Volunteers
-Booker T. Washington
Thank you so much for your interest in volunteering with People’s Resource Center! As we work hard every day to serve the 32,500 individuals who seek our help each year, we rely on amazing volunteers to make this service possible. Between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012, 32 employees and more than 1,500 volunteers helped over 32,500 of our neighbors in need.
And the needs of these individuals and families are growing. In September 2012, the US Census figures illustrated that 15.1% of Americans are living in poverty. Did you know that means an annual income of $22,350 for a family of four? Right here in DuPage County, the rate of poverty since 1990 has increased by 131%, to 7.7% of the county’s population in 2011. This means that a family of three was earning just $17,916 per year; however, the Illinois Self-Sufficiency Standard shows that it takes a family of three (adult, preschooler, school-age child) $65,321 to make ends meet in DuPage County.
The US is currently home to 50 million people (14.9% of Americans) who are food insecure, meaning that they are faced with uncertainty of having, or being able to acquire, enough food to meet the needs of their family members because of lack of resources. In DuPage County, 95,110 people (10.3% of residents) face food insecurity. Moreover, 45,790 of those facing food insecurity in DuPage County are children.
The choices these families must make each day are heart-wrenching. Do I feed my child or buy their medicine? Do I repair my car, which I use to get to my job, or pay my rent?
Will you partner with us to provide services to those in need?
Part of PRC’s mission is to facilitate opportunities for “neighbors helping neighbors.” Creating volunteer opportunities is a service we provide to the community, to meet the needs of people eager to serve and connect with others. We believe that people are interested in hands-on activities and desire relationships and experiences with a diverse community. Therefore, PRC actively invites, coordinates, channels and directs this energy into effective action.
PRC’s volunteers are….
...Our Foundation
PRC was founded through the efforts of dedicated volunteers. Volunteers are the front line in every program we offer. Employees empower and support the work of volunteers, yet will never replace the key role volunteers play on the PRC team.
…Our Ambassadors
Volunteers represent PRC, acting as our grassroots outreach network. Additionally, volunteers are essential partners in building and strengthening the community and sharing the story of how PRC helps neighbors in need and transforms lives.
...Our Advocates for Those in Need
Volunteers are advocates for those who deserve a stronger voice. They spread awareness of the struggles being experienced by so many of our neighbors.
...Our Solution
We philosophically believe that the local community has resources that can and should be mobilized, and that doing so is a critical piece of a much larger challenge of solving poverty in America.
Becoming a volunteer with People’s Resource Center will provide you with an opportunity to make a difference in your own community. Whether you stock shelves in the food pantry, tutor an adult who is learning to read, help an unemployed individual find a job, teach a child to paint, register someone for service, refurbish a computer, provide administrative support in the office or one of the other many opportunities…..
YOU will be helping a member of the community
who faces very difficult challenges.
Our volunteers continue to commit their time to PRC for many reasons: to help others; to give back to the community; to set a good example for one’s children; to share a set of skills; and, as one volunteer put it, because “it enriches my life immensely.” Our volunteers consistently tell us that their experiences with People’s Resource Center are both fun and rewarding. One volunteer shared, “I am impressed with all PRC does to help those in need in our community, and I am proud to be a part of this.”
To join our team, the first step is to complete and submit a volunteer application.