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Volunteers
Without volunteers,
Dorothy Day House could not exist.
Here are some ways to help out:
Shelter volunteers -- our greatest volunteer need:
Shelter volunteers arrive
at 9pm at the same time as the guests.
Assisted by a shelter coordinator, who is
always present at the
beginning of the evening, they check in guests and pass out linen and
towels. The
shelter coordinator leaves around 10pm, at which time the lights go out. Shelter
volunteers do a load of guest laundry in a commercial washer, and can
generally catch a few hours sleep (a bed is reserved for the volunteer,
or they can sit up in a chair) prior to getting the guests up at 5:30. Guests and
volunteers leave shortly after 6am.
Shelter volunteers must be 21 years old.
Most are men (but women are welcome), and all volunteer no
more than one
night per month. If
interested, please contact Mike Murphy at email nottheglasses@gmail.com
or phone 203-240-9276.
More info for prospective volunteers is in the attached shelter
brochure. Click here to see brochure.
Kitchen
volunteers:
Kitchen volunteers are
organized into crews comprising 8 to
12 people. There are
approximately 20 crews, with most crews working one day a
month (ex. 4th Thursday).
Volunteers arrive at the kitchen shortly after
noon, and get to work preparing the meal, which is served from 3:15pm
to 4:45pm Cleanup
is usually finished by 5:30pm.
No special culinary talents are
required.
If you want to volunteer in
the kitchen, you will be assigned to a crew and should be willing to
make a
commitment to work one day a month. For more
information, please send an email to dorothydaydanbury@gmail.com
...Please be sure to state when you are available (ex 1st Tuesday) so
we can direct you to the appropriate coordinator for that day.
Making sandwiches:
We provide sandwich bags for guests to
take with them as they leave the afternoon meal. Generally the kitchen
crews for the day make the sandwiches, but sandwich donations are
particularly welcome. We need 60 meat sandwich bags containing two meat
sandwiches and a dessert (generally two cookies) plus 20 additional peanut butter &
jelly sandwiches.
If your organization has an interest in making bag lunches for us
on a one time basis or a more frequent basis, send an email to. dorothydaydanbury@gmail.com
Please do not bring in sandwiches unless you have arranged with someone at Dorothy Day to accept and store your donation.
Baked good
donations pickups:
A
number of local supermarkets have graciously made their expired baked
goods available to us, but we use volunteers to pick up donations and
deliver them to Spring Street.
Currently
we do not need volunteers to pick up bread
Shelter from the cold volunteers aka Evening Program -- help needed:
During the winter months
(Nov 15 through April 15), we run a program at St James AME Church
(William St in Danbury) from 6 to 8:30pm to give guests a
place to get out of the cold for a few hours until the shelters are
open. Volunteers open up the
kitchen, serve hot drinks (and leftover food, at their discretion) and
do a quick cleanup. Generally two or three volunteers are needed.
Volunteers generally come a specific day of the week (ex. Wednesdays,
every other Wednesday). Right now we have all volunteers we need. Contact Lynn Taborsak (203-297-3572 or ltaborsak@gmail.com). Shelter showers: We
open up the shelter showers twice a week to give homeless people not
staying at the Dorothy Day House shelter the opportunity to get a
shower. We currently need volunteers for showers on the 3rd and
4th Wednesday each month and on the 2nd and 4th Sunday each month. Volunteers arrive at 4:30pm and stay until just after 6pm. If
interested, please contact Lynn Taborsak at 203-297-3572 or ltaborsak@gmail.com.
Overflow shelter
(winter months):
During the winter, the
First Congregational Church of Danbury hosts an overflow shelter in
Pilgrim Hall. Volunteers are
needed to spend the
night. For
more information, call Kathy Bardes at 203-470-8825. Kathy
is
looking for someone to help her with scheduling overflow shelter
volunteers. Please call her if you can help out.
Monthly general
cleaning:
Although it is the
responsibility of each kitchen group to
leave the kitchen clean prior to departing,
a group of especially dedicated volunteers meets the second Saturday
(note this used to be the first Saturday) of each month at 9am in the
kitchen for some serious in-depth cleaning
The group cleans the walls, shelving, fans,
refrigerators, etc. If
you would like to help out on a Saturday, please call Joe Simons at
203-482-6359 to make sure the group is meeting.
Morning Glory
Breakfast Program:
Catholic
Charities runs a breakfast program at the kitchen every day from 6:30am
to 9am. Additional volunteers are needed -- if you can help,
please call Catholic Charities at 203-349-2428.
Dorothy Day
House Tours
If you
are stopping by Dorothy Day House and would like to see the kitchen,
donation storage area and shelter, please call Betty Ballard
(743-7368). If she is available, Betty will be glad to show you or your
group our facilities and explain more about our work..
Ideas for elementary and high school aged children:
Here are some things you
can do to help out at Dorothy Day House:
1) Conduct a food drive. See the "wishlist" on our
for ideas
2) Make sandwiches -- see above
3) Have a bake sale or other event to collect money
More
volunteer opportunities for young people ages 11-18 can be found
through the Youth Volunteer Corp of Western CT. This is a
service of the Volunter Center of United Way of Western CT.
Call
203-797-1154 or www.volunteerdanbury.org
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