Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer with our Compeer for Kids program as a mentor to a child struggling with emotional / behavioral problems. You can Make a difference by becoming a friend to a child who needs a little encouragement from someone who really cares!

Adult one-to-one Friendships:

Form a friendship with an adult who is receiving mental health services. Compeer friends meet on a regular basis to participate in activities such as sports, movies, hiking, shopping, crafts, or just get together and talk. Four hours a month is all it takes to help someone cope with the loneliness and isolation of mental illness.

Lunch Buddies:

The Compeer Lunch Buddies program is currently available in two Utica Elementary schools; Martin Luther King and John F. Hughes. The concept of the program is simple, the volunteer agrees to meet a referred child for lunch once a week at their school. During the lunchtime visit, the lunch buddies can play games (like Connect Four and Uno), read stories, draw, do a craft, help the child with school work or simply just talk! The time commitment is about an hour a week for the duration of the school year. Volunteers must be available during the child's designated lunch period and may bring their lunch or purchase a school lunch from the cafeteria.

Pen Pals:

Provide the youth and adults on the Compeer waiting list with supportive written correspondence. Allowing a person the chance to respond and express his or her feelings through letters can help aid in the treatment process and lessen the severity of their emotional / behavioral disturbance.

E Buddies:

E Buddies is just like Pen Pals, but the volunteer and their friend correspond through email (adult only).

Compeer Calling:

Compeer volunteers form "phone friendships" with individuals who are waiting for a Compeer one-to-one match. Callers contact their phone friends once a week to provide support and a listening ear.

download application (print) PDF

download Police Check form (print) PDF

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