We know Last week was Halloween and the leaves are as beautiful as ever but, believe it or not, Christmas is 7 weeks away!
The holidays are some of the busiest and most joyful times here at Portland Rescue Mission. Did you know that 54% of our annual support comes in at this time? Donations are at a high and volunteers are especially eager to bring the joy of the season to hurting men and children at each of our sites.
If you are planning to volunteer this year, we want to encourage you to think outside the box. Instead of coming to serve a meal, sign up for one of these new holiday opportunities:
Holiday Hospitality Team
With the weather getting colder, our guests know how precious even just a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate is when they are facing homelessness. Sign up to bring a group to serve hot drinks to the men and women as they line up for breakfast in the morning or get ready for beds at night. The times for this service opportunity occur most days at either 5:30AM–8:30 AM or 7PM-9PM.
Warehouse Wonder Team
Thanks to the generosity of the community, our warehouse was filled to the ceiling last year with donations to help keep men, women and children warm during the cold months. We need groups of volunteers to come and help us receive donations and/or sort and organize our warehouse so we can be the most effective at offering these items to the community. Warehouse volunteer hours are 9-11 AM, 3-5 PM and 5-7 PM during the week. Weekend times vary depending on staffing.
Christmas Movie/Crafternoon Volunteers
What’s your most favorite Christmas movie? For many families, a beloved holiday tradition around Christmas is to watch classics like “A Christmas Story,” “Elf,” “The Nativity Story,” and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” just to name a few. We want share these with the Burnside family and invite guests to enjoy afternoon movies, snacks and crafts while they wait for showers. We’d love volunteers to come interact with guests, serve food and make crafts with them during these afternoons every day from 2PM-4PM.
We are so honored that you want to spend the holidays with us. This is, after all, what Christmas is about–sharing and celebration the love of Christ and being family to those who need family.
To volunteer, make sure you have filled out a volunteer application HERE and have signed up for an orientation. To RSVP for an orientation, email [email protected].
Holiday Volunteer Orientation Dates:
Monday, November 13th, 2017
Monday, November 27th, 2017
Burnside Shelter from 4PM – 5PM.
Holiday Family Volunteer Orientation Dates:
Saturday November 18th, 2017
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2017
Wednesday, December 6th, 2017
Wednesday, December 20th, 2017
Burnside Shelter from 9AM – 11AM.
If you are signing up as a church or business group, fill out this APPLICATION.
If you have any specific questions, email us at [email protected].