Volunteer Needs

There are opportunities for involvement with Christian HELP/CFEC in the following areas:

(Not a complete list, check our website and Facebook page for additional opportunities for involvement)

·         Committee Member- Serve on the stewardship committee, capital campaign committee, social entrepreneurial committee, marketing committee, or Casselberry Task Force

·         Board Membership (application process required)- Serve on the board as a champion for the Christian HELP organization helping to set board policy and governance, and vision for future sustainability.

·         Job Skill Class instructors- Wednesday afternoons 3:00-4:30PM. Facilitate classes on Resume skills, Interview skills, and Basic Job Search using a PowerPoint presentation and adding in your experiences.

·         Boot Camp Mentors and Facilitators- This program will run on 4 Saturdays starting in February.  Facilitators will help with teaching and encouraging students. Mentors will coach students for a 6 week period following the class. Times will be set up at mutual convenience.

·         Resume Preparation and Coaching- At the Christian HELP office on Tuesdays from 10-2.  Rotating Schedule.  Must have prior resume writing and or/review experience.

·         Jobs Initiative Facilitators- Teach job skills modules based on Re-Charge and Re-Energize your job search curriculum. There are 6 full day modules on the topics of: Creating your Job Search Plan, Resumes and Cover Letters, Networking, Job Search Tactics, Interview and Impressions, and Performance Excellence.  Teach a full or ½ day. (Training provided)

·         Jobs Initiative Mock Interviewers- Participate in the module 5 class interviewing students and providing feedback on the interview.

·         Jobs Initiative Mentors- Mentor students who have been newly hired for a position and act as the liaison between the student and the employer when challenges arise.

·         Employment Counselor- This position requires a minimum of 1 day a week commitment.  Work directly with clients to assess job needs, resume needs, provide job leads, provide coaching to the job seeker. Must be willing to pray with clients.

·         Job Fair/ Employment Seminar Volunteers- volunteer at the job fair and/or employment seminars to serve the job seekers and employers in a variety of different roles.

·         Food Pantry- volunteer as a corporate or church group for corporate pantry day or on a regular basis to sort food, help clients, unload trucks, and other general duties.

·         Christmas volunteers- volunteer to help with the Christmas program sorting toys, acting as elves, housekeeping, in the pantry and more! Needed now-end of December.

·         Ambassador- represent Christian HELP in the community at outreach events

·         Host a Food Drive –The pantry is in need of non-perishable goods all year long. 

·         Special projects and events

Contact

 Julie   407-834-4022   volunteer@christianhelp.org 

Zeynep 407-430-3022  Zeynep@christianhelp.org – All Jobs Initiative opportunities

www.ChristianHELP.org      www.CFEC.org   www.CFJI.org

450 Seminola Blvd Casselberry, FL 32707

The greatest gift of all

People always call me out on my love of the grinch.  Really, I love him because when he saw the true meaning of Christmas his heart swelled 3 sizes. I love how he became part of the story rather than trying to rob the people of their joy like he was originally trying to do. 

For me, Christmas has always been about family.  The gifts under the tree are secondary to the love we have for each other. We have had years that were abundant and years that were slim, but none of that matters if you don't have people around you who love you and care for your future.

Jesus is the reason for the season, but even more, He is a symbol of unconditional love. God sent Him as the sacrifice for all of our sins. He tells us in Romans 3:10-12, and 23   “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” ... For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. But He goes on in John 3:16 to tell us "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

I am so thankful to God for His gift to us. Aren't you? 

It is so easy to get caught up in the commercialization of Christmas.  These days we even have to deal with people who don't like the word Christmas and fight to have it removed from our vocabulary.  I find all of this to be so sad.

Each year, the community comes together through various programs to support families in need and make sure their kids have Christmas. Some even sacrifice their own gifts to help others. This warms my heart.  Occasionally, we have a family who is not happy with their gifts, seems ungrateful, or wants more than we generally provide. This can be discouraging and take away from the true meaning and reason fro what we do.  There are so many families who are grateful and who are just thrilled about how the community supports them. In our program, we get to pray for them as well as provide them with gifts and food. This year, 8 people professed a belief in Christ for the first time. This is what Christmas is about.

As we look forward to 2014, my prayer for you is that you have been open to receiving God's greatest gift, and if you have not; that you will be. 

Be blessed in 2014 and beyond.

Sandi

On Being Thankful...

 

Thanksgiving is a time of year where we stop and think about what we are thankful for.  Some people even do daily thank yous on social media listing the things and people they are thankful for.  I have purposed in my heart to be thankful every day and not just in November. It is a great exercise that helps me to appreciate all that I have been blessed with.  

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:15-17

As I go through my daily routine, I lift people up and just say thank you to God for the people he has put into my life. As I meet people who are hurting and in need of jobs, I pray for them, but also thank God for my job. You get the picture.  Being prayerful and thankful helps to keep me focused on how blessed I am no matter what is going on.

This Thanksgiving, I give thanks for you.  The supporters, and clients of Christian HELP.  I give thanks for an amazing staff and team of volunteers who give more of themselves than is expected or required.  I give thanks for Jesus, who gives me life.

What are you thankful for?  Focus on these things, and you will feel blessed.

Sandi 

This boy has known hunger

As told by Phyllis, one of the Christian HELP team members:

Today I was coming back from lunch, and as I was getting out of my car,  I heard this little boy crying loudly.

His mom was holding him and his dad was close by.  I went in the office and grabbed him a Mickey Mouse plush toy, and thought that may calm him down.  I walked up to the family and asked if I could give him it, the little boy was maybe about 2 or 3 years old would not take it so I handed it to mom.  

She said he’s hungry, I said oh he hasn’t had lunch yet?  Mom said no, he hasn’t eaten today; I gave him a glass of juice. She was holding a food ticket, and had a few families in front of her waiting, so I walked into the food pantry and got a pretzel and cheese snack and an individual bag of cookies.  I walked back to the family and asked the parents, is this ok for him to have, to hold him over till your food order is processed?  She said yes, Thank you so much for treating us kindly and like human beings.  I went to give him the bag of cookies; he grabbed them so fast from me, at that moment I knew this little boy has known hunger. No child ever should.   It’s was heartbreaking.

I am just thankful that I heard his cries and responded, if only in a small way.  It made me think, differently about what we do here at Christian HELP and why.  It must be so demeaning and humbling to come to a food pantry, fear of being judged or belittled. Our words, and expressions, have an impact on our clients; we try hard to be aware of that often.  We can get so busy, we miss the opportunities right before our eyes, if we just take that moment to stop, listen and see.   Everyone has a story and theirs was they have never been in this situation before and are just numb. 

Lord I thank you for meeting this families needs today, through us.  Allow God to use us more daily, and listening for those cries and unspoken words, the face reveals so much more than words sometimes. 

You Do Good Work

I speak to many people on a daily basis and it seems like more and more people have heard of Christian HELP (finally!), and it seems like we often end the conversation with them saying "You do good work".

I have been with Christian HELP on staff now 6 1/2 years. Since I came on, we have weathered a recession, had the homeless issue in Central Florida exposed nationally, found our we are ranked #1 for lowest wages in the country, and served thousands of families who might have had nowhere else to turn. One thing I can say through all of those things is we have an amazing team of staff, volunteers, donors, prayer warriors, and community partners who make it all work.

When we wanted to initiate and expand the Central Florida Jobs Initiative, many corporate partners including Bank of America, Wal-Mart, and Wells Fargo said yes to helping to make that happen. Then the Heart of Florida United Way vetted the program and liked what they saw. We were able to expand the program and add some staff, and several collaborative partners including SafeHouse, CredAbility, and Seminole County Legal Aid. One of the most important partners to come along side of us has been Willow Creek Church who has shown a true spirit of community by donating 2 offices and classroom space for our team. They treat us like their own and we are so blessed.

Second Harvest has been a tremendous food partner, as have many churches and individuals who keep our pantry stocked. Approximately 250 families each week come in to get food to help their families to make ends meet. Many are experiencing a short term crisis, others have been unemployed for quite some time.

The employers who support the job board, job fairs, and employment seminars are so important to the work we do. They network with us and attend meetings. They advise us on trends in hiring. They volunteer as instructors and mock interviewers, and resume reviewers for the job fairs and jobs initiative, and most of all, they hire our clients.

The individuals, corporations, and churches who support our Christmas program are amazing. Many times we don't know who put the toy in the box, but we know it ends up with a child who is blessed to be able to have Christmas. We couldn't do the adopt a family program without Z88.3 and the team there. I love that they are so real and wonderful, just like they are on the radio.

So when you say "you do good work", what you are really saying is that we do live in a community that gives hope. There are many people here who do care and are willing to sacrifice for others.

Thank you!

Sandi

We love success stories!

When Carmen Came to Christian HELP, she had been searching for a job for awhile and no one was calling her back.  Being part of the Central Florida Jobs Initiative, re-charged and re-energized her job search with the tools she needed to land a job she loves!