps our students understand what a real day is like in a career they wish to explore. 

This is a one-time, one-day experience., etc. Ideally, a volunteer or a company would offer this several times during a year so that multiple students could participate. 

Speaking to Students: Professionals in the business, creative or nonprofit worlds speak for about 20 minutes to the student body about the path to their current jobs – including skills, education and interests are required – and to answer student questions.

The goal is to expose our students to a broad range of future possibilities, and to give them a sense of how to put their skills to use in the world of work. Past speakers have enjoyed the lively Q&A sessions from curious and motivated students.

Offering Internships: We are seeking internship opportunities for our 11^th and 12^th grade students in fields they would like to pursue. Student Interns would ideally spend one day a week on-site at the company (6-8 hours).   This will offer them crucial work experience, contacts, references, and the opportunity to learn about potential careers.

Expanding CIS of Durham’s Capacity - as a Volunteer! We can do more for Durham’s schoolchildren if creative and committed volunteers become an integral part of our organization. We are looking for the following:

·Website design and/or upkeep

·Marketing

·Office assistant

To volunteer or for more information contact: Elizabeth Levene, Program Director, at elizabeth@cisdurham.org or 919-403-1936.

ready to volunteer

ready to donate