Youth and Adult Volunteer Opportunities North and South

Against the Grain in Franklin is on the look out for adult volunteers who could mentor a group of ten rising fourth and fifth graders. Please contact Against the Grain at info@atghope.org and check out their website for other volunteer opportunities at http://www.atghope.org/ . My neighbor, Liz, is volunteering at AtG and is really excited about the opportunities! Join her and you will love what volunteering can do for you while you are doing for others. It's a great feeling.

Harvest Hands Community Development is looking for volunteers teens and up to help with the summer program serving kindergarten through middle school age kids. Randy at Harvest Hands says they could use help Monday through Friday from 1pm to 5pm. Fridays are field trip days and are a lot of fun. They especially need help transporting the children every Friday. Last summer, for instance, the children went to the zoo and they were talking about that trip the entire school year. If you could help but not for the whole four hours, Randy said he needs specific help from 2pm to 3pm during the study time so that the children receive more one-on-one mentoring. HH would love to have volunteers commit to one day a week or for specific hours so that the children can look forward to their time with the mentors. Call 259-9900 or email Randy at randy@harvesthandscdc.com for more information.

Harvest Hands CDC

Today, I want to share with you one way I get outside the bubble. I like to get out for fun (live music), for adventure (hikes) but mostly in service to others. In South Nashville, near the State Fairgrounds and Wedgewood Houston community, there is a growing community development group called Harvest Hands. My daughter(13) and I volunteer there every Monday afternoon for an after school tutoring program. No two weeks are the same. The kids that attend are so beautiful and open. Devotion can sometimes be an adventure when some tricky questions get asked. Some of these kids come from broken homes, some deal with a home life that which we in Brentwood have never dreamed. Yet, there are families that are whole and happy but struggling financially in this new country of theirs. Either way, I learn something new every time I am there. Each face lights up when my daughter is chasing them on the playground. Each face lights up with pride when praised for homework well done. Being with them and being part of their lives has changed the way I see the world around me. My political views are affected and my awareness of racisim and bigotry has quadrupled. I desire to be a better person and I believe as I reach out to them that they can help me with that goal. Check out their website and see if this is a partnership you may be interested in investing. It's a partnership of love, acceptance, patience, and joy.
http://www.harvesthandscdc.com/