Guest post by Beth Petschonek, Volunteer Odyssey
11 Ways to Serve Memphis this month
Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Food Mission
Monday, January 8 – Saturday, January 13
Repeat opportunity
8:00 am – 11:00 am
Our daily team lead will show you how you can help!
As well as helping to prepare the meal, plate and serve to our guests, we ask that you help with dishwashing in our commercial kitchen and at the end of the day wipe down and disinfect the tables and surfaces. Bring a smile and a big heart.
Memphis Rox Climbing + Community, Climbing Hold Power Washing
Repeat opportunity
9:00 am – 11:00 am
We are in need of some volunteers to help with washing climbing holds for our routesetters. When you arrive, please ask to speak to a routesetter, and they will instruct you on how to use the power washer.
MidtownMemphis.org, MLK Day of Service: Community Garden Prep
Saturday, January 13
9:30 am – 11:30 am
Join us as we prepare the Huey’s Community Garden for spring planting. We will be laying cardboard, wetting the cardboard, and spreading either wood chip mulch or garden soil on 3 different areas of the garden. Others will be moving around some compost, cutting back plants that are ready to be removed for the season, and spray painting numbers using stencils on signs that we will use to number the raised beds.
Protect Our Aquifer, 2nd Annual MLK Day of Service Community Event: Lead Free Memphis Canvass Day
Saturday, December 13
11:00 am – 1:30 pm
The focus of the canvass is to:
Educate South Memphis community members on the presence of lead service lines in their community and provide information on how to request a free water testing kit from MLGW.
Inform residents of any peeling paint on the exterior of their home (e.g. the porch, window sills, stairs, handrails, doorway, etc.) as an indicator of potential lead paint.
Provide information regarding free lead abatement programs through both the City of Memphis and Shelby County Department of Housing.
Encourage families with children under the age of 6 to contact the Shelby County Health Department for free BLL (blood lead level) testing.
Shelby Farms Park, MLK Day of Service 2024
Monday, January 15
8:30 am – 12:00 pm
Join Shelby Farms Park Conservancy in observing MLK’s legacy on January 15, 2024. We are celebrating this historical day by inviting the community to join us in an all day community event of service. We will be mulching trees, pulling privets, cleaning up limbs on the Greenline, and filling potholes at the Dog Park.
Wolf River Conservancy, Wolf River 5K
Saturday, January 20
6:30 am – 11:00 am
The Wolf River 5K is only successful thanks to our dedicated volunteers! Volunteers are needed to assist with race registration & packet pickup, water stops, course monitoring, and water distribution at the Finish Line.
Catholic Charities of West Tennessee, Mobile Food Pantry at St. Paul Catholic Church
Saturday, January 20
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Join us in this fun direct service event that helps those in need in our community!
We will be working outside serving boxes of food in a mobile food distribution. Volunteer roles include collecting data and loading food boxes into cars.
Our community is in crisis, and the work of Catholic Charities meets a critical need. Our work is needed now more than ever and we hope you can join us!
Wednesday, January 24 & Thursday, January 25
Multiple opportunities available
Project Homeless Connect – Memphis places services and resources that are needed to exit homelessness under one roof. During this annual event, city agencies, service providers, community partners, and volunteers will come together to help individuals experiencing homelessness access resources and services that are available to them.
Saturday, January 27
6:30 pm – 10:00 pm
The soulful songs of the Gullah culture are brought to life by Ranky Tanky, a band of native South Carolinians who mix Lowcountry traditions with large doses of jazz, gospel, funk, and R&B. Trumpeter Charlton Singleton, guitarist Clay Ross, bassist Kevin Hamilton, and drummer Quentin Baxter originally worked together as an in-demand jazz quartet on the Charleston scene in the late 1990s before splitting off to make their way as freelance musicians. Gaining years of valuable experience while developing a deeper appreciation for the South Carolina Gullah tradition, the band re-formed with the dynamic vocalist Quiana Parler to celebrate the bone-deep mix of spirituals and gutbucket blues that mark the Lowcountry mainland and Sea Islands. They are joined on stage by Grammy-winning vocalist Ms. Lisa Fischer. With remarkable vocal range and vocabulary, Fischer can sing soul, jazz, rock, gospel, pop, folk, and classical with equal facility and authority. Emerging from New York’s fervent studio scene in the early 1980s, she sang for two decades with legendary vocalist Luther Vandross and released So Intense, earning her first Grammy Award with “How Can I Ease the Pain.” She joined the Rolling Stones for their 1989 Steel Wheels tour and continued to grace their stage for the next 26 years.
MENTOR Memphis Grizzlies, Virtual New Mentor Training
Wednesday, January 31
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
MENTOR Memphis Grizzlies’ Training Institute provides best-in-class training to mentors and mentor programs so that they are equipped to improve student outcomes. This new mentor training starts the process to prepare mentors with the needed tools and skills to mentor and work with the youth within our youth mentoring network.
This training is open to anyone interested in becoming a volunteer youth mentor. After completing training, MENTOR Memphis Grizzlies will connect you to a quality youth mentoring program.
Saturdays in January
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Help a shelter dog have the best day ever with a foster field trip! We match you with a pup who is ready for a fun-filled adventure. You collect photos, videos, and information from your day to share with the world and help your field trip dog find a home!
