Where should my husband and I volunteer in Atlanta?

July 9, 2015 8:38 AM

What organization should we volunteer at for 20 hours prior to September 3?

Because of reasons, I need to perform at least 20 hours of community service prior to September 3rd. I live near Decatur, GA, and could easily travel to Atlanta or outlying burbs. My wish list is:

-Ideally my husband and I could volunteer together
-Flexible scheduling because I have to do this mostly outside of work hours (Tues through Saturday are my work days) OR
-I do have some vacation days so if there's a way to knock out all the hours in just a few days that'd be awesome
-Not a church
-Not outside (so no Trees Atlanta)
-Not super physically taxing (e.g., not Habitat for Humanity or cleaning up roadside debris)
-Willing to give me something on letterhead stating that I volunteered xx hours

I have looked at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, but they require attendance at an orientation, and my husband won't be able to make that day because he works out of town. So, something that doesn't have pre-volunteering requirements would also be really great.

Thanks y'all!

posted by masquesoporfavor to Grab Bag (7 answers total)

When I lived in your area, I volunteered at Open Hand, which is primarily meals-on-wheels for the chronically ill. (at the time, it was almost exclusively HIV/AIDS patients and I suspect largely still is). I recall it being pretty flexible in terms of scheduling. I'd spend some time in the kitchen and then some time making deliveries. It looks like it has expanded its missions and services quite a bit since then. I think it has a good chance of fitting the bill.
posted by Tanizaki at 8:49 AM on July 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

Seconding Open Hand. When I needed to fulfill a community service requirement, they fit the bill handily.
posted by Kitteh at 9:05 AM on July 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

MedShare's headquarters is in Decatur, and would let you both sort donated medical supplies. I'm not sure if they'll give you something on letterhead. They definitely don't support court-ordered community service, and say that upfront, but their volunteer coordinator could probably answer whether they can give you something verifying your service.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:34 AM on July 9, 2015

Try Hands on Atlanta, I think they have a variety of causes to work for.
posted by drthom at 10:12 AM on July 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Have you checked out VolunteerMatch? You can search by Atlanta or Decatur to find any number of opportunities which might match your criteria.
posted by Panjandrum at 11:11 AM on July 9, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far. This is not YET court-ordered but it would need to be somewhere that is okay with court-ordered service. Volunteer Match doesn't appear to allow filtering by that issue. It also has to be a registered non-profit. Thanks y'all!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 1:40 PM on July 9, 2015

The Georgia Center for Nonprofits is geared towards helping nonprofits, not matching volunteers with nonprofits. However, it might still be worth your while to either skim through their member directory, searching on BillingCity=Atlanta, or just giving them a call and explaining what you are looking for.
posted by kovacs at 7:45 PM on July 9, 2015 [1 favorite]