Volunteer

No Training Required

Food Bank preparation, distribution, delivery

Olympia/Lacey

Each month on the 2nd Monday (at the downtown Olympia food bank, contact Griselda at 360.259.6282) and 4th Friday (at an Olympia church; text Barb at 360.584.8395)

• 4th Friday of each month at Olympia church
  • Prepare bags of groceries that will be delivered to families. No Spanish language required; Shift starts at 9:45 AM.
  • Distribute bags of groceries to families that come to the church. Spanish language is preferred for this task. Shift is from 12-2pm.
• 2nd Monday of each month at Downtown Olympia food bank
  • Prepare bags of groceries that will be delivered to families. No Spanish language required; Shift starts at 9:45 AM.
  • Distribute bags of groceries to families that come to the church. Spanish language is preferred for this task. Shift is from 12-2pm.
• Either or both 2nd Monday and/or 4th Friday
  • Go in pairs (one of the pair must be minimally conversant in Spanish) to deliver food to area households. This will take 4-5 hours dependent on the need; shift is from 10:30am-3pm.

Shelton

in Shelton, assist with Hope Plaza Plaza Esperanza Food Bank and delivery.
    •    Unload and set up donated food to be distributed.
    •    Prepare boxes of groceries that will be delivered to families. Spanish language is not required.
    •    Distribute boxes of groceries to families that come to the Food Bank. Spanish language is essential but not required for this task.
    •    Vetting required ( to deliver to private residences). No Spanish language required (no contact with households; food is dropped off).

Administrative Tasks

• Printing Outreach materials to restock supply for our KYR canvassers and/or trainers/tablers
• Applying for grants to support various needs; one example is below.
  • The Immigrant Support Fund was created and is managed by the Faith Network for Immigrant Support in collaboration with Interfaith Works. It is intended to support community members living in Thurston, Mason, or Lewis counties who are at risk of detention and deportation.
    Funds may be requested to reimburse groups directly supporting immigrant individuals and families. Reimbursements will generally be limited to $500 per request (you may submit more than one). We review funding requests twice monthly.
    How to submit a request
    Go to the Building Community | Interfaith Works page, scroll down and select the Immigrant Support Fund tile. You’ll see buttons at the bottom to make a donation, submit a request, and to view guidelines.
    Requests may be approved to cover expenses such as: 
    Passports for children of undocumented parents; 
    USCIS filing fees needed to seek or maintain documented status; 
    parking, mileage and related costs of volunteers accompanying community members to court and similar; 
    outreach and training materials; 
    phone and food accounts for detained individuals; 
    initial attorney consultation; and 
    limited funding of basic needs (generally under $200) for families when a primary breadwinner has been detained.
• Helping to maintain the website or the events calendar.
• Write – Strong letters can help show that a person should be released while their immigration case continues.

Training and/or Vetting Required

Know Your Rights (KYR) Training

1. See the events page for THISL KYR outreach training opportunities.
   • If THISL training is not available or you have previously taken WA Neighborhood Defense (WAND) training, this training is sufficient but you will need to reach out to the THISL Outreach coordinator to get details of how the materials or approach of THISL differs from that of WAND.
2. THISL Outreach coordinator will add you to appropriate Signal chat for Outreach work. This will allow you to plan activities with other volunteers if you choose to focus on a specific geographic area and/or occupation (e.g. trades or outdoor labor has its own group) and/or share best practices.

Rapid Response

1. Take the WAISN Rapid Response training. (This is scheduled each month and takes place online; occasionally THISL will hold in-person training; see the Events page).
2. Sign the WAISN Rapid Response agreement and submit the WAISN volunteer background check application
3. Wait (about a month) for the background check to be completed.
4. Meet with a THISL Rapid Response coordinator for additional local-specific instruction.
5. Coordinator will add you to appropriate Signal chat(s) that includes notifications from WAISN hotline for our area of operation.

Accompaniment

1. Take the AGUA Accompaniment training. See the Events page for the next training offered.

Detention Visits & Pen Pal Activities

1. Take the AGUA Detention Visits & Pen Pal training. See the Events page for the next training offered.
   • Alternatively, contact AIDNW and receive their training on detention visits and/or becoming a pen pal for a detainee.