Volunteer Coaches Help Bring Sports to Immigrant and Low-Income Youth

By offering low-cost or free school-based sports programs in neighborhoods where young people are typically disconnected from local athletic leagues, and by employing multicultural and multilingual staff and volunteers to run these programs, Impact Silver Spring has helped to level the playing field. In fact, approximately 75 percent of the kids involved in the organization's sports program had never played organized sports before.

Looking ahead, Impact Silver Spring hopes to further increase the quantity and quality of its recreational and competitive sports programs, and seeks committed volunteer coaches who are passionate about teaching valuable life lessons through sports. The nonprofit is now recruiting assistant soccer coaches and assistant basketball coaches for weekday after-school elementary-age programs, primarily in Wheaton and Long Branch neighborhoods. Training is provided (soccer coaches will be asked to complete US Soccer F License training). Volunteers are expected to handle themselves in a clear, committed, and professional manner with both the staff and the kids, and must commit to helping at least once or twice a week throughout the spring season. Minimum age is 14, and volunteer coaching is pre-approved for MCPS student service learning credits. Volunteers with Spanish-speaking skills are particularly needed.

Volunteer coaches find that they benefit along with their players. This can include increasing skills/knowledge about sports, improving organizational experience, feeling good about having a positive impact on the lives of kids, providing a positive adult presence, and finding a sense of accomplishment in seeing the kids grow and develop over the course of a season. Coaching can also be a way to get or stay in shape and to practice what you preach as you model the behaviors you want the kids to do. As one volunteer coach recently noted, "It's not just about training the kids to be excellent players; it's also about training them to impact the world around them and make a difference in their lives, family, and society."

To learn more about how to get involved with Impact's sports programs, email Damian Popkin.

Teens: Do you have plans for the summer? Interested in volunteering as a camp counselor to help other youth, practice leadership and teaching skills, and have fun, all while potentially earning student service learning hours?

Summer camps run by nonprofits and local governments are now recruiting volunteer counselors and counselors in training! You can find many of them with this search for the keyword camp on the Volunteer Center website. Here are a few:

Therapeutic Recreation Program Counselors & Assistants: H elp children with disabilities participate in summer camps, clinics, and fun center activities  organized by  Montgomery County's Therapeutic Recreation program.  Locations throughout the county, from Bethesda to Ashton and Germantown to Silver Spring.   Volunteers must commit to helping for at least one week between June 26 and Aug. 18. Minimum age: 14. Training is required. Email Marco D'Ottavi or call 240-777-6891.

Special Needs Summer Program Volunteers: Assist with arts and crafts and other activities  that support the speech-language, occupational therapy, and learning enrichment summer camps at the Treatment and Learning Centers in Rockville. Volunteers can choose from half-day or full-day shifts and must work at least 10 days (not necessarily consecutive) between June 26 and Sept. 1. Minimum age: 16. Download the application, email Jacque Braunstein, or call 301-424-5200 x6928.

Bike Camp "Spotters": Help a disabled individual learn to ride a two-wheel bike through the iCan Shine program organized by the city of Takoma Park, June 26-30. Volunteers will work with the same camper, during the same 75-minute time period, for the five days of camp, running alongside the bike and encouraging the rider by cheering and offering instructions. Choose from five 90-minute daily shifts (includes 15 minutes of training and debriefing every day). Minimum age: 16. Email Lucy Neher or call 301-891-7235.

Celebrate the accomplishments and hear the inspiring stories of some of our county's most amazing volunteers and community leaders at the Montgomery Serves Awards ceremony, Monday, April 24, 6:30 pm, at Imagination Stage in Bethesda. The event is free, but reservations are required as seating is limited. Register here. 

Congratulations to this year's honorees, who represent just a fraction of the many ways Montgomery County residents serve the community:

• Miriam Kelty (Neal Potter Path of Achievement Award, for lifetime service by residents age 60 and up), who has dedicated decades of service toward the advancement of healthy aging, ethics in science, and the advancement of sciences
• Marilyn Simonds (Neal Potter Path of Achievement Award, for lifetime service by residents age 60 and up), a long-term volunteer leader with several organizations, particularly Olney Help, which is dedicated to distributing food to needy families (and where she served for nearly 30 years)
• Jeremy Lichtenstein (Volunteer of the Year), who established Kids In Need Distributors to deliver food items to needy children to sustain them on days when they are not in school
• Anjali Kalra (Youth Volunteer of the Year), a Poolesville High School junior who created a summer camp for children residing at the Stepping Stones Shelter
• Court Watch Montgomery Monitors (Volunteer Group of the Year), who serve as the "public eye" in local domestic violence cases in an aim to help improve services and protection for victims
• Deloitte (Corporate Volunteer of the Year), whose local employees mentor at-risk boys and young men in YMCA Youth & Family Services' Youth Links program

County Executive Ike Leggett will also present the Roscoe R. Nix Distinguished Community Leadership Award to three individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to Montgomery County over the course of their lives:

• Mark Bergel, founder of A Wider Circle, which provides basic necessities, workforce readiness training, and long-term wrap-around support for local residents in need
• Sol Graham, a business leader who mentors youth and has established scholarships at Montgomery College to assist students studying business, science, and technology
• Vivien Hsueh, who founded the Chinese American Senior Services Association to combat isolation among immigrant Chinese seniors 

Read more about all the winners here.

Donate Food, Ride Free

Donate nonperishable food for those who are hungry and get a free bus trip during Montgomery County Ride On's annual "Give and Ride" week, running April 23-29. Throughout the week, all Ride On buses will have food collection bags near their fare boxes. Passengers who deposit a food donation in the bag ride free. (Transfers and return trips require additional food donations for a free ride.)

All food collected will be donated to Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg in support of its Smart Sacks program, which helps provide nourishment for local children and families on weekends and other times when school-sponsored meals are not available.

View suggested donation items here.