Hands-On Service Opportunities

Rotary is a service organization. Our club strives to help people in Springfield and Greene County through our Community Grants and Hands-On Service Projects. We have several nonprofit groups represented by our members, and we’re giving them the chance to publicize opportunities for Hands-on Service. We’ll post those opportunities here, along with their contact information, for anyone who is looking for a way to serve others.

If you'd like to volunteer on your own, or with a group from your work, church, or family, here is information submitted by members of Springfield Southeast Rotary Club who work with nonprofit agencies.

Ronald McDonald House Dinner: February 18 from 4:30 - 6:30. We need 6 volunteers for this project. Volunteers will prepare dinner for the families who stay at Ronald McDonald House while they have a child in the hospital. This will be at the Mercy location. Follow the link to sign-up, https://www.eventcreate.com/e/ronald-mcdonald-house-dinne-340551.

Food Packing at Ozarks Food Harvest: Our March service activity is going to be a food packing session at Ozarks Food Harvest. Saturday, March 14, from 9:00 - noon. We are looking for 8 volunteers for this hands-on service project. Follow the link to sign-up, https://www.eventcreate.com/e/ozarks-food-harvest.

Convoy of Hope

Contact Marilyn Lopez, 417-823-8998 or 412-680-4227 mlo.cofo@gmail.com
Convoy of Hope has volunteer opportunities every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Here is our page and the email to register a group is volunteer@convoyofhope.org.
Location: World Distribution Center: 1 Convoy Drive Springfield, MO 65802
Directions: From Highway MM, turn onto West Carnahan Street. Follow the road (approximately half a mile. You will find parking to the left of the building. Enter through the glass doors that face James River Freeway.
• Doors open at 6 p.m., and walk-ins are accepted up to capacity until 6:30 p.m.
• The warehouse is locked at 6:30 p.m. as a safety requirement.
• Events may be canceled due to inclement weather.
• Groups of 10 or more should email to register in advance.
• Spots for guests are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Volunteers can text “HOPE” to 688-28 for up-to-the-minute Hands of Hope news and volunteer opportunities.

Drew Lewis Foundation

Contact Amy Blansit or Zack Wilson: 417-200-2223 or 417-880-5001 amyblansit@gmail.com zack@drewlewis.org

Serve and clean up community dinners on Thursday nights at The Fairbanks
Spring cleanup projects
House Demolition and cleanup projects
We utilize a platform called GivePulse on a number of projects. https://www.givepulse.com/group/115007-Drew-Lewis-Foundation-The-Fairbanks
Assist with repainting some old duplexes in the Grant Beach neighborhood to help spruce up the neighborhood

Community Blood Center of the Ozarks

Contact Stacey Connell, 417-227-5313 or 417-840-1852 connells@cbco.org
We could use some help from garden & plant lovers to maintain our front flower garden. If there is interest, we would love to have a group or person come once a month to weed the flower garden, pull plants coming up between the bricks on our sidewalk, and sweep the entrance areas.

Victory Mission

Contact Jason Hynson, 417-864-2216 or 417-576-6929 jason@victorymission.com
Multiple opportunities are available, with flexible scheduling
We have things posted on the website: www.victorymission.com. We also can customize experiences around food, shelter, clothing, relationships, and mentoring.

Ronald McDonald House Charities

Contact Bonnie Keller, 417-875-3503 or 417-766-8782 bonnie.keller@rmhcozarks.org
For our Meals from the Heart Program, a small group of Rotarians can sign up to provide and serve a meal at one of our Ronald McDonald Houses. Here is a link with information about the program. https://rmhcozarks.org/volunteers/meals-from-the-heart/

Ozarks Counseling Center

Contact Andrea Bishop: 417-869-9011 or 417-838-7585 andrea@ozarkscounselingcenter.org

We have a gorgeous old house on South Street that we use for our offices and it has beautiful gardens that never really get the attention they need.
We have a couple of areas that completely need to be revamped that could be good one-day projects.
We could also use a freshening-up day in both the spring and fall
Sometimes we need a little painting and the like, but mostly it is help with the landscaping that would be most beneficial.

Good Dads

The Good Dads Strong Schools program also is looking for volunteers for two or three other schools. One is Watson Elementary, a Title 1 school with lots of diversity, on the northwest side of the city. The second is Weaver Elementary on West Division Street. It's possible Sequiota School on the southeast side of the city may soon be part of the program. A contingent of 4-6 Rotarians one day each month could make an impact at each school.

Make a big impact in a small amount of time.  The volunteer opportunity is as follows:

1)      Arrive at the school between 6:45 - 7:00 a.m.
2)      Assist at check-in table (greet dads and kids, give out stickers and raffle tickets, help people to feel welcome)
3)      Assist with distributing supplies for activity
4)      Assist with any clean-up, which should be minimal

Total time: Less than one hour.  The day of the month is determined by the school. We have several from which to choose.

To learn more: Contact Jennifer Baker (jennifer@gooddads.com)  https://gooddads.com/strong-schools/

Hands-on Service: Good Dads program at Watkins Elementary School

Springfield Southeast Rotarians volunteered at the Good Dads Strong Schools program at Watkins Elementary School on Dec. 12. Rotarians Jennifer Baker, Kyle John, Kevin Rice, Robert Hawkins and Dan Emrie rose early to support the holiday event.

Fathers and their children were greeted with special Good Dads stickers that kids and dads could wear with pride during the day at school and work. The morning featured refreshments including donuts and beverages while families worked together to create festive paper Christmas trees.

Several excited children won holiday prizes through a random ticket drawing. The event culminated in everyone joining voices for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," strengthening bonds between the fathers and their children.

Text and photos by Dan Emrie

Hands-on Service: Foundation for SPS Grant Delivery Day

Springfield Southeast volunteers had the honor of presenting Foundation for Springfield Public Schools grants at Sunshine and Reed schools on Sept. 4. It was a wonderful celebration as we were able to surprise winning teachers with checks.

Benji Lampert, Algerian Hart, Bill Sadler, Sal Agosta and Dan Emrie were the volunteers. The morning started with a rally and celebration kickoff at the SPS Kraft Administration Center. Lampert, Hart and Agosta then delivered 3 grant checks to Reed Academy's Jennifer Goods and LuAnna Bell and supporting staff. Emrie and Sadler presented a grant check to Sunshine Elementary's Amanda Brown.

The Foundation was able to distribute more than $200,000 at more than 40 SPS schools for 2025!

Hands-on Service: Supper at Ronald McDonald House

Springfield Southeast Rotarians spent an evening preparing supper for residents of the Ronald McDonald House at Mercy Hospital Springfield.

Hands-on Service: Good Dads program at Pittman Elementary School

For the second school year in a row, Springfield Southeast Rotarians are helping with the Good Dads program at Pittman Elementary School in east Springfield. The volunteers help set up and serve breakfast for the early morning program in which fathers enjoy activities with their children. These programs occur once each quarter.

We have several opportunities (11/14, 11/21, 12/12, and 1/9 -- all Fridays) to volunteer at the Good Dads Strong Schools events in November, December & January at Watkins Elementary and Pittman Elementary. See sign up link for available dates & times: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4DA4AA2FA1FF2-60050421-good