Volunteers are essential at any nonprofit agency. When the Inn Between, a Longmont organization that offers transitional supportive housing, permanent supportive housing and other services, found out one of its longest-serving volunteers was stepping away, staff knew she would be enormously missed.
They also knew they wanted to find more people just like here.
Marsha Woods has been a volunteer at the agency’s food pantry for more than a decade. During her weekly shifts, she traveled to Community Food Share in Louisville to pick up food pantry orders. Ultimately, her work allowed staff to spend more time with clients.
For each of her trips, she received a list of food items the agency pre-ordered for pick up at the food bank. Once there, she also had the chance to browse the warehouse to add anything else she knew clients liked. In some ways, it was like shopping at any warehouse grocery store.
There are two essential skills for the job, according to Woods: the ability to fit as many things as possible into a car, and strength. On some runs, Woods would have to load as many as 1,300 to 1,400 pounds of goods into her SUV. She jokingly said “a lot of what I lift can be as much as 50 pounds, and I may have to lift a single item three to four times as part of the process. I’m old, but it keeps me in shape.”
Woods said she loved the volunteer experience and appreciated the chance to support the mission of the Inn Between.
“I do it because I believe it’s a basic right of every individual to have food available to them,” she said.
She regrets stepping away but feels her family needs, including a new grandchild and a husband with health concerns. She hopes to return to helping out at the Inn Between in the spring.
The Inn Between food pantry helps those who are in the agency’s housing. It is well-used by both current and former clients. Exit surveys for those transitioning from the agency call it one of the programs that benefited them most.
The agency’s Executive Director Tim Rakow praised the job that Woods has done to help the pantry. While she is leaving behind large shoes to fill, he wanted to clarify there is flexibility in how a new volunteer could help with the task.
“There’s a lot of leeway in how the position can be done. Frequency of shifts or the number of people who join for each shift are all something that we can talk about,” he said.
Volunteers can take as few as one shift a month or as much as a shift a week and still contribute.
Rakow is quick to point out the position being left vacant by Woods’ departure isn’t the only volunteer need at the agency.
“Since the pandemic, volunteering has decreased a bit, probably due to people’s level of comfort getting out and about,” he said.
A number of volunteer positions are available. They include helping as a handyman, doing landscaping work or cleaning. Office-based administrative work also is available, along with the chance to help facilitate the agency’s supportive life skills trainings in things such as money management.
Inn Between staff are available to talk to anyone about volunteering. Interested individuals can learn more at theinnbetween.org/get-involved-1.html, by emailing [email protected] or calling 303-684-0810.
