Agency: Kansas Children’s Service League

Contact: Jery Marquez, 785-431-6228 or jmarquez@kcsl.org

The Helping Hands Support Group, facilitated through Kansas Children’s Service League, or KCSL, is looking for volunteers to assist with child care. The support group is intended for couples and individuals who have adopted children through the state system or who are in the process of doing so currently. Volunteers are needed on a monthly basis to provide supervision for the children of parents attending the support group. Meetings will take place on the third Friday of each month, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at 360 Degree Church, 3200 Clinton Parkway. All volunteers will be screened through KCSL, which will include a background check. Their second meeting is Friday, so volunteers are needed ASAP; please contact Jery Marquez at 785-431-6228 or jmarquez@kcsl.org.

Immediate needs

• The Lawrence-Douglas County Advocacy Council on Aging is looking for volunteers to help with a variety of tasks and projects. Volunteers with a passion for making the Lawrence-Douglas County community a great place for seniors to live are sought to serve as board members, help identify senior-friendly restaurants, publicize senior issues in local media, make vulnerable community members aware of shelter locations in case of a disaster and to work on planning for an intergenerational community based on the “Village Concept.” The next meeting is Thursday. Please contact Stacey Hunter-Schwartz at 785-841-0333 or Bonnie Uffman at 785- 856-0057 for more details.

• Lawrence Community Shelter is in need of a volunteer who can help with light data entry five to 10 hours per week. Previous experience with Microsoft Excel and the ability to decipher handwritten notes will be extremely helpful in providing LCS with support. Volunteers working on data entry will not have any contact with LCS guest, training and support will be provided by office staff, and the hours are flexible. For more details, please contact Loring Henderson at 785-832-8864 or director@lawrenceshelter.org.

• Grassland Heritage Foundation is looking for volunteers who can help them with their first scheduled burn at Snyder Prairie near Mayetta, just north of Topeka. The burn is scheduled for the morning of Saturday, weather permitting. Volunteers will help with a variety of tasks needed to control the burn and should be able to walk long distances with no problem. Additionally, all volunteers must be at least 18 years old and shouldn’t plan to come if they have any respiratory issues that could be aggravated by the smoke. For more information on location and time, please contact Kim Bellemere at grasslandheritage@gmail.com.

• KVC Behavioral HealthCare is seeking volunteers to provide child care once a month at its support group for Douglas County foster parents. KVC nurtures a network of foster-parent support groups throughout their northeast Kansas service area. The support groups meet two hours a month. Volunteers are needed to help care for the foster parents’ children, and most meetings are quite large, so a group of volunteers is needed in order to provide ample supervision and care. This would be a great volunteer opportunity for a high school or college student group, church youth group or a local civic group. Volunteers must be 16 or older and should contact Jessica Doll at 913-499-8100, ext. 8316 or jdoll@kvc.org for more details.

— For more volunteer opportunities, contact Shannon Reid at the United Way’s Roger Hill Volunteer Center, at 785-865-5030 or volunteer@rhvc.org, or go to volunteerdouglascounty.org.