Volunteer News | July 28, 2022
Summer Slow-Down
Dear CRC Volunteer,

I got home last night from a week up north in the Seattle area visiting family. We make our pilgrimage there once a year at least, soaking up the briny smell of the Puget Sound, the views of the Cascades on the horizon, the breeze running through the evergreen trees. We pick berries and fish for salmon, we sit on the patio with our parents and cousins, we make memories.

I am always grateful for the chance to get away and decompress.

Thank you to all the volunteers who faithfully provide their time to our resale stores, food pantry, administrative support needs, facilities work, truck driver assistance and more. A strong volunteer team and committed supervising staff team means we can all take a break from time to time.

I hope each of you is able to slow down a bit this summer as well and enjoy all it has to offer!

Read on to see what the volunteer team has been up to and some upcoming opportunities.
Warmly,

Sara Rosenbaum
CRC Volunteer Manager
Volunteer News
Hope For San Diego Day of Service
Thank you to our amazing supporter "Hope for San Diego" for sending out a team of volunteers on Saturday, July 23rd to our 2nd street offices. Volunteers created a welcoming space in our Food Pantry and Integrative Services waiting area by cleaning and bringing in plants and other items. We hope that this "summer makeover" will provide a more trauma informed and dignified space for our visitors coming for services and meetings.

Hope for San Diego's webpage writes: Hope for San Diego envisions a renewed city where even the most vulnerable can thrive. (We) want to be part of making that vision a reality, but the magnitude of the problems can seem overwhelming ...Together, we can welcome the stranger, love the abandoned, rescue the oppressed, and heal the broken.
Awesome volunteers!
The finished product!
Partner Opportunity for Summer Pickin'
CRC's partner organization Produce Good is hosting an event on September 2nd and we'd love to see some of our volunteers join staff to support the event! The CRC Food Pantry will be a recipient of at least 400 pounds of picked produce. **Please note that you will be representing CRC, but you will be considered a ProduceGood volunteer for the event and will need to sign up on their site. See below for details outlined by Produce Good:

San Diego GLEANS! is an opportunity for volunteers to glean hundreds of pounds of delicious Valencia oranges for the 1 in 3 San Diegans struggling with food insecurity. ProduceGood will be bringing together volunteers and feeding partners in a fragrant and fun morning picking fruit in Rancho Santa Fe. This bounty will then be directly transported to hunger relief groups throughout the county. This event is a kickoff for San Diego Gives, a county-wide one day of giving on September 8. If you want a fun way to give back, join us:

Date: Friday, September 2
Time: 9am – 11:30am
Location: 18117 Via Ascenso, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091
Holiday Baskets

Holiday Baskets is celebrating its 40th year of serving our neighbors in need and big changes are coming that we are excited to announce! While certain things will look different, we hope that this re-imagined Holiday Baskets program will do an even better job of providing dignity of choice to our participants.

This year we plan to serve over 800 individuals, including unsheltered clients experiencing homelessness in Encinitas and 230 seniors.

HOUSEHOLDS WILL …
  • Engage in a “dignity of choice” shopping experience on December 10th, to choose new essential and most-needed items at Target in Encinitas
  • Receive a voucher to select gently-used items at CRC’s Resale stores
  • Receive a new blanket and fresh produce

SENIORS WILL …
  • Receive holiday gift bags delivered to them

UNSHELTERED CLIENTS WILL …
  • Receive backpacks filled with basic living essentials and food items

Volunteer needs will be more limited than in years past, but we will still need help. We will not know the spots available until late August. At that time, we will start reaching out to past groups and partners to fill openings. Any remaining needs will be communicated by early November. Thank you for your patience!

To learn more, check out the 2022 Holiday Baskets Program webpage.
Volunteer of the Month
Congratulations Lucyann Leonard!

Lucyann is a valuable volunteer in our Encinitas Resale Store. Store manager, Karen Largent writes, "Lucyann has been with us for a number of years. She comes in every Wednesday with a beautiful smile and positive attitude and is quite essential at helping put the store back in
order. Since Tuesday is one of our busiest days our store tends to get a little
messy. Lu ( as she prefers to be called ) is extremely helpful with our customers & donors and always displays excellent customer service skills.

I would just like to say that Lu is a great part of our CRC family and I value
her as a volunteer and friend. Thank you Lucyann!"
Get Involved
40-Hour Domestic Violent Advocate Training: Learn from experts presenting on the dynamics, danger and effects of intimate partner violence in our society and how to support and empower survivors in their healing. This valuable training takes place on 5 consecutive Fridays in September and October. For more information and to sign up, visit the Registration site here.

Resale Store Volunteers Needed in Encinitas and San Marcos: Contact CRC's Volunteer Manager for more information.

The CRC Food Pantry Needs Personal Care Items! For a list of those items and how to donate, visit our website.
If you know of anyone in need of food, housing or shelter, please pass along this link to information on how we can help: crcncc.org/integrative-services/
If you have a good story of volunteering, please share with me at srosenbaum@crcncc.org. I can include those stories in future newsletters as an encouragement to our team.  
Community Resource Center
(760) 230-6501| info@crcncc.org | CRCNCC.org