Volunteer to Help With Our Sponsor a Child Campaign
Each year, we hold an online fundraising campaign during the month of April, asking people to give to the organization. We choose the month of April because April is April is National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month & Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
You can participate in the campaign by volunteering to raise funds. All you have to do is set  up a web page through Firstgiving.com and send emails to your friends, families, and co-workers, giving them an opportunity to support the good work we do. No experience setting up a web page is necessary! Firstgiving.com makes it very easy and, if you need help or find it confusing, we'll do it for you! Sign up to help today!
For more information or assistance, call Judith Brauer at 770-532-6530 x 33.
Great Day of Service Builds Two New Offices in Gainesville and Paints Walls in Cumming
The First United Methodist Churches of both Gainesville and Cumming have been wonderful to the Children's Center for Hope & Healing for many years, adopting our projects as projects for the Great Day of Service for many years.
In Cumming, the Great Day of Service volunteers brightened a therapy room with a new coat of paint. The volunteers made a room a lot lighter and more cheerful and child-friendly with a new shade of light blue. Senior Therapist Mary D'Ambrisi who manages the Cumming Office of the Children's Center for Hope & Healing says she loves the new color and thinks it is perfect for the kids who visit the office, making the office even more welcoming.
This year, the volunteers in Gainesville took on a very ambitious project that turned the Great DAY of Service into a Great WEEKEND of Service for the 6 men volunteering at our new Main Street location.
In our new location, we had a large, wonderful, open space that we wanted to close in with walls so that we could use the space as therapy offices. Local contractor Benny Hawkins and 5 others from the Methodist Church stepped forward to volunteer.
 At the end of a very long day on Saturday, they made plans to come back for "about 2 more hours" on Sunday to finish. Two more hours turned into a whole other day which they gave generously. All six came back for day 2, spending a whole weekend in the offices of the Children's Center for Hope & Healing.
On Monday, therapist Susan Collins moved into her new office and we began making plans to set up the second office as a group therapy room. By Tuesday, she was seeing clients in her new space.
We are very grateful for the new offices, for the generousity of the men who volunteered, and for the church that organized the day of service and graciously provided the materials to make this project happen.
The Children's Center for Hope & Healing is grateful to be a part of the Great Day of Service. Thanks to both Methodist Churches in both of these communities for adopting our offices and the children we serve!
Thank you Disney Volunteers! 
We are grateful for the dozens of people who donated their time and talents to the agency during the Disney Give a Day Get a Disney Day campaign. We had people help us with window washing, maintenance, scanning records, filing, reception work, and so much more. All of the volunteers who came to us through the program were cheeful and helpful. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with them. Thank you to our volunteers and to Disney!
Disney gave away 1 million tickets through this program. At this time, the program has ended. While you can no longer earn a trip to Disney, we can still offer a meaningful way to spend a day or a few hours. Call Emily McMath today and find out how you can make a difference in the life of a child by voluneering at the Children's Center for Hope & Healing.
 Thank you MLK Day Volunteers!
On MLK Day, 31 volunteers from across the area contributed 120 volunteer hours of service to the Children's Center for Hope & Healing.
The energetic bunch removed some dark tinting on the inside of the front windows at the new Gainesville office. They also stuffed and labeled envelopes, painted the basement, hung pictures on the walls, organized supply closets, and did a number of other projects to help us complete the move in process.
The volunteers signed up to help us through Hands on Forsyth, through the United Way of Hall County, and through the Disney site. Nine participants had registered with Disney and earned a free Disney ticket that day!
 About Volunteering at the Children's Center
In addition to the Volunteer Opportunities listed below, the Children's Center for Hope & Healing has several special projects that are in need of a group of volunteers. Some of these projects are ideal for a Boy Scout Eagle Project or church group project. Contact Rebecca Davis (770.532.6530 x.12) for more information about special project needs.
We also welcome volunteers who wish to contribute specific skills that we may not have listed. If, for example, you are a photographer, and would like to volunteer, please call and talk to us! We'd love to make a volunteer match between your skills and our needs.
Group projects are also welcome. Pictured right is a group of the Young Leaders Society of the United Way who came and volunteered for several hours one Saturday morning in late spring. We're happy to talk with you about how we can put groups of 3 to 24 to work on site.
In 2009, volunteers painted murals, helped us move, decorated for the gala, hosted visitors at the Southern Living Idea House in Dahlonega, contributed legal advice and financial advice, served on our Board of Directors, built shelves, installed telecommunications wiring, coached our staff on communications presentations, and so much more! We are enormously grateful for all that the volunteers who have helped us have done!
 Volunteer Opportunities
Administrative Assistant: Provide general office assistance. Responsibilities vary depending on the needs of the agency and the skills and interest of the volunteer, but may include copying, filing, writing, working on mailings, making phone calls, or more involved tasks such as project planning and coordination.
Building Maintenance: Provide on-call periodic assistance with minor repairs, helping us with things on our “honey-do” list. Hours flexible.
Communications Assistant: Assist with our print and or electronic communications as part of our overall communications strategy. Depending on the needs of the agency and the skills and interest of the volunteer, this position might include writing articles for the print or electronic newsletter, assisting with our Facebook Cause, or design of one of our print or electronic newsletters. Hours flexible. Some work can be done off-site and some at the Center.
Client Satisfaction Monitor: Assist with our Outcomes Assessments by calling clients who have recently completed therapeutic treatment to administer a phone survey asking about their satisfaction with services and/or compiling answers to assessments of treatment outcomes for analysis. Hours flexible.
Grant Writer: Assist with the preparation of a specific grant or assist with identifying new grant sources. Good writing skills are essential. Hours flexible. Some work can be done off-site or at Center.
 Receptionist: Greet clients and visitors, notify staff of clients’ and visitors’ arrivals, and answer telephones. This position is ideal for an individual looking for a friendly place to volunteer on a regular basis. Writing and computer skills a plus. Ability to speak Spanish is also a plus, but not required. Shift Hours: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. or 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. M, T, W or H.
Social Media Strategy Assistant : Assist with agency’s social media strategy by helping to post updates to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. Great for someone who is technologically savvy and loves to spend time online. Hours flexible and work can be done at home.
Special Events Worker: Provide set up assistance, clean-up assistance, or assistance during an event. Events are scheduled at various times throughout the year. Ideal volunteer job for someone who likes a one-time commitment with very little advance preparation and no follow-up requirement.
Special Events Planning Committee Member: Serve on one of three special events planning committees we have to plan our three annual events: our educational conference, our gala, or our motorcycle ride. Help to plan decorations, sell tickets, publicize the event, or sell sponsorships. This is a great assignment for someone who likes to work in groups, likes planning, and enjoys seeing a project come together.
Web site maintenance: Assist with the design and updating of our website. Familiarity with Dreamweaver MX is a must.
Volunteer to lead a Snack Drive
 Most of the children we see come to us in the after-school hours. They usually arrive just after school or during dinner time. They are often hungry. A hungry child can't concentrate. In addition, many of our children come from homes where there isn't a lot of food to begin with. We enjoy being able to offer our children snacks during therapy.
One way you can help is by holding a Snack Drive at your work place, your church (perhaps your Sunday School Class), or among your friends or neighborhood. A wonderfully, generous employee at the Forsyth County Juvenile Court spearheaded a campaign of all Forsyth County employees last year. She was pregnant at the time. When she had to be hospitalized in the latter part of her pregnancy, she continued to send email messages to other employees to drop off snacks at her office from the maternity ward of the hospital! The Forsyth County employees collected a bounty of snacks. You can do the same thing among your circles of friends or associates. Don't want to collect snacks? We also always need art supplies or other items from our wish list!
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glue (Elmer's type)
