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