By Cassie Russell,
There are many organizations in Spokane that people can volunteer with to help others in the community. Here is a list of three possibilities in town.
One:
Free Rein Therapeutic Riding Center.
“We offer adaptive riding and horsemanship programs to children and adults with disabilities using horses as part of the therapy process,” said Haley Dixon, a Washington State Service Corps member serving as the Free Rein Volunteer Coordinator through AmeriCorps.
Free Rein is an organization where students and volunteers can get away from life for a little while and be in the healing company of horses. Because Free Rein offers classes, your rider will learn how to maneuver a horse by taking babysteps in the right direction.
Because a lot of people aren’t around horses but still want to help out with the students and gentle giants, Free Rein offers their volunteers some training to help them along the way.
“All new volunteers attend an initial 3 hour training to become Sidewalkers,” said Dixon. “Sidewalkers serve as an extra set of eyes and ears for the instructor, and help keep the rider safely engaged in class. Once a volunteer has demonstrated certain leadership/horsemanship traits, they are invited to complete Leader Training. Leaders serve by leading the horse so that someone always has control. We also have several Continued Leader Training opportunities throughout the year.”
Two
Hoopfest also recruits volunteers. Hoopfest is the world’s largest three-on-three basketball tournament and is held in Downtown Spokane. People come from all over the world to participate in this well-known tournament, but it needs a lot of volunteers to help run the show.
“Hoopfest is a really well-run organization, said Hoopfest volunteer Mike Crowley. “I think I like just participating in something within my community and that’s a big one.”
Most of the volunteers become court monitors. These individuals just supervise a court and keep the ball rolling.
“Hoopfest is easy to participate in; no basketball experience necessary,” Crowley said. “You are not a referee. You’ll have fun if you pay attention and know the rules. Training is a simple two hours and you will have lots of support.
“Volunteers need to want to be there and have fun. Not just doing it for the free shoes, even though that is a nice perk, it’s about helping out your community and being involved in the biggest three on three tournament in the world and the pure enjoyment of the surrounding energy.”
Three
The Children’s Hospital is another local volunteer opportunity.
“I got drawn to the children’s hospital by one of the “piano playing” volunteers at Sacred Heart who is a realtor,” said Tom Clark, a realtor for Kestell Company and fellow volunteer. “She actually began the discussions with Sacred Heart Medical Center to see what the realtor’s could do for them. The real estate market had experienced a substantial downturn and donating money was not as likely as donating time.”
The Clubhouse at Sacred Heart gives siblings of hospitalized children a place to go.
“The Clubhouse had been closed by Sacred Heart because of the cost of staffing it,” Clark said. “The realtors volunteered to provide volunteer staffing if the Children’s Hospital would re-open it. In 2010, the Children’s Hospital Clubhouse was reopened to offer the brothers and sisters of patients of the hospital a place to go while Mom and Dad were meeting with doctors or dealing with other hospital business.”
“The shifts for the Clubhouse are 9am to Noon or 1pm to 4pm and are typically once per month,” Clark said. “The average shift for a clubhouse volunteer is shared with several children between 2 and 13 years of age. The kids are allowed to participate in several activities, including miscellaneous arts and crafts, Wii and Xbox, watching movies, playing with toys, reading books, putting together puzzles and any number of other games.”
Whatever a person’s interest, Spokane offers many volunteering opportunities. For a campus source, students can visit the Service Learning Club.