Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Activities The Maroon Volunteer Center serves as a clearinghouse to match volunteers with community partners and service opportunities both on and off campus. The MVC also helps support service based student organizations and events including the Service DAWGS, The Big Event, and countless others. Finally, the MVC compliments the mission of Mississippi State University by building service and philanthropic partnerships with campus and community organizations.

Become a volunteer NOW!

Items Needed for Togo

In July, a medical mission team from Madison, MS, is going back to Togo for their third mission. They are in process of collecting certain over the counter medical supplies to send to Lome, Togo, West Africa. This team will provide vitamins, antibiotics, malaria medicine, and worm medicine to approximately 250 men, women and children per day for six days in various villages throughout southern Togo. In most cases, this is the only medical care these people will receive. If you would like to help with this mission effort, we need you to purchase as many of the following listed items in the largest quantities possible and deliver to the drop-off location in the Maroon Volunteer Center in 306 South Hall no later than May 31. Thank you for your help! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Courtney Allen at cma103@saffairs.msstate.edu.

ITEMS NEEDED FOR TOGO: (no liquid medications for adults; capsules or tablets only)

Saline (to wash wounds)
Eye drops (lubricant)
Iron tablets or capsules
Hydrocortisone cream
Tums
Benadryl (children & adult)
Zantac
Children's vitamins
Adult vitamins
Prenatal vitamins
Children's pain reliever (liquid)
Powder baby formula
Imodium

AMERICAN RED CROSS- DIASTER ACTION TEAMS (DAT)

Description:
The American Red Cross of Northeast Mississippi proudly serves Benton, Tippah, Alcorn, Prentiss, Tishomingo, Union, Pontotoc, Lee, Monroe, Itawamba, Chickasaw, Calhoun, Lowndes, Clay, Oktibbeha, and Webster Counties. We help our community every day by responding to local disasters such as single-family fires and natural disasters, providing health & safety education, providing emergency military communications and empowering our community to respond to disasters.

Opportunity: Our disaster action teams (DAT) are volunteers/members whom are available to respond to disasters as soon as possible in order to help the affected people. At the county/chapter level, this usually involves helping families who have suffered house fires and have lost all their belongings. Our DAT members meet with the clients to determine their needs and do whatever we can to help them. DAT members also play an important role in responding to larger disasters such as tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes.

Here is the specific information about training required for Disaster Action Teams (DAT):

Required Classes before being able to respond:
Disaster Services: An Overview - 4 hours
Disaster Assessment Basics - 4 hours
Client Casework - 8 hours

Required within the first year:
Psychological First Aid - 4 hours

All disaster training provided by the Red Cross is free. People who want to be part of a Disaster Action Team will need to fill out the volunteer application, submit a background check (provided by the Red Cross), and watch a video orientation. To sign up for a class, please click here.

For more information please contact:

MVC
volunteer@saffairs.msstate.edu
662-325-2150

Jonathan Thomas
Community Response Coordinator, Northeast Mississippi Chapter
American Red Cross
662-722-0335 (cell)
662-323-4621 (office)
jonathan.thomas@redcross.org
www.mississippi-redcross.org

J.L. King Center needs Volunteer Tutors

The William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Program is an education program for the Nation's economically challenged families that is designed to improve the academic achievement of young children and their parents, especially in the areas of reading and language. The adult education component provides high-quality, intensive instructional programs in adult literacy or adult basic education, including English language literacy as necessary, that leads to economic self-sufficiency.

The JL King Center in Starkville is contributing to this program by offering a GED program for adults and is looking for volunteers to help tutor the participants with basic math, reading, writing, and social studies. Volunteer sessions are available Monday- Thursday 10-11 am and/or 11 am- 12 pm. Volunteers must have transportation.

For more information, Please email the volunteer center at volunteer@saffairs.msstate.edu or sign up online by clicking the button below.

Legacy Hospice Interest Session

Volunteer to help Legacy Hospice care for persons in the last phase of incurable illnesses. Legacy's goal is to help meet the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families.

If you are interested in providing support to the Legacy Hospice branch in Starkville, please contact Elizabeth Tackett at Elizabeth.tackett@legacyhospice.net.

Local Agencies

On-going Volunteer Opportunities Available with Local Agencies
Listed below are the agencies in the Golden Triangle Region along with their needs. If you’re looking for a place to volunteer your time, or you simply want to learn more about the needs that exist in our area, these agencies are a great place to start.

If you are interested in any volunteer opportunity listed below, then contact the Maroon Volunteer Center at volunteer@saffairs.msstate.edu or 662-325-2150 to find out how to get involved.

Adult

Columbus-Lowndes Association for Handicapped Citizens- Volunteers will serve in whatever capacity needed. Assist with parties or day-to-day activities.
Gentiva Hospice- Looking for 6 month commitment volunteers to help in the office or visit patients weekly or bi-weekly. Different volunteer roles: administrative/clerical, direct patient, bereavement, or special service volunteers.
Safe Haven- Place for people who have been abused. Volunteers have wide variety of tasks such as painting walls, working outside, or babysitting while parents are in meetings. Work in your expertise area.

Animals

Oktibbeha County 4-H- Volunteers needed for special events.
Oktibbeha County Humane Society- Volunteers needed to wash dishes, walk dogs, socialize with cats, clean syringes, and more. Volunteers are also needed on the first Saturday of every month to assist with an Animal Showing at Pet Smart in Columbus, MS at 10:45 AM. Lunch will be provided.

Arts & Culture

Starkville Area Arts Council- Varies each week, but office needs include stuffing and addressing envelopes. Pumpkin Palooza- October 19; Magnolia Film Festival- February 16-18; Garden Expo March 24-25; Cotton District Arts Festival- April 21.
Starkville-Oktibbeha County Public Library- Shelving books, local history indexing, alphabetizing and sorting local history newspaper clippings, etc.

Children & Youth

Aiken Village Preschool- Reading or playing with the children.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Golden Triangle- Tutor kids from ages 6-17 years old.
Brickfire Project- Can work in the daycare or the after-school program. Volunteers will tutor, help in classrooms, help with snack, music, sports or another expertise area.
Columbus YMCA- Volunteers needed in various areas: facility and grounds- painting, mulching, and pressure washing the swimming pool; clerical duties- making copies and making booklets; fitness- if area of study is fitness, you can do an assistantship in workout room with approval.
Girl Scouts in Starkville Troop 320- Could use older girls who have been in Girl Scouts before to help with some of the older groups. The troop ranges from kindergarten-11th grade.
ICS Headstart- Volunteers will work with children from 3-5 years old. They will read, do hands-on activities, mentor, or supervise.
Palmer Children’s Home- On Tuesdays and Thursdays, volunteers can help with the Physical Education program. For one hour each evening, volunteers can play with the children out on the playground.
Project AIM- Mentor students from 3rd-8th grade. Will be assigned to student during the first week of school.
Sally Kate Winters Home- Volunteers can work at the after school program, where they can tutor or play with the children.
Southern Foundation for Homeless Children- Mentor a young man age 13-19 years old. The young men need someone who they can relate to, talk about life skills with, and be taken to games or other events in the area.
Starkville Soccer Association- Need coaches and referees for Fall and Spring season for children’s soccer teams.

Community Enrichment

United Way of North Central MS- Need volunteers who want to solicit to businesses for donations. Also needs a volunteer to come to the office in order to update their website and brochure.

Disability Support

Ability Works- The center is open 8- 2:30 Monday- Friday. They could use volunteers who would want to privately tutor people with learning or reading disabilities.
Columbus-Lowndes Association for Handicapped Citizens- Volunteers will serve in whatever capacity needed. Assist with parties or day-to-day activities.

Environment

Camp Seminole- Mostly labor-intensive work that involves tree-trimming, camp site repairs, wood working, and cleaning the area. On October 22-23, all cub scouts and their families are coming to Camp Seminole for a retreat. They will camp out Saturday night and be fed dinner and breakfast. Could use a few volunteers for those days. Could also use as many volunteers as possible October 17-21st to help clean up the campsites and make sure the activity areas are set up properly.
Habitat for Humanity- Each year Habitat partners with MSU students, faculty, and staff during the fall semester to build the fall Maroon Edition home.
Noxubee Wildlife Refuge- Various projects at the refuge depending on the time of year. Events take place every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month. Trash pick-up is a major service area.

Health & Wellness

Oktibbeha County Regional Hospital- Volunteers will work in customer service (front desk), retail (gift shop), and as patient representatives. Commit to one year of service and work 2-4 hours shifts 2-3 times per month.
Salvation Army – Starkville- Volunteers are needed to help with kettle collections during the holidays, collect food for the pantry, and collect clothing and other items for the thrift store in addition to helping with the organization of the store. Volunteer hours are M-F from 9-5. Volunteers are allowed 8 hours of volunteering. If more hours are desired, volunteers can become permanent with a background check.
Salvation Army – Columbus- Volunteers help sort items for the thrift store and food pantry as well as working at sites to help maintain facilities. In addition, volunteers are needed to help with kettle collections during holidays, collect food for the pantry, and collect clothing and other items for the thrift store.

International Support

English as a Second Language Center- Usually need volunteers at the beginning and end of their 8 week sessions, and also during big events. Contact their office to see if anything is available.

Senior Citizens

Columbus-Lowndes Association for Handicapped Citizens- Volunteers will serve in whatever capacity needed. Assist with parties or day-to-day activities.
Gentiva Hospice- Looking for 6 month commitment volunteers to help in the office or visit patients weekly or bi-weekly. Different volunteer roles: administrative/clerical, direct patient, bereavement, or special service volunteers.
Magnolia Manor- Volunteers can help with activities around the center. They can also shadow someone in the mental health area.

Other Agencies

52 Moms
Adult Basic Literacy Program
Boys & Girls Club in Starkville
Care Ministries of the Blind
Catch a Dream Foundation
Community Counseling Services
Emerson Family School
Family Centers Program Mentoring
Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum
Peter’s Rock Food Pantry
Prairie Opportunity
Recovery House
Saint Joseph’s Food Pantry
Senior Enrichment Center
Smiles Learning Center
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry
Starkville Community Market
Starkville Community Theatre
Starkville Manor Nursing Home
Student Support Services
T.K. Martin Center
Unity Hospice Care