Agency: Douglas County Jail

Address: 3601 E. 25th St.

Contact person: Mike Caron, 830-1055

The Douglas County Jail needs volunteers to help tutor inmates in basic math skills. The jail also is looking for a volunteer with previous experience to establish a life-skills class to teach topics such as balancing a checkbook, hygiene and family skills. The jail has more than 100 volunteer tutors now, but the demand is always there. Tutors will work one-on-one with an inmate 60 to 90 minutes a week teaching math fundamentals like percentages and fractions. Most of the inmates involved will use these skills to try to earn a general equivalency diploma. Volunteers can set their own hours and usually will work with the same inmate for six or seven weeks.

Before starting, volunteers must attend a two-hour orientation, which includes a tour of the jail and explains rules. All volunteers must also go through a background check and sign confidentiality statements.

Last weekâÂÂs results

The YESS program has not received any new volunteers for its evening tutoring program at the Kansas Union. YESS provides academic help for students who are employed through the program. To help, call Ruby or Sherry at 830-1798.

Immediate volunteer needs

⢠WomenâÂÂs Transitional Care Services, a refuge for battered women and their children since 1978, provides safe shelter, a 24-hour crisis line, peer counseling and support, a weekly support group and referrals for other services. This holiday it is looking for people to adopt a client and her family. If you would like to adopt a family, contact Karen Walker at 865-3956. The center also accepts year-round donations. Call for a list of needs.

⢠Lakeview Manor welcomes volunteers as friendly visitors for residents. Examples of activities include reading, playing games or music, taking a walk and writing letters or cards for the resident. Volunteers should be 16 or older. Youths under 16 may volunteer if they are accompanied by an adult. Call Kathy Eisman at 842-7282.

⢠The Boys and Girls Club needs volunteers for after-school programs at several schools in Lawrence. Shifts are from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, except Wednesday. The club also needs early-release days volunteers from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Call Carolyn at 841-5672.

⢠The Lawrence Memorial Hospital South GI Lab, 3500 Clinton Parkway, needs assistance in a clinical setting. The positions require volunteers who are able to be on their feet and work directly with patients, staff members and physicians. Customer service skills are important. Volunteersâ duties include getting rooms ready between patients, transporting patients by wheelchair as they leave the facility and assisting the staff with other duties. Morning and afternoon shifts are available. Volunteers need to commit for three months and take one shift a week. Call the LMH volunteer office at 840-3141 for more details and to set up an interview.

For more volunteer opportunities, contact the Roger Hill Volunteer Center, a service of the United Way of Douglas County, at 865-5030 or online at www.rhvc.org.