Volunteering at Our Community Place
Opportunities abound for volunteers at Our Community Place all through the week and most of the day. These range from helping with the traditional Free Food For All Soup Kitchen to whatever you might propose. Those looking to do court-ordered community service hours should certainly stop by: we'll find something for you to do and sign your forms for you.
Free Food For All Soup Kitchen
This is a no-strings-attached-free-meal for anyone in the world. Now that our occupancy permit has been approved, the meal is held at the OCP building (17 E. Johnson Street). We start cooking around 10am, serve at noon, and clean 'til 2pm. Come on in and help out and hang out, and make sure you come hungry!
If you are coming as part of a group, please consider that we do have a number of 'regular' volunteers who tend to show up each Monday. This means we can get overloaded if you're bringing a bunch of people. Maybe 3-4 without warning (you might want to call ahead even then in case another group's thinking the same thing).
Events and Activities
Events like the annual Lawn Jam and Bike Fest always need a healthy number of volunteers. Weekly and nightly activities such as craft night, game night, etc. could always use people to help out, too.
Grounds
We need help with mowing and weed-eating, depending on the season. We also would like help thinking up improvements in landscaping. Or you could just help keep things tidy.
Garden
Depending what time of year it is, we will have tilling, planting, weeding, watering, harvesting and storing to do. Currently, there is some harvesting and re-planting to work on. This year we put in peas, collard greens, spinach, herbs, tomatoes, strawberries, corn, beans, and potatoes to share. Mmmm! Most of the produce is used at the Soup Kitchen.
Improvements
The building is looking great, but we're only through Phase 1 of our improvements. Just enough to get the occupancy permit, that is. Now we've got a new list--call in Phase 2. Depending on your interests and abilities you may want to plug in this way. Examples of things we're looking at doing now include: flooring, utility space, shelving, etc. Stop on by, or check this space for a more complete list.
Cleaning
We're always in need of general cleaning to keep the place presentable and smelling nice. That means sweeping and mopping, and cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen. Seems like dishes are always piling up, too.
Newsletter
Now that the building's up and running again we'd like to get back to publishing our newsletter. We'll be needing all kinds of help on it from creating material to gathering it, to organizing it, to actually publishing it on some sort of computer system.
Other Projects
Other ways to plug-in arise all the time. You can even invent your own! Stop in or call and we can dream up something big. That's the way we like to do things at OCP.
Friends of the OCP
The Friends of OCP is a group of individuals who have an interest in the activities of OCP. Anyone in the world may be a friend of OCP. The Board of Directors will meet with the Friends of OCP once per quarter in order to update those interested on the overall progress of the project. The board will try present all matters of significant importance (e.g. matters pertaining to legal issues, property, election, of board members, finances, etc.) to the Friends of OCP.
Internships
Internships are available. Each summer for the past couple of years interns helped on the building, planning festivals, making the Soup Kitchen happen, and with getting to know folks in the neighborhood. We can put you in contact with previous interns and their supervisors if you so desire.
Email List
Please send us an email (ourcommunityplace@gmail.com) if you would like to receive periodic notices about events, activities, needs at the OCP or in the neighborhood, and further opportunities for plugging in.
Stop By
Swing by almost anytime. We're looking at open times now of 9am-5pm Mondays through Fridays, and 10am-3pm on Saturdays. Extended hours are likely around events and activities so call ahead on 540/442-7727. Thanks! (and we look forward to meeting you soon.)