24 | JULY 6 • 2023 

S

chool is out and summer has offi-
cially begun! Perhaps your children 
are at camp or your company offers 
Summer Fridays; either way, you’ve found 
yourself with newfound time on your hands. 
Volunteering is the perfect way to fill that 
gap. You can spend time out-
doors helping on a farm or 
cool off in the air condition-
ing while supporting adult 
artists with special needs. 
However you choose, get out 
there and try something new!
The Michigan Urban 
Farming Initiative (MUFI) is 
a nonprofit organization that 
seeks to engage members of the Michigan 
community in sustainable agriculture. Based 
in Detroit’s North End, volunteers are wel-
come every Saturday from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. at 
7432 Brush St. There is no need to sign up 
in advance; volunteers can show up when-
ever they want and stay for as long as they 
want. Duties include anything from harvest-
ing crops for their free community market 
to general farm maintenance: weeding, 
mulching, pruning, trellising, etc. All ages, 
abilities and group sizes are welcome. MUFI 
is happy to schedule volunteer events out-
side of Saturday with groups or individuals. 
For anyone interested, just send an email to 
support@miufi.org.
Create a virtual food drive for Forgotten 
Harvest! With a little information from you, 
Forgotten Harvest can help create a giving 
webpage that can be shared with those who 
would like to donate. This is a great option 

for anyone who wants to give back without 
leaving the comfort of their couch. To learn 
more, contact Mary at 
mmoorebutler@forgottenharvest.org. 
Friendship Circle’s Soul Studio is a sup-
ported art studio and gallery for adult artists 
with special needs that helps participants 
to develop independence and confidence 
through creative expression. Soul Studio 
volunteers assist with projects and give one-
on-one assistance and/or companionship to 
artists. Volunteer hours are Monday-Friday 
10 a.m.-noon or 1-3 p.m. To learn more, 
contact Mendel at (248) 489-6376 or 
mendel@friendshipcircle.org.
Samaritas, the state’s largest foster care 
and adoption organization with a full suite 
of family preservation programs, needs 
your help to set students up for success in 
the upcoming school year. By donating 
backpacks and school supplies for stu-
dents in the foster care systems, 
immigrant families and children 
facing challenging circumstances, 
we can ensure they all have the 
resources necessary to thrive in 
and out of the classroom. From 
July 14 to Aug. 1, Samaritas needs 
to collect 600 backpacks in south-
east Michigan for their Foster 
Care, Affordable Living and New 
Americans programs. Donations 
can be dropped off 9 a.m.-4 
p.m., Monday through Friday at 
Samaritas’ main office at 8131 
E. Jefferson Ave. in Detroit. To 
coordinate drop off, contact Kayla 

Park at kpark@samaritas.org. 
Crossroads of Michigan is a 
social service outreach agency 
with two locations in Detroit, 
supporting the community by 
providing emergency assistance, 
advocacy and counseling to any-
one in need. Crossroads has sev-
eral active volunteer opportunities 
to help the community, including 
Community Resource Navigator 
and Sunday Soup Kitchen. 
Community Resource Navigator is 
a recurring weekday role from 
either 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. or 12:30-
4 p.m. Crossroads is seeking 
volunteers who are interested in 
coming in for one shift (or more!) 
per week. Volunteers must be wel-
coming, empathetic, understand-
ing and able to deal with a wide 
range of people. During a session, volunteers 
will meet with clients to identify and assist 
with a variety of needs, including providing 
emergency assistance to clients experiencing 
poverty and/or housing insecurity to con-
tribute toward stability. 
Groups of 20-40 volunteers can sponsor a 
Sunday Soup Kitchen by providing the fund-
ing or purchasing food themselves for that 
Sunday. From there, they prepare the food 
in their commercial kitchen with the help 
of Crossroads’ Soup Kitchen director and 
managers, greeting community members, 
distributing food and beverages and other 
tasks as needed for that Sunday. Crossroads 
typically serves 400+ meals every Sunday. To 
find out more, contact Sam Miners at 
sminers@crossroadsofmichigan.org. 

If your organization is looking for volunteers, email 

Samantha Foon at samanthafoon14@gmail.com for 

possible inclusion in an upcoming column.

OUR COMMUNITY

 Wanted: 
 Wanted: 
Volunteers

Samantha 
Foon
Contributing 
Writer

Samaritas is 
 
collecting 
 
backpacks 
throughout July.

A volunteer at Friendship Circle’s Soul Studio

Help out your neighbors this month.

