New website launch pushed to early July

Hands On Charlotte will not launch its new website next week, as planned. While we prepared on every possible front – from designing the site’s aesthetics to training key users – we are not confident that the volunteer-management system is capable of fully supporting our needs.

The HandsOn Network is responsible for developing this new volunteer-management system called HandsOn Connect. During a conference call on Tuesday, it came to light that the there is substantial work left to do before we are comfortable asking our volunteers to use the system. We expect considerable improvements by our re-launch date around the first of July.

Hands On Charlotte is well known for making volunteering an accessible and enjoyable experience. Moving to the new system next week would have put that reputation at risk. Our current website is excellent and will continue to meet our needs until July.

If you have any questions about the transition, please let us know. We still plan to have a party on Thursday, April 14 at BlackFinn in the Epicenter from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. As part of National Volunteer Week, we want take the opportunity to recognize our volunteers for everything they do.

Thank you for your continued commitment to public service through Hands On Charlotte


In service,

Lisa Quisenberry
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Hands On Charlotte

Crisis Assistance Ministry serves critical need

This last week I had the opportunity to go into a number of clothing stores – each set to roll out new spring clothes. One store I went to was the Crisis Assistance Ministry store, and in that store there were no sale signs, price tags were missing and the commission-based sales reps were no where in sight. This store provides free clothing for people in need.

Along with eight other Hands On Charlotte volunteers, I helped to get the store ready for spring. We dispersed throughout the store and began pulling all heavy winter items from the racks. We loaded them in bins and reloaded the shelves with more spring appropriate clothing. One of the Hands On Charlotte volunteers asked where the clothes go that are taken off the racks. The Crisis Assistance Manager stated that the clothes were sold by the pound and the money generated was used to help maintain the facilities as well as provide financial assistance for people who needed help to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads.

Once we filled the new racks with clothes we walked to the back of the warehouse where we were lead to a long table with bins of clothes around it. We took the bins of clothes and unloaded them down the stretch of the table, gathered around the table and began organizing the clothes. We made it through a few bins before it was time for us to leave. I looked around the warehouse and saw many other bins of clothes and didn’t want to stop, but I knew that it was time to step away for the evening and come back next time.

Hands On Charlotte needs at least15 volunteers to help the store twice a month on Tuesdays from 6-8pm, and I look forward to attending the next one on April 5.

Ryan Kamp is a Hands On Charlotte volunteer.

Tutoring at Midwood High

For the past several weeks I volunteered as a tutor with Midwood High School, a transitional high school for 9th graders. For this project Hands On Charlotte volunteers collaborate with one specific teacher each semester. This semester, volunteers have lent their skills to a creative writing class. Volunteers then work one-on-one with students to help reinforce assignments they have been studying in class. Projects have included writing news articles, fables and editorials.

Today was especially neat to be a part of because the students are preparing for end of semester testing. I felt like I was truly helping to serve a very real and practical need in their lives. There was that one ‘ah-ha’ moment that I was able to see in my student’s eye today as we were going over vocabulary that I will be able to take away and cherish from this project. The opportunity to be able to witness that moment is all the reward I need to keep me wanting to come back.

This project is one that would really benefit from consistent volunteers in order to help establish a good working rapport with the students. I encourage you to become involved in any capacity you can to bolster the students at Midwood High and provide them the practical knowledge, as well as encouragement, that they need to succeed as they work towards earning their high school diploma. The project meets every Wednesday from 1-2:15pm.

Click here to join me as a tutor at Midwood High.


Kristen Okamato is a Hands On Charlotte volunteer.

What did you do Saturday?

I had the great fortune to participate in the Shining Hope Farms' Green Acre Project. This was my second time at this particular Hands On Charlotte event, and I had an even better time. Shining Hope Farms is non-profit organization that provides therapeutic horseback riding, family and caregiver support, and social and recreational activities for children and adults, some of which have disabilities.

Peter Samaroo, the project leader, was great. Part of our “work” was to help clear one of the riding trails from small trees in the way. In the interest of the children’s safety, we decided that additional dead or fallen trees posed a threat to the trail and must be taken down immediately. In addition, I helped out with some of the usual necessities, like raking up the “gumballs” dropped from the Sugar Gum trees. These can bruise the hooves of the horses. The other volunteers helped with spreading some grass seed, covering the seed with hay, combating fire ants, and, of course, playing with the horses.

We all had a really nice Saturday morning helping a great cause. I hope to visit the Shining Hope Farm soon, see the kids having a great time, and see my hard work pay off. While some people were still recovering from Friday night or sitting around with nothing to do, Kira, Sean, Peter, Luke, Chris, Natalie, and I got to go outside, get some sun, get some exercise, and help a great cause continue their excellent work in the community. I look forward to seeing the same faces (with some new) out there next time.

Check out more photos from the event on our Facebook page.


Josh Sauer is a volunteer for Hands On Charlotte.

Major makeover in store for our website

After a year of planning, training and designing, Hands On Charlotte is outright excited to announce that our website is getting a major overhaul. The scheduled launch date is April 7. With new search options, cleaner navigation, user profiles, user-to-user communication and more social media integration, our new website is going to improve your experience as a volunteer in important ways.


In the transition to the new website, there are a couple important things you should know:

• The current website will shut down April 4. That means all the regular communication you get via our website will not exist. Stay updated on our Facebook page and on our Twitter feed.
  
  
• Existing users will receive an email containing a temporary password when the new site is activated. You will need that password to log in initially. We will give you more details about this via email in the coming weeks.

We can't wait to share the new website with you, and we are confident the transition will be seamless. Tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. on Twitter and Facebook, we will answer your questions, share screenshots and chat about the redesigned website. Send us your Tweets with the hashtag #handsonclt and follow us @HandsOnCLT.