Cel­e­brat­ing Our Volunteers!

April 07, 2023

Join us in cel­e­brat­ing Nation­al Vol­un­teer Month with the invalu­able con­tri­bu­tions our vol­un­teers make each and every­day! We’re hon­ored to high­light just a few of the ways that vol­un­teers make an impact at KYC through­out the year, and to share some words of grat­i­tude from our staff.

Board of Directors

The vol­un­teer lead­er­ship of our Board of Direc­tors sup­ports the strate­gic vision and lead­er­ship of our agency, ensur­ing our abil­i­ty to sup­port our com­mu­ni­ty through­out the year.

“Our Board of Direc­tors are strate­gic, com­pas­sion­ate, and gen­er­ous lead­ers in our com­mu­ni­ty, ded­i­cat­ing count­less hours to ensure KYC’s abil­i­ty to serve our com­mu­ni­ty now and for decades to come. We couldn’t do this work with­out them!” — Grace Hong Duf­fin, Pres­i­dent and Chief Exec­u­tive Officer

Vol­un­teer Committees

KYC is hon­ored for the work of our invalu­able vol­un­teer com­mit­tees, who help with strate­gic ini­tia­tives, spe­cial events, fundrais­ing, and more. 

If you are inter­est­ed in learn­ing more about KYC or help­ing us engage with our com­mu­ni­ties, join­ing a vol­un­teer com­mit­tee is a won­der­ful way to do that. Learn more about how you can get involved today!

“We are incred­i­bly grate­ful for our Devel­op­ment and 5K Com­mit­tees who share their cre­ativ­i­ty with KYC! These ded­i­cat­ed vol­un­teers engage the com­mu­ni­ty in the crit­i­cal work we do togeth­er – THANK YOU for all you do as thought­ful, kind, and impact­ful advo­cates!” — KYC’s Devel­op­ment and Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Team

Meals On Wheels

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter’s Home Deliv­ered Meals pro­gram pro­vides nutri­tious meals for seniors who are home-bound because of recent ill­ness, hos­pi­tal­iza­tion, or dis­abil­i­ty, or who require a spe­cial diet and are unable to pre­pare reg­u­lar meals for themselves. 

Vol­un­teers bring nutri­tious meals, friend­ship, and well­ness checks to house-bound seniors in our com­mu­ni­ty, and we’re grate­ful for the impact they make by giv­ing their time to this crit­i­cal program.

We’re active­ly seek­ing vol­un­teers to help old­er adults remain as inde­pen­dent as pos­si­ble in their own homes. To learn more about how you can vol­un­teer to make a dif­fer­ence, please click here!

Cel­e­brat­ing Just a Few of Our Amaz­ing Meals Volunteers!

“Mar­garet Mead said once ​‘Nev­er doubt that a small group of thought­ful, com­mit­ted cit­i­zens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’ That’s what our meals vol­un­teers do, they change the lives of our old­er adults. The amount of ded­i­ca­tion they show to their clients and to KYC is aston­ish­ing. Our meals vol­un­teers clean cool­ers, cir­cle back around to drop off food to clients even after their route is done, and answer my late night texts ask­ing to cov­er routes at the last minute. I am, and for­ev­er will be, grate­ful for the amaz­ing vol­un­teers we have.”

“Frank has been vol­un­teer­ing with our Home Deliv­ered Meals pro­gram for many years and has always been some­one I can count on. Frank has answered late-night texts for cov­er­ing a route that has opened last minute. Frank also saved a clien­t’s life by call­ing 911 when he found him in his home. Frank takes vol­un­teer­ing to a whole new lev­el, and I am hon­ored to work with him on a week­ly basis.”

​“Scott and Jill came on as new vol­un­teers and want­ed to be sub­sti­tute dri­vers for our Home Deliv­ered Meals pro­gram. We were short vol­un­teers at the time and both of them stepped up and became reg­u­lar route dri­vers. They now vol­un­teer twice a week! Even though Jill and Scott vol­un­teer two times a week, if we need a route cov­ered and they are avail­able, they do not even hes­i­tate to say yes.”

“Steve has been vol­un­teer­ing with our Home Deliv­ered Meals pro­gram for a long time now and he nev­er dis­ap­points. Steve updates us on all the clients who need help and even asks what he can do! Steve actu­al­ly cleans some clients’ cool­ers and drops them off for them. Steve says he knows the clients need his help and would be more than hap­py to assist. Steve also helps us hand out bags and bev­er­ages to vol­un­teers. Noth­ing can stop that man!”

“Don vol­un­teers twice a week on his lunch break for our Home Deliv­ered Meals pro­gram. Need I say more?? Don also has been vol­un­teer­ing with us for a long time and is the epit­o­me of what a great vol­un­teer is. Don always asks how he can vol­un­teer and help us more, even when his sched­ule is so busy. Don was gra­cious enough to switch his deliv­ery days because anoth­er vol­un­teer could­n’t do Fri­days any­more. Don’s response ​‘I want to help them out as much as I can.’ What a rock star!!!!”

“Nan­cy has tak­en numer­ous Home Deliv­ered Meals deliv­ery days and is always will­ing to help cov­er at the last minute. Nan­cy not only assists with Meals, but also helps with KYC’s Mem­o­ry Café. Nan­cy also called 911 for a client who she found in the home. Nan­cy did­n’t just drop the meal and leave; she looked through the win­dow and found him. Nan­cy takes pride in her work and I enjoy every minute I spend with her.”

-Jes­si­ca Oli­va, LSW; Advo­ca­cy & Sup­port Team Lead

Wrap Around Recov­ery Services

Wrap Around Recov­ery Ser­vices sup­ports peo­ple with men­tal health chal­lenges by help­ing build and strength­en the skills need­ed to par­tic­i­pate and thrive ful­ly in their com­mu­nity. This clin­i­cal pro­gram also pro­vides a social set­ting that encour­ages com­­mu­ni­­ty-build­ing amongst group mem­bers as they live, work, learn, and grow together.

Become a vol­un­teer for our Wrap Around Recov­ery Ser­vices pro­gram TODAY! Help pro­vide sup­ple­men­tal pro­gram­ming to our com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers. To learn how you can make an impact, please click here!

“Emi­ly, all of your vol­un­teer work in groups is great­ly appre­ci­at­ed. Thank you for your ideas with our clients. Your will­ing­ness to give your time and ser­vice is great­ly appre­ci­at­ed.” — Mari­na Mil­ice­vic, MA, LCPC; Man­ag­er of Wrap Around Recov­ery Services

Make a Dif­fer­ence Today!

Our vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties are always chang­ing, with new oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able reg­u­lar­ly. Please con­tact our Vol­un­teer Ser­vices at 847−524−8800 x 182 to learn how you can make a dif­fer­ence, change the world, and vol­un­teer! Vis­it our Vol­un­teers Page here!

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