Volunteers Go Above and Beyond for ICS Clients

Rising costs in 2022 pushed many families' budgets to the breaking point. As the holidays approached, Gifts of Love organizers took on their greatest challenge to date: providing holiday gifts for nearly 50% more recipients than we helped last year. Volunteers made it possible! They came through for our clients, along with faith partners and friends in the community.

Once-a-year events like Gifts of Love and the upcoming Empty Bowls fundraiser are successful because of hundreds of hours of volunteer service, but the extraordinary dedication of ICS volunteers is on display every day. The photo below was captured at a recent Free Produce Giveaway where volunteers arrived at 5:30 on a January morning to distribute rescued produce and bread to hundreds of members of the community. They finished loading boxes of food into waiting cars just as the sun was rising.

Volunteer Opportunities

What does it take to volunteer at ICS? Customer service skills are the basis of many of our volunteer jobs. These include listening carefully, expressing empathy, being patient, using positive language, and having a thick skin when customers are frustrated.

Volunteers who have what it takes for customer service, with the addition of computer skills, are candidates for a role in Centralized Intake. Client Navigators perform the initial screening to transform people in need into ICS clients who can receive services.

Customer service + computer skills + HR/job-hunting experience is the recipe for volunteering in the Workforce Development Center. Helping job seekers build resumes, write cover letters, and practice interview skills can change a family's future!

CONNECT WITH PURPOSEFUL VOLUNTEERING! See the possibilities at icstucson.org/volunteer-job-descriptions

More than 1,000 kids, teens, and older adults received gifts. 34 volunteers gave 276 hours shopping, wrapping, and delivering.