10 Ways To Give Back To Memphis This Month (July 2018)

Volunteer Odyssey and I Love Memphis make it super easy for you to help the city you love by publishing a monthly list of easy, fun ways to volunteer in Memphis. Here are ten ideas for July 2018.

1. Jacob’s Well Community Clothes Closet: Saturday, July 7th shifts from 4:00pm to 5:30pm



Help neighbors find clothes they need. Many who attend Jacob’s Well are in need of clothes and other basic human needs. Before each service, the Clothes Closet is open for about 30 minutes. You can help by hanging up clothes, sorting clothes, helping to create a smooth shopping process and space, helping shoppers to pick the items they need, and/or enforcing the rules gently and with grace. Feel free to bring clothes donations with you. We are especially in need of men’s clothing.

Sign up here!

2. New Ballet Ensemble and School – Dunbar Elementary Summer Explorers Camp Volunteers: from July 9th – July 20th shifts from 9:00am to 1:00pm & 12:00pm to 6:00pm

New Ballet Ensemble and School will be hosting our first annual NBE Summer Dance Explorers Camp this July! This is a two-week long, day camp event that hosts up 100 kindergartens through 5th graders. These students will spend their day exploring new ideas with exhilarating dance and athletic workshops, interactive academic activities and innovative learning experiences on and off site. Volunteer as a Camp counselor and work directly with a group of students and serve as their counselor throughout the entire day or for half of the day. Counselors will help to facilitate academic programming and ensure students are making it to their designated activities throughout the day.

Sign up here!

3. Family Science Night: Earth & Space at Pink Palace Museum: Friday, July 13th from 6:30pm to 10:00pm

Join the Pink Palace Team on this fun night! Volunteers will assist with indoor/ outdoor educational activities, a scavenger hunt in the museum, observations with the Memphis Astronomical Society, and more. Must be 16 years old to volunteer.

Sign up here!

4. Refuge Memphis Shower of Blessings: Tuesday, July 17th from 5:30pm to 8:00pm

Refuge Memphis sends out vans to pick up homeless individuals to come get fresh clothing, toiletries, take a hot shower, and are provided with a hot meal, plus dessert, along with a to go meal and a bag of items to hold them over until next pick up. There is an inspiration message of hope, on site counseling, job assist professionals, and other program workers on hand to provide opportunities to those who are ready to make a life change. Volunteers will help in the kitchen, cleaning, drivers, hospitality, and more.

Sign up here!

5. Memphis Botanic Garden- Delta Heritage Garden Harvest Fridays: Friday, July 20th from 3:30pm to 5:30pm

Visit Memphis Botanic Garden on Friday afternoon and work alongside Carson Ellis, curator of the Delta Heritage Garden, in maintenance of vegetable, flower, and herb plantings. Work may include planting, weeding, trellising, grooming, and harvesting, and will be moderately strenuous. Volunteers will be invited to share and take home whatever is harvested from the garden after working!

Sign up here

6. Catholic Charities of West Tennessee’s Food Pantry: Wednesday July 25th from 9:00am to 1:00pm.

Catholic Charities provides help to those in need and brings them hope by supporting them on the path from poverty to self-sufficiency. During this opportunity, you’ll help organize, sort, and hand out food to those in need.

Sign up here!

7. Saturday Service Project at the Wolf River Conservancy: Saturday July 28th from 10:00am to 12:00pm

Join Wolf River Conservancy staff and volunteers as we continue clearing privet and other debris in the Lucius Burch State Natural Area. Come help us improve the Wolf River Watershed! Wolf River Conservancy will provide a limited number of gloves, handsaws, and loppers.

Sign up here!

8. Read To Me at St. Jude: Thursday July 26th from 12:00pm to 1:00pm

This is a great way to spend your lunch break! Volunteers will read with and entertain kids waiting for their appointments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Volunteers who speak Spanish are encouraged to participate! You must be at least 18 to participate in this project.

Sign up here!

9. Memphis Medical District Week: Volunteer Day with Ronald McDonald House: Wednesday, July 11th from 9am-1pm

Please join the Memphis Medical District Collaborative and our eight Anchor institutions for Volunteer Day on July 11, 2018. We are partnering with the Ronald McDonald House to help sanitize toys and help clean spaces for children staying in St. Jude.

Sign up here!

10. CodeCrew Hackathon: July 28th and July 29th at various times

The CodeCrew Hackathon is the finale to our exciting summer of code! This unique two-day event provides an opportunity for kids to show off their mobile app development skills and work on a real-world project to benefit our community. Students will be “recruited” and placed into teams and challenged to use computer science skills to solve a local community issue.

Sign up here!

If none of these strike your fancy, click here to take a tour of 7 different organizations to see if their volunteer opportunities are a perfect match for you. Or, there are more than 80 volunteer opportunities on Volunteer Odyssey’s Calendar: volunteerodyssey.com/calendar.

If you sign up for one of the above opportunities (or find another one through Volunteer Odyssey), please let me know. I’d love to give a shout-out to you next month.

Who knows? Maybe your experience will encourage others to give back some Memphis lovin’, too.