VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

 The volunteer opportunities at Lee IVC range over a wide area. A large percentage of our volunteers provide direct service assisting older adults in their own homes with various activities of daily living. As a volunteer, you will have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of older adults who need some assistance.

The impact and accomplishments of Lee IVC mission is provided by our volunteers. They provide the personal interaction with older adults while assisting with the requested service. What a Lee IVC volunteer does depends on what he/she feels able and comfortable doing, the amount of time they have to volunteer and the geographical area where they wish to serve. Some of the most frequent services include:

• Transportation: With age, ones ability to drive becomes more difficult and operating and maintaining a vehicle becomes costly. Bus service is not conveniently available to many of Lee County's residents. There is a growing demand for volunteers to provide transportation for an older person who does not drive or cannot afford a taxi, but needs to get to a doctor's appointment, go to a pharmacy, shopping, or the bank..
• Shopping: Volunteers accompany older adults on shopping trips, assist with shopping, and carry groceries. They also do grocery shopping for those who cannot do it themselves.
• Friendly Visiting: Volunteers develop a continuing social relationship with an older adult through regular personal visits.
• Telephone Reassurance: Volunteers contact older adult by phone on a regular basis for emotional and social reassurance and support.
• Correspondence: Volunteers read or write letters for elderly with severe arthritis, glaucoma, macular degeneration or who can no longer perform these tasks for themselves.
• Meal Preparation: Volunteers provide a home cooked meal for a person living alone.
• Minor Home Repairs: Volunteers change light bulbs, fix toilets, unclog a drain, or other chores essential for maintenance of a house or property.
• Light Housekeeping: Volunteers dust, mop kitchen or bathroom floors, run vacuums, straighten up. No "on the knees" scrubbing or moving furniture.
• Respite: Volunteers sit or visit with a homebound individual to give a full-time caregiver a period of relief from the daily routines of care giving, thus providing the caregiver time to attend to personal needs, grocery shopping, etc. No lifting, medical, or personal care.
• Yard Maintenance: Volunteers trim bushes and weed. Mowing is optional.
• Dream Teams: Groups of four or more volunteers perform tasks that appear insurmountable for one (old fashioned housecleaning, house painting, packing and assistance for move to assisted living, etc.).
• Intergenerational: Volunteers work with youth to provide services to elderly, washing mobile homes, painting, lawn clean-ups, etc. Most Intergenerational projects are performed on weekends or school holidays. However, preparation work is frequently required during the week.

 Office Assistance: Answering telephones, clerical, bulk mail, general office duties.