12 | JUNE 8 • 2023 

I

n partnership with NEXTGen 
Detroit Volunteers, Repair the World 
Detroit, Reboot and Moishe House 
Royal Oak, I recently spent a very 
meaningful Sunday morning Packing 
Lunches with Love at Jewish Senior 
Life. Along with my peers, I worked 
with seniors to make over 100 sand-
wiches for the Detroit Community 
Fridge, an organization that keeps 
refrigerators around Detroit stocked 
with meals for those in need. When I 
heard about Detroit Community Fridge, 
I could not wait to write about its mis-
sion in my upcoming column. Now 
here we are!
Detroit Community Fridge is a com-
munity aid project that came into exis-
tence during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Five public fridges across Detroit are 
open and accessible 24/7 for anyone 
who may want something to eat. The 
fridges are fully stocked by volunteers 
who fill them with homemade meals, 
snacks and special treats. The rules are 
straightforward and simple: 1) Take 

what you need. 2) Leave what you don’t 
need. 3) Label anything you add to the 
fridge with the date it was prepared, the 
name of the dish and its ingredients — 
especially known allergens. 4) If you see 
that something is expired or spoiled, 
please dispose of accordingly. To find 
a fridge and participate, visit https://
detfridge.com. 
The mission of Alternatives for Girls 
is to help homeless and high-risk girls 
and young women avoid violence, teen 
pregnancy and exploitation, and help 
them to explore and access the support, 
resources and opportunities necessary 
to be safe, to grow strong and to make 
positive choices in their lives. The orga-
nization offers a large variety of volun-
teer opportunities including the cloth-
ing closet crew, rehousing moving crew, 
community outreach and tutoring. A 
mentorship program is also available 
that pairs a volunteer with a participant 
to focus on building confidence, explor-
ing new things about themselves and 
achieving academic success. For more 

information, contact Christina Ramsey 
at cramsey@alternativesforgirls.org. 
Wayne County CASA (Court 
Appointed Special Advocates) recruits, 
screens, trains and supervises volunteer 
advocates to speak up for children who 
have experienced abuse and neglect. 
The volunteers are appointed by jurists 
in the Wayne County Third Circuit 
Court. These specially trained volun-
teers strive to become a positive, stable 
influence for Wayne County children, 
while ensuring they have a voice in and 
out of court. Children within this pro-
gram are more likely to find a safe and 
permanent home, succeed in school 
and are half as likely to re-enter the 
foster care system. Potential volunteers 
must be at least 21 and must display 
a level of maturity that enables posi-
tive, objective, active involvement with 
neglected children, families in crisis 
and professionals in the system. Apply 
to be a volunteer at https://waynecoun-
tycasa.org/volunteer-application/.
Join the Downtown Synagogue on 
summer Sundays from 4-6 p.m. at 
Eden Gardens on Detroit’s east side. 
Volunteers of all ages will participate 
in various community gardening tasks, 
including cleaning out garden beds, 
prepping the garden, planting and har-
vesting. No sign up necessary — show 
up at aforementioned dates and time at 
12273 Glenfield Ave., Detroit to help.
Jewish Senior Life is looking for 
teen volunteers to help with a variety of 
intergenerational opportunities. Teens 
can volunteer on their own or with 
a group in the dining room, during 
teatime on weekdays or Sunday activ-
ities. To learn more, reach out to Beth 
Robinson at brobinson@jslmi.org or fill 
out the volunteer form at https://jslmi.
org/volunteer. 

If your organization is looking for volunteers, email 

Samantha Foon at samanthafoon14@gmail.com for 

possible inclusion in an upcoming column.

OUR COMMUNITY

Lauren Soifer of NextGEN 
Detroit, Samantha Foon 
of Bloomfield Hills 
and Carly Sanfield of 
Birmingham at Packing 
Lunches with Love.

Fun ways to get involved by 
helping others this month.
Volunteers Wanted!

SAMANTHA FOON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

