THE VOLUNTEER VIBE
January 2023 | Volume 009
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Happy New Year Team! I hope all of you had a restful holiday season and made some great memories with friends and family.
The past two months have been a whirlwind of activity! Right on the heels of our Fundraiser, everyone was thrown into the holiday rush. We were gratefully overwhelmed by all the donations, food drives and offers to help and support.
Our Holiday Program served 650 households and over 4000 individuals in the form of holiday groceries, gifts, stockings and gift cards.
All this, only after all the work you put in sorting, bagging, tagging and donating items.
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Holiday Program!
Our Holiday Program had two distributions - Thanksgiving and December Giveaway. Registered families could drive through and receive turkeys, holiday groceries and gifts. It really is the most wonderful time for staff and volunteers as this event is sort of what it all adds up to - serving your community.
Both days were freezing cold and the December distribution day brought with it copious amounts of rain and wind. All us us were soaked but that did not dampen our holiday spirit! We stuck it out!
A special shout-out to our volunteers and supporters from Uncle Credit Union, Albertsons, Granada High School Football Team, SEVA Commons Foundation, Lynnewood United Methodist Church, Assistance League of Amador Valley, First Presbyterian Church, NCL Livermore and NCL Vista Oaks and many many of our individual volunteers! Wooh, I am out of breath!
Your amazing spirit shined through all your support!
We couldn't have done this without the support of Asbury United Methodist Church that lends us space every year for this important event.
A big thank you to Mony Nop and his Team and all our volunteers who helped at the Mony Nop Turkey Drop - we collected over 200 turkeys that were distributed the next day!
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A message of Gratitude from our
Acting Executive Director, Christine Dillman.....
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Whether you are an individual volunteer or part of a group, Volgistics is a great way to keep track of your schedule, sign up for shifts and track service hours.
Many of you now have access to the volunteer portal, if you haven't had a chance to check it out, please use the link at the bottom - your username will be your email you registered with and temporary password is trivalleyhaven.
PAPERWORK!
We have made some changes to our required paperwork, the new document can be found on the portal (link below). Please log-in and download, sign and re-upload the new paperwork. Please also upload your proof of vaccination. If you have been volunteering with us for a while, you may have already submitted these documents and I apologise for requesting them again. It will be extremely helpful and quicker than me uploading them for everyone. Thank you for your consideration!
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Meet Ann and Tom Davis - our very own power couple!
Tom and Ann Davis have lived in the Tri Valley since 1978. Tom is a retired financial advisor with Morgan Stanley, and Ann is a retired elementary school teacher from Lammersville School District.
They originally became involved with the Tri Valley Haven about 15 years ago through the Pleasanton Lions Club helping out with the holiday give away events. Since January 2016, Ann has worked at the Food Pantry and currently sorts and distributes food works at the present pantry every Wednesday. When opportunities arose at the Thrift Store in 2016, she started volunteering there on Tuesdays sorting clothing in the in-take room. As a member of the Pleasanton Lions Club, Tom organized volunteers from the club to help at various Tri Valley Haven events. About 4 years ago he started volunteering as a cashier at the Thrift Store.
Together they have racked up a whopping 1900 service hours in the past 3 years! We are honored to have your support Ann and Tom!
"Other than providing an opportunity to give back to your community and supporting a very worthwhile charity, Tri Valley Haven makes it easy to volunteer with flexible hours. Whether someone has an hour a week or 20 hours a week, The Haven makes it easy to fit volunteering into their personal schedule. When we do have clients who so truly need the services that both the Food Pantry and the Thrift Store provide, it is rewarding to make their lives just a little bit better "
- Ann and Tom
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In other news...
Holiday Closures
Our food pantry and thrift stores sites will remain closed on the following days:
Monday, Jan 2nd - New Year's Day
Monday, Jan 16th - Martin Luther King Day
Monday, Feb 20th - President's Day
CEUs
If anyone has questions about CEU's please email our rape crisis centre manager,
Monthly Shipment
The pantry receives a monthly food bank delivery every 2nd Thursday of the month. The next one will be January 12th. Slots are open so please sign up!
Advocacy Shifts
The crisis line and SART team needs volunteers! Please contact:
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70-hour Advocacy Training
Tri-Valley Haven's next 70-hour advocacy training is slated to begin January 24th 2023.
If you are interested in volunteering on the crisis line, legal clinic, shelters or our Sexual Assault Response Team, this is a required training. It covers all aspects of domestic violence, sexual assault and related issues. The one year certification you will earn is by the state of California and can be very useful if you want to work in this field. You can also learn some useful skills like active listening, creating boundaries and crisis intervention.
Details:
Training is every Tuesday and Thursday over zoom, 6:30PM-10PM. It takes roughly 10 weeks.
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** If you have signed up for a shift and have a last minute cancellation, please call:
1800-884-8119 for Advocacy Shifts | 925-449-1664 Food Pantry | 925-449-1177 Thrift Store
This will help each site plan staffing accordingly.
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Did you know corporates match volunteer hours for current and retired employees?
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December
Alexa Dec 29
Devin Dec 30
Debra Dec 05
Alejandra Dec 28
Anastasia Dec 24
Bobbie Dec 28
Kim Dec 25
Sanjani Dec 4
Robert Dec 8
Jaya Dec 17
Stacey Dec 25
Divyaa Jan 13
Radhika Jan 15
Sasha Jan 12
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January
Pamela Jan 14
Sergio Jan 19
Shelley Jan 22
Joy Jan 24
Gary Jan 23
Stacie Jan 26
Marilyn Jan 1
Aashi Jan 4
Erika Jan 15
Colleen Jan 12
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Shadab Ilkal, Volunteer Coordinator
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