It’s National Volunteer Appreciation Week! We want to take this time to thank all of our volunteers who help us accomplish so much every day!

Here at OUR Center, we can’t choose just a couple of volunteers to thank. We have over 1,000 volunteers who help us every day. In a single day, we have over 30 shifts to fill, and our volunteers choose to help us out to serve the community.

People from around the community ask to volunteer. We have numerous volunteers who have shared that they were a previous participant, or a friend or family member and they want to give back in some capacity. We are honored and touched to be an impactful part of this community and would not be here without your continuous support.

There are many different volunteer opportunities available for individuals and large groups. Individuals can assist in the Community Closet, Café, Market, seasonal garden, or Warehouse at OUR Center. There are additional opportunities for volunteers at our program site Aspen Center for Child Development.

We had over 1,000 volunteers who helped us with 44,618 hours of service in the past year. We have 225 shifts per week that are required for us to serve the community. In 2023, our volunteers helped us serve the community with:

• 19,956 visits conducted with households seeking assistance
• 57,394 hot, nutritious meals served from our Community Café
• 880,589 pounds of groceries distributed via 17,595 household visits in the Community Market
• 1,540 direct financial assistance vouchers and referrals for Homelessness Prevention (rent, shelter, and utility assistance) for a total of $902,688
• 43 children received daycare and school readiness programs at the Aspen Center for Child Development
• 1,879 donors provided financial support and 1,166 donors provided in-kind gifts (food, clothing, housewares, toiletries, etc)

These incredible numbers would not be possible without the help of our amazing volunteers.