Individual Volunteer Application

Thank you for your interest in sharing your time and talents with Community Action Network (CAN)! There are many ways individuals support CAN's mission. This application will help us match your interests and availability with the volunteer opportunities needed in the CAN communities. 

Let's get started! 
If you would like to volunteer as a large group (5+), please view our Large Group Volunteer Application.
Step 1: CAN Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer Opportunities:

To learn more about our available opportunities, please select the box next to each opportunity type below.

At the bottom of each description is a check-box to select if you are interested in participating in that specific opportunity.

Donating Items for Agency Drives
Providing Food for Summer Camps
CAN hosts 6 weeks of educational summer camps for kids in CAN communities who are in rising 1st-6th grade. Campers are fed multiple times during these day-long camps. Most sites provide 2-3 meals and multiple snacks each day. It takes a lot of planning and support for CAN to provide this amount of food.

Are you interested in helping provide food for summer camp? There are opportunities for you to:
- cook a meal and deliver it to a camp for the kids 
- purchase non-perishable food for camp staff to prepare for the kids
- donate financially for CAN to purchase food to prepare for the kids

Providing School Supplies 
CAN provides all of the children in our programs the supplies they need to have a successful school year. We typically distribute these backpacks and supplies in August. Donations are gathered over the summer. 

Working with Children & Youth in CAN's Educational Programs
Opportunity 1 of 2- Summer Camp Mentor

This is a good fit for someone looking to be a strong role model for children in rising 1st-6th grades during our educational summer camps. 

Mentors build meaningful, supportive relationships, help implement CAN's educational curriculum, encourage children's healthy social-emotional skill development, provide academic/homework support, and cultivate an environment honoring inclusion, flexibility, and collaboration. Mentors receive pre-volunteering training and ongoing support/check-ins from team members.


Commitment:

  • A minimum of 2 hours a week with a consistent weekly schedule 
  • Educational summer camps happen on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from June 26th-August 4th. Volunteers typically participate in program from 10-Noon or 2-4 pm (times vary by site)

Opportunity 2 of 2- Summer Camp Enrichment Support
This is a good fit for someone who wants to lead activities that enrich the robust curriculum already provided to children in CAN’s educational programs. Some examples include reading, science experiments, literacy, naturalist activities, tutoring, and art.

Commitment: Depends on volunteer availability and CAN community need.


Working with Family Stabilization in CAN's Food Distributions and Pantries
Food Distribution Partner

This is a good opportunity for someone interested in supporting food security and family stabilization efforts. Food distribution partners help with unloading the food truck, inspecting and organization food, making bags of food, and distributing food to community members.

Food distribution partners receive pre-volunteering training and ongoing support/check-ins from team members.

Commitment: Typically a consistent schedule for a semester or beyond. There may be some flexibility based on the opportunities currently available. Please contact volunteers@canwashtenaw.org with specific questions.


Working on General Community Projects

Volunteers who partner with CAN come with a large range of interests and abilities. Some examples of ways volunteers have partnered with CAN in the past include: 

  • Community clean-up/trash pick-up events

  • Volunteering during community center events and parties. This could include event setup, serving food, or leading fun activities at parties, and event tear down. 

  • Working with CAN families to prepare community gardens for winter or spring and/or general landscaping around the community centers

  • Deep cleaning CAN community centers 

  • Painting community center walls (touch-ups or repainting entire rooms)

  • Assisting with renovation or center updates (including furniture assembling or dissembling, which requires some mechanical/tool know-how)



Step 2: Volunteer Availability & Site Preference
Map of CAN Community Centers
Availability For Working With Children & Youth
Please indicate your CAN location preferences: 
Arrowwood Hills Brick Bryant Creekside Court Hikone
Please indicate what day(s) of the week you are available to volunteer from 10-Noon or 2-4 pm: 
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Availability For Working With Food Distributions & Pantries
Please indicate what food program opportunity you prefer based on your availability:
Arrowwood Hills; 2nd Friday 8:30-Noon Brick: Every Thurs 9-11 Bryant OPTION 1: Mon, Wed, or Thurs 9-12 Bryant OPTION 2: Mon, Wed, or Thurs 11-2 Creekside Court: 2nd, 4th, & 5th Wed 1-3 Green Baxter Court: Every other Wed 12:30-2:30 Hikone: Every other Wed 12:30-3
Availability For General Community Projects
Please provide your general availability to participate in these projects below: 
Weekday Morning Weekday Afternoon Weekday Evening Weekend Morning Weekend Afternoon


Step 3: Volunteer Information
If applying on behalf of a group, please input the primary contact's name and the main address and contact information for the group.




mm/dd/yyyy

Include Apartment or Unit Number separated by a comma








Where do you work or go to school?


Group Affiliation?



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e.g. prefer not to say, ze/zie, etc.




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Once this form is submitted, CAN's Director of Volunteers will be in touch to discuss the details of how you can get involved with Community Action Network's programs and services.
Step 1: COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement
At CAN, our mission is to partner with under-resourced families so they can thrive. A large component of this is ensuring we are doing everything in within our power to protect the vulnerable populations who are the most susceptible to the devastating effects of this virus. For that reason, all staff, interns, and volunteers who partner with CAN and CAN's families are required to have the Covid-19 vaccine and any eligible boosters. 

Please review CAN's COVID-19 Response Plan and contact dmiller@canwashtenaw.org if you have any questions.
CAN Definitions
  • Fully Vaccinated = Completed initial vaccine series + current eligible boosters

  • Partially Vaccinated = Some amount of vaccine completion, but not current eligible boosters

  • Not Vaccinated = Has not completed the initial vaccine series nor the boosters
Please review this website to check if you are up to date on the COVID-19 vaccine series and eligible boosters: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/booster-shot.html?s_cid=11706:cdc%20covid%20booster%20shot%20guidelines:sem.ga:p:RG:GM:gen:PTN:FY22



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