Service & Events
Explore our volunteer opportunities and upcoming events!
Virtual Summer Service with YouthFirst
Connect with teens from around the Bay Area as we address a range of challenges/issues facing our communities. Through advocacy projects and service learning events, you can help make a difference through your actions and voice!
Storytime: Raising LGBTQ Awareness with Children
August 9, 4:00 – 5:15 pm
So many books on kids’ shelves feature princesses marrying princes. During this virtual story time activity, teens will be paired up with 6 – 8 year-olds and read a book with positive representations of central LBGTQ characters. We’ll start off with all teens coming together to meet each other and get a few tips about reading to kids on zoom. Then we’ll match you up with one or two children in a breakout room for about 20 minutes of story time. We’ll finish up by everyone coming back together for some fun closing games.
If you want to help increase the inclusion of queer characters and themes in children’s literature, and enjoy reading to young children, email [email protected] to register for this event.
Combat Voter Suppression
Voter suppression has been a challenge in the U.S. election system for decades. It influences elections results by making it harder or impossible for specific groups to participate in voting, particularly impacting communities of color. Today, underrepresented communities continue the fight for equal access to the ballot. Some of the ways this occurs is through strict voter ID laws, banning voting by incarcerated or previously-incarcerated people, cutting early/mail-in voting or even by shutting down polling places—something that has increased dramatically as a result of Covid-19 related restrictions and limited resources.
We can disrupt these strategies of voter suppression by ensuring that fellow Americans who are eligible to vote are registered and knowledgeable about how and where to vote. We’ve organized two separate ways for teens to join this effort:
August 13, 6:00 – 7:00 pm—Postcard Writing Get-Together
Register here and we’ll send you the blank postcards and the pre-prepared scripts, as well as the zoom link to join.
August 23, 6:00 – 7:00 pm—Picking up the Phone
Join us on zoom and receive a short training to help mobilize voters. You will then be provided with contact information of eligible voters who you will call and assist in getting ready, registered and set up to vote! Contact [email protected] for zoom link.
Gloves On: Neighborhood Clean Up
August 16, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
During the weekend of August 15 – 16, spend time in any outdoor area in your local neighborhood that needs cleaning. Collect as much trash as you can, snap a photo of you and the trash you’ve collected and we’ll share our collections on a virtual Bay Area Clean Up Map, so we can see how many outdoor spaces have been cleaned up in just one weekend. Later in the evening, join altogether with other teen “cleaners” to connect, build treasure out of our trash and learn more about how waste and recycling is managed by city authorities in the Bay. For zoom link info, contact [email protected]
Letter Writing for Homebound Seniors
Everyone loves to get handwritten notes, especially seniors! Help make an isolated senior’s day by writing a card, sending a joke, or drawing a picture, and let them know you are thinking about them. If you would like to write personal notes to ten seniors in our community, please contact Deborah Schneider at [email protected] for a list of names and instructions on where to send them.
Donate to JFCS Food Banks
Our community faces an unprecedented need for food donations and deliveries during the pandemic. Help JFCS keep our Food Banks full throughout the Bay Area and ensure we have essential supplies for everyone in need. Read here for details on how you and your family can contribute.
Follow us on Instagram for updates on these and other events.
Completed Service Projects
Takeout Tuesday—Coming Right Up!
As we all have witnessed, many small restaurants/eateries are struggling to keep their businesses open due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Shelter-In-Place orders. We encouraged teens from all over the Bay Area to order take out/delivery from a local restaurant and then join us on ZOOM. We played interactive games like Skribbl.io and Kahoot, while connecting with old and new faces!
Face Masks for Frontline Workers
Given the short supply of face masks for first responders, hospitals, and other high-risk workers, teens helped make them at home using these instructions or watching this video demonstration.
Virtual Career Nights
Find out how your interests could turn into a career. Teens get a chance to join a variety of successful professionals online to hear them speak about their unique career journeys, followed by a structured Q&A. Stay tuned for our next virtual Career Night!
Contacts
Director Linda Karlin; 415-359-2463
San Francisco Natan Kuchar; 415-359-2477
North Peninsula Pauline Shulman; 650-931-1858
South Peninsula Deborah Schneider; 650-688-3059
Marin County Jordan Vaughter; 415-419-3641
