Sammamish-Issaquah Families: Volunteering with Small Kids

A while ago I asked readers for suggestions of places you can volunteer with younger children.

A number of suggestions were offered. Here are a few:

Sammamish Meet and Greet days: Today from 10 to noon, and every second Thursday of the month: The

native plant garden is managed exclusively by volunteers. It needs regular maintenance and the city is looking for more volunteers to help with this project. During the fall and spring the city offer several weekend volunteer projects which help but aren’t enough to maintain the garden. All ages are welcome. 550 222nd PL SE, Sammamish. The Lower Commons parked can be reached from SE 4th, turn south on 222nd PL SE.

Sammamish Volunteer Coordinator Dawn Sanders said it's harder to involve very small children, so the meet and greet is a good activity, with an educational aspect. She also suggests getting involved with Kids With No Borders, a Bellevue-based organization with a focus to inspire and invlove kids in service, which could include organizing a dental or clothing drive.With some help, smaller kids can apply markers to storm drains, which involves using a couple of tablespoons of glue and applying a decal to storm drains.

Mountains to Sound Greenways: MTS inviltes people of all ages for tree planting parties, 6 year-olds and up for invasive weed removal, and ages 14 and older for trail maintenance. You can learn more and sign up on the Mountains to Sound web site.

Seattle Tilth: Families can volunteer at the , and families with younger kids are especially invited for Earth Steward Garden Tours in the garden, each Tuesday. the cost of which is being covered generously by the City of Issaquah (registration is required). While there's no hard and fast rule for the age of volunteers, who can keep busy weekind, planting, and harvesting throughout the summer, to volunteer on their own, children should be at least 12, said Chris Iberle. To find out more about family days at the garden, visit the Seattle Tilth website. But beware, Patch Local Voices contributor Laile di Silvestro says volunteering with your kids at the garden is addictive!

Over 100 people volunteer at EBC each week, and it welcomes families (children age 7 and up), community groups, high school or middle school students, companies, and individuals. To learn more, visit the website. Anyone under 14 volunteering must be accompanied by an adult during the entire shift.

Pantry Packs: Shauna Yusko says, "Many families volunteer together or with friends!  Families with kids of any age can volunteer, though the younger the kid, the more work that the adult is going to be doing. It works best if at least one of the kids is over 9. We ask that kids under 12 have at least one adult with them.

Most of our "kid" volunteers are 5th grade and up, usually kids that need community service through scouts or school or church. Kids and teens 12+ can volunteer on their own or with friends (it's much easier, and more fun, in groups of 3-5).

We can also accommodate groups of kids (scout, church, school, etc), ages 6 and up. We ask that there is one adult for every 5 kids. Groups can come to us, or arrangements can be made to pack at your meeting location.
A typical packing session lasts about 1- 1 1/2 hours, depending on number of volunteers. We usually pack on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school hours. We can also accommodate other days and times with enough notice.

A couple of ideas suggested are great opportunities, but not suitable for the very young. The Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank requires that volunteers be at least 16 years old for safety reasons.

In case you've never heard the story, Patch was originally launched when Tim Armstrong, now the CEO of our parent company, AOL, was looking for places to volunteer with his family in his North Eastern town, and couldn't find an online resource with all the info. He decided to create a web site where people could share that information with their local communities.

Fast-forward four years, and Sammamish-Issaquah Patch has become a great place to do just that, so if you know of volunteers needed, services offered, or any other news you want to share with neighbors, post it here and spread the word!