What do School Support Volunteers do?
School Support Volunteers (SSV) support a variety of district-wide and multi-school initiatives that are driven by the needs of our school community. Much of this volunteer team’s work focuses on meeting the basic needs of our students and families, supporting the work of the district’s Office of Family Engagement & Equity.
School Support Volunteers’ work addresses food insecurity in our school community in three different programs:
- On-site Food Pantries and Weekly Home Grocery Delivery, both part of the food security partnership between the Schools Fund, the district’s Office of Family Engagement & Equity and the Berkeley Food Network
- Delivery of food to Berkeley High intervention groups, as part of the BHS On-Campus Food Equity program
- For more information, click HERE
This team of SSV volunteers is available for quick-turnaround delivery of essential supplies to families, students, and school sites.
- For more information, click HERE
Types of district-wide and multi-school School Support Volunteer opportunities include:
- Art, Garden, and Library Support (clean-up days, end-of-year inventory)
- District-wide Events (e.g. annual School Supply Give-away and Holiday Toy Giveway events)
- Grant Writing Assistance for BUSD Educators
- Research and Tech support projects for Educators
- Multi-Lingual Support—for more information, click HERE
What impact do School Support Volunteers Make?
Here’s what School Support Volunteers made possible in the 23/24 school year:
- More than 200 families accessed needed supplemental food support at our monthly school site food pantries
- Over 20 of the district’s most vulnerable families received reliable weekly home delivery of groceries
- New school supplies, toys and holiday turkeys reached more than 500 families at the district’s Office of Family Engagement & Equity give-away events
- Counselors and educators were supported by volunteers’ tech, research and grant writing skills
- School Libraries successfully tackled end-of-year inventory
How do I become a School Support Volunteer?
It’s quick and easy to sign up! Click the button below to complete the brief School Support Volunteer application.
How do I sign up for a volunteer opportunity?
School Support Volunteers receive regular email alerts about open volunteer opportunities, with links to sign up.
In addition, volunteers can check the frequently updated SSV Volunteer Opportunities page at any time to sign up.
Opportunities may include both one-time events and ongoing commitments, allowing volunteers to find what best suits their available time and interests.
Click HERE for 2023-24 Safety Protocols for School Support Volunteers.
School Support Volunteers serve at the discretion of the school site. Please only go to a school site to volunteer when a teacher, staff member or event leader is expecting you and/or you have signed up ahead of time.
For more information, email SSV Program Manager Sally McLaughlin, sallymclaughlin@schoolsfund.berkeley.net