Needs From: ChaffeeVOLUNTEERS

Help Us Promote Locally! Join us in hanging posters for ChaffeeGIVES. Every poster you put up brings more people into the conversation and supports a successful event.

Do you love to walk your community? Take a stroll, peek at local bulletin boards, and help us spread the word by hanging this year’s ChaffeeGIVES flyer—several spots are waiting for you! 

Nonprofits are the backbone of Colorado’s thriving communities, and Colorado Gives Day is critical to their success. In 2024 your community gave 3,780 donations  to 84 organizations raising $511,366! We want to continue the success of this local giving event.

Want to help? Respond to this need above, then watch your inbox for a follow up email from CCCF's Outreach Coordinator, Quinn Nabors, at quinn@chaffeecommunity.org to arrange your region and flyer pickup. Posters need to be hung week of 11/1-11/8.

Help Spread the Word in Our Community!

CCCF is hosting a ChaffeeGIVES kick off event on October 24th 9:00am-3:00pm, at Poncha Springs Town Hall. 

Join us as a volunteer helping to pick up and distribute mixed media materials throughout the county and to participating organizations. This is a great way to get out in the community, share important information, and make a tangible impact. Sign up today and be part of connecting people to the causes and events that matter!

Want to help? Respond to this need above, then watch your inbox for a follow up email from CCCF's Outreach Coordinator, Quinn Nabors, at quinn@chaffeecommunity.org to assign your materials and drop off/distribution instructions. 

Greetings Colorado Farm to Table Volunteers! Next Tuesday, 9/30 we are harvesting our acorn squash and we need some volunteer help. The shift starts at 8 am and ends at 11 am. Please wear long pants, long sleeve shirt, sunscreenreen and a hat. And bring a water bottle. This job requires bending. Sign up here or email laurie@coloradofarmtotable.org. Thank you very much! Hope to see you at the farm (Hwy 291 across from the Scanga Meat sign).

Synergy is seeking a detail-oriented volunteer to serve as a Grant Research Specialist. In this role, you will help identify potential funding opportunities that align with our mission, research grant guidelines and eligibility, and provide summaries to support our application process. Your work will play a vital part in strengthening our programs and ensuring we have the resources to continue serving the community.

Are you a good fit? Email synergyinserviceindustry@gmail.com for more details!

Synergy invite you to get involved and make a lasting impact by joining them in one of several key volunteer roles. Opportunities are available in training, fundraising, restaurant support, and volunteer committees. Whether you’re helping shape programs, planning events, or contributing to daily operations, your time and talent will directly drive our mission forward and strengthen the community we serve.

Contact synergyinserviceindustry@gmail.com to find out more details about this volunteer role.

Volunteers with The Alliance assist our agency by giving support to victims of domestic and sexual violence in crisis by staffing the 24/7 help line. 

Volunteer Advocates are required to complete 30 hours of training. These free trainings cover everything you need to know to work with victims: confidentiality, advocacy, dynamics of domestic violence, effects of domestic violence on children, the court system and domestic violence, documentation of all client contacts, and domestic violence treatment standards and accountability.

Volunteer Advocates are asked to attend monthly meetings with the Advocacy Program Manager to answer questions, receive feedback, direction, and debrief after handling crisis calls.  The Alliance feels consistency is important and therefore requests that Volunteer Advocates who staff the help line commit to a minimum of one year of service.

Chaffee County Habitat for Humanity is seeking volunteers to work at the ReStore in Buena Vista. Volunteers perform many different tasks, including customer service, cleaning donated materials, stocking shelves, loading and unloading materials from vehicles, and assisting with donation pick-ups throughout the community. The ReStore is open Weds-Sat from 9 AM-4 PM. Please wear closed-toe shoes and dress appropriately for a retail/warehouse setting. For more information, visit www.chaffeehabitat.org. 

We could not build homes without your help at our ReStore! The ReStore receives donated goods and sells them back to the public at a discounted cost. Proceeds from the purchases made at the ReStore help build homes in our community. We always need help from donations processing to customer service to cleaning and organizing. The ReStore is open Wednesday-Saturday from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. We also accept limited volunteers on Tuesdays to help with donation pick-ups. 

CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER

NOTE: Please register for shifts through the link above. 

Complete the board member interest form at https://forms.gle/jQ8rxXEJeRGpjo4Y7 & we will get
back to you with the next steps. We appreciate your interest in our board member opportunities!

This will be the 19th Annual Pumpkin Patch and Harvest Festival - We need concession stand food servers, face painters, craft house helpers, farm animal helpers and more!!  Go HERE for info and to sign up!

Caring and Sharing needs volunteers at their donation dock! From couches to coffee mugs, every item dropped off needs to be sorted into the thrift store. Join our donation dock team and keep generosity moving forward!

Caring and Sharing needs volunteers at their Soup kitchen! Share your time and heart—volunteering at the kitchen helps serve warm meals and hope to neighbors who need it most.

Caring and Sharing needs volunteers at their resource center! By volunteering, you’ll not only keep the thrift store running strong, you’ll also help provide essential resources, like food and support, to neighbors in need.

Love finding treasures and giving back? Caring and Sharing is looking for thrift store volunteers!

Tasks can include sorting goods, reorganizing clothing racks and the store front and basic cleaning. 

SOIL Sangre de Cristo is a membership based community loan fund that awards 0% interest loans to local farmers, ranchers and other food producers.

SOIL Sangre de Cristo is looking to recruit volunteers for a rotating list of needs and ongoing projects. They need volunteers to help with various seed exchanges, both in Chaffee County and the San Luis Valley.

Reach out to Taijel Benton, info@soilsangredecristo.org, to express interest and hear more about joining the volunteer team!

See more about this organization and their work at www.soilsangredecristo.org.

Ark Valley Preschool is a nonprofit early childhood center located in Poncha Springs, serving children ages 18 months to 5 years. 

AVP is looking for a member to serve on their board. 

Ideal Candidates:

-Passionate about early childhood education and community

-Bring experience in fundraising, nonprofit leadership, finance, marketing, or education

-Financial experience is a plus, but not required

-Committed to equity and collaboration

-Board experience is welcome but not required

-We welcome all interested community members—especially those with lived experience as working parents, educators, or members of underrepresented groups. 

If interested, reach out to Carmel Burton at carmel@arkvalleypreschool.org. 

The Buena Vista Farmers Market is held every Saturday beginning June 7th through October 4th from 9 am - 1 pm at Columbine Park in Buena Vista, Colorado. This farmers market will host a wide variety of unique local vendors and you can find fresh produce, meat, dairy, eggs, sourdough bread and pastries, handmade goods and crafts and so much more. 

Contact Sofia Adinolfi at info@foodshedalliance.com to find volunteer details.  

The Salida Farmers Market is held every Saturday beginning June 7th through October 25th from 8 am - 12 pm at Alpine Park in Salida, Colorado. The market will host a wide variety of unique local food and artisan vendors and you can find fresh produce, meat, dairy, eggs, sourdough bread and pastries, jewelry, handmade goods and crafts and so much more!

Contact Sofia Adinolfi at info@foodshedalliance.com to find volunteer details.  

We're looking for folks to get trained to take older adults out on trishaw rides for both Salida and BV!

What is a trishaw?

A trishaw is a specially built pedicab with electric assist designed to accommodate the needs of older adults. There are no step-ups to the seat, and the cyclist is behind the passenger, allowing the cyclist to monitor the passenger’s well-being, and easily converse, while offering our passengers unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape during a ride.

The process:

Aubrey's info: 719-530-1198/info@avhelpinghands.org

Do you love sharing the history of this valley with others?  We are looking for tour guides to lead visitors through the historic Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center, helping the history of this 7th generation working ranch come to life.  The Hutchinson Homestead is open to visitors on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, 1-4pm, from June through September.  We will host tour guide training in late May with Art Hutchinson when guides can sign up to lead visitors through this site on weekend afternoons that fit their schedule. 

If you'd like to volunteer and can't attend the training in May, please reach out to tracy@guidestonecolorado.org to find an alternative time for training!

Every Thursday CO Autism Consultants bring 2 kids to Mini Blessings Farm. We need 1 more volunteer to work with the student and a mini horse. This includes grooming and helping the kid walk the horse across the property or through the obstacle course.

Every Tuesday we bring one or two horses to the Prek in BV where the kids get to spend time with the horses, brush them and lead them in the outdoor fenced in area. We are looking a volunteer that can help consistently and ideally has horse experience, although we will train the right person. 

Every Tuesday we bring one or two minis to visit the elderly inside Columbine Manor Retirement Home

Every other Thursday we bring 1 or 2 mini horses to the middle school. The kids brush the horses and create an obstacle course to lead the horses through. We are looking for a volunteer that can consistently come and ideally has horse experience, although we will train the right candidate.

We are seeking more volunteers that can help with our many different programs. This would consist of helping kids to groom and lead the minis, and ensure the safety of everyone. We need help with all programs that are all over the calendar, but we are especially needing help with the PreK on Tuesdays 9:30am-11:15am, every other Thursdays with Avery Parsons 5th graders at 1:30pm-2:45pm, and Columbine Manor every other Tuesday 1:30pm - 4:00pm.

Looking for regularly scheduled volunteers to help out with morning OR afternoon clean up and exercising of the horses.  Volunteers clean up the stalls and pens and if time permits, take horses to the arena for regular exercise. The schedule is open to new volunteers, especially in the afternoons around 2:00 or later.

We need help feeding 7 miniature horses and 2 full sized horses at 7am and 6pm every day. We can split up the job between multiple people.

We are having a workaway-er come some time in November that will take over this job. We did have someone helping us but they are having car problems and not currently able to help. So this could be very short term until they are able to work it out.

Last year, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) supported 210 individuals to file their income taxes which put $410,736 in refunds back into the pockets of community members and the local economy. VITA is fiscally sponsored by Chaffee County Community Foundation, and is looking for their next Volunteer Site Coordinator

Summary: The Site Coordinator is responsible for managing and overseeing the VITA Program. This role involves recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers, ensuring they are effectively placed in roles that match their skills and interests, and maintaining accurate tax records.

Qualifications:
 Strong organizational and communication skills.
 Prior experience preparing taxes is helpful. However, willingness to learn tax
preparation and use the educational tools provided by the IRS, provides a strong
foundation for this job.
 Ability to problem solve.
 Ability to work effectively with diverse groups of people.
 Passion for the organization’s mission and goals.
Benefits:
 Opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the community.
 Seasonal volunteer opportunity with most of the work happening January through April.
 Professional development opportunities.

CCCF hosts a number of grant processes throughout the year. The review committee consists of volunteers representing different geographic areas include Salida, Buena Vista, Chaffee, Lake, Fremont & Custer Counties. 

Grant reviewers commit up to 30 hours over a two month period to read, score, discuss and decide the grant award recommendations. Ideal candidates have a good wifi connection, can navigate an online grant portal, acknowledge and manage any personal bias, and participate in respectful, candid discussions. 

Please submit your interest in serving on a grant review committee and a staff person will follow up with an interview. 

Calling all Volunteers who enjoy putting their hands in the soil and harvesting vegetables! 

Food grown at the Community & School Farm lands on the plates of the students of Salida School District as well as the local hospital. 

This opportunity starts on May 1st and goes the growing season. 

The drop- in hours are 9am-noon, for any or all of the shift on Mondays, Wednesday, and/or Fridays. 

For ages 18+

Older adults in our community are in need of your help for simple house tasks like vacuuming and dusting!

We connect older adults with volunteers to create intergenerational friendships. Many older adults are not able to socialize due to physical or mental constraints, so a volunteer comes to their home for an hour or two a week (or every other week). It is extremely valuble to both people and a great way to meet some really amazing people in the community. This is for anyone in Salida, Nathrop, or BV.

Do you enjoy young people, particularly those with special needs? Most of our program participants do not drive and several have transportation issues getting to and from our social programs.  We are looking for drivers who can occasionally transport program participants. 

Looking for someone to occasionally take pictures of our operation, create social media posts and help improve our social media presence and community awareness.

We have volunteers that get groceries for older adults in Chaffee County. This is flexible and can be done based on your schedule. You can have a set person that you get groceries for regularly, or pick up shopping requests as needed. We have older adults we work with in BV, Nathrop and Salida.

We are always looking for kind and compassionate people with a variety of skills and capabilities to help our members age in place and feel valued by the community. Volunteers provided a variety of services to older adults, such as, yard work, snow shoveling, produce drop offs, grocery shopping, care calls, companionship, technology help, handy work, and so much more. 

Looking for Board Members to help guide this social enterprise that provides paid work experience, job training and social skills training for neuro-diverse people (such as people on the autism spectrum), enabling them to obtain and maintain meaningful employment.

Mini Blessings is seeking volunteers who could help with mowing, weed whacking, and general grounds maintenance around the farm

The Chaffee County Community Foundation (CCCF) currently has one board seat open.

We are searching for caring, thoughtful, and dedicated individuals who care about making Chaffee County a better place. A successful candidate will bring their life experience, expertise, and networks to their board service and will act not only as a fiduciary, but as an ambassador, for CCCF.

Board service, depending on committee appointments, typically requires between 3 and 5 hours of time each month between meetings and preparation.

Our Board Member agreement and prior meeting minutes can be found here and would be required prior to finalizing your candidacy. 

In need of a compassionate mentor / teacher to work one-on-one with teens / young adults with learning disabilities, teaching job skills and social skills.