With only a few weeks left in the school year, Asheville and Buncombe County students will soon hear the final school bells ring before they’re off to enjoy summer. While there are plenty of simple pleasures to enjoy, many parents are on the search for unique opportunities that their kids can experience. Our volunteer center, Hands On Asheville-Buncombe, has a few suggestions for ways to dig, give back to the community, and spend a summer afternoon or two experiencing something you may not normally have a chance to.
Here are a few from our list (and if you don’t see one here that piques your interest, there are many more in the volunteer database to explore):
Dragon Boat Racing to Benefit Care Partners
Be part of an exciting experience as 13 teams of 20 paddlers compete in 46-foot long dragon boats in the annual Drums & Dragons race benefitting CarePartners Foundation. Volunteers are needed for a wide variety of roles including set up and take down, parking lot and shuttle services, hospitality tent, dragon boat team marshals, and tech-savvy volunteers to update race results into a mobile app and more. For more information about the event please visit: www.drumsanddragons.com
To volunteer in helping make the Dragon Boat Race magic happen, register yourself and a friend or family member HERE.
Spending Time Together in a Community Garden
Are you a gardener or have always wanted to learn yet don’t have the time and space to maintain a garden of your own? Perhaps you already have your very own beds this spring and enjoy it so much that you’d love to dig in and help harvest fresh produce with Bounty & Soul, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a health and wellness movement in underserved communities in Buncombe and McDowell Counties. Their free food markets provide healthy, fresh produce and whole grains as well as nutrition education and resources for children, families, individuals, and seniors who struggle with food insecurity. Sign up to lend a green thumb or two HERE.
Have a Talent You'd Like to Share? Entertain Our Veterans One Afternoon
Our veterans at Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry welcome individuals or groups able and willing to share their talent. Whether you play an instrument or want to practice your stand-up comedy routine, you’ve got a warm audience awaiting you. Youth under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult and have a signed parental permission form.
Think about the talent you’d like to practice and sign up for a time to share it this summer HERE.
Craft Toys + Bandanas for Pets Looking for their Forever Homes
Volunteers make simple dog and cat toys that will give shelter animals something to play with while they wait to be taken home. (ex. braided tug toys and tennis ball ropes for pups and catnip string toys for kittens). Colorful “adopt me” bandanas will help these little ones get noticed…and adopted! Completed toys and bandanas will go to the Asheville Humane Society.
This project can be done from home with your supplies provided. Learn more HERE.
Don't see an opportunity of interest? There are plenty more available on the Hands On Asheville-Buncombe website. Just follow the button that says 'Volunteer Now' and you'll be met with plenty of fun opportunities to dig in alongside a community partner. You can use the 'Filter' drop-down to narrow your search to family friendly, wheelchair accessible, outdoors or within a specific area. Also, if you know you won’t have time in the coming month to share yet would like little nudges to remind you of upcoming opportunities, you can also set up a free Hands-On Asheville Buncombe account that will send updates your way around topics you’re interested in.
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