If being in an extracurricular activity or club in school isn’t something that appeals to you, but you still want something on your resume that makes you stand out from the rest of the applicants, a great option is to volunteer. Volunteering not only gives yourself a boost, but it helps the community that you are currently residing in. The Menomonie area has some excellent volunteer opportunites that help people out in the area. Here are the highlights of a few of those!
Stepping Stones: Project SAM
Project SAM (Share a Meal) is set up by the Stepping Stones food shelf pantry here in Menomoine that gives out meals on Friday to local elementary students who have a possibility of not having enough food at home over the weekend. Every Thursday afternoon, the Stepping Stones program is in need of of three volunteers to help pack up the meals for the next day. Dunn County has the most children at risk for hunger in the area, so this is a great way to help fight hunger on a local level. Contact Lana Anderson for more information or to sign up to volunteer at foodpantry@steppingstones.dc.org
Dunn Co. Humane Society
Even if housing doesn’t allow pets, there is still an awesome opportunity to get some furry loving. The Dunn County Humane Society is always looking for people to walk the dogs and play with the cats currently calling the shelter their home. This is the only volunteer opportunity where you have to pay a class fee of $15 with a Stout student card, but it is to ensure that you properly handle the animals up for adoption. The fee also covers a Dunn County Humane Society T-Shirt, which you can wear on every visit back for you volunteer hours. The class is only available once a month so be sure to contact the humane society by phone at 715-232-9790.
River Heights Tutoring and Homework Club
The Tutoring and Homework Club focuses on third, forth, and fifth grade students in small groups with a tutor that is matched with their specific needs after school. Tutors are responsible with helping students with their homework, working on specific subject areas a student is struggling in, as well as communicating with the teachers and the parents on the student’s progress or concerns. The Homework and Tutor Club is opened Monday thru Thursday after school from 3:25-5:30pm. Tutors themselves have the option to work with whatever times fits into their schedules for their volunteer services. If this sounds like a volunteer activity that fits your interests, contact sarah_place@msd.k12.wi.us or call 715-232-3987 ext. 60307.
UW-Sprout
The Enviormental Science major here at Stout has set up a community garden that needs volunteers to help take care of it over the summer. The goal of the UW-Sprout community garden is to promote local healthy foods and to teach community member how to grow their own food source in their gardens. Starting May 18, Mondays thru Fridays from 10am-4pm, volunteers will work in the garden watering plants, pulling weeds, and other general garden maintenance jobs. The minimum requirement is one hour per day for volunteers and if volunteers give three hours of their time over the course of the week, they recieve a free vegetable basket from the garden. This is a great way to directly benefit the community and your diet, so go check out the UW-Sprouts Facebook page to learn more about this cool opportunity.
Menomonie Public Library
The Menomonie Public Library likes to pride itself on its sense of community. It has multiple event programs set up throughout the month, from weekly story times and book clubs, to after school activities for elementary students. Library staff can’t always keep up with all these activities, and would like to have volunteers to help keep all their programs smoothly. The library offers a wide range of different volunteer opportunities so to get involved with this community opportunity please contact Lisa Murray at murrayl@menomonielibary.org
If none of these seem to fit your personality or schedule, there are always other areas you can put your time in to. The Stout webpage likes to highlight new volunteer options through this link: http://volunteer.uwstout.edu/Opportunities . Be sure to check this out periodically to see if something sparks your interest. Happy volunteering!