REQUIREMENTS AND CONDUCT
Requirements
- Age - 8 years old is the minimum age recommendation for volunteering, and we prefer ample adult supervision for all children younger than 14. Some areas, like the kitchen, prohibit children under 12 for safety reasons. Please review Groups Information or call us to discuss your unique circumstances or get guidance on ratios of kids to adults for large groups.
- Clothing – All volunteers are required to wear CLOSED-TOE SHOES. Volunteers working in our kitchen are required to wear long pants, closed-toe shoes, and a shirt with sleeves (no tank tops). All others should consider wearing the same for safety reasons, although MODEST shorts are acceptable in some cases. Finally, for the dignity of our clients, please dress modestly, i.e., no tight-fitting, revealing, or offensive clothing.
- Mandatory Community Service Hours – For mandatory community service hours, including Tampa Housing Authority and Workforce Alliance, you will need to schedule a special screening with our Volunteer Services Manager, Jessica Becker to determine eligibility. Please call 813-209-1067 for details. NOTE: We rarely take court-mandated community service hours for individuals over the age of 17.
- Meals – In order to be good stewards of the resources we have, we request that all volunteers working less than 5 hours NOT eat in our dining room. We work hard to provide thousands of meals to the community each day and greatly appreciate you bringing in a lunch or snack for yourself.
- Training – Most volunteering requires no training and there’s nothing to bring except maybe a bottle of water—just show up on time with a good attitude and ready to serve.
- Background Checks – Only required if you are going to work with our children unattended or on a recurring basis. For more information, please contact Christina Mitchell at 813-209-1067.
Conduct
- Never join in, condone, or associate with dishonesty, deceit, or fraud.
- Always speak respectfully—avoiding profanity, sexual innuendo, threats, and condescending tones.
- Treat all with respect and without discrimination, regardless of race, sex, orientation, age, religion, national origin, marital status, political belief, physical or mental handicap, or any other preference or personal characteristic, condition or status.
- Respect client and guest confidentiality.
- Never initiate interactions with clients that are strictly social or self-serving in nature.
- Should a volunteer be seen taking Ministries property without permission, credit for hours served will be revoked and appropriate legal action taken.
Scheduling
Please ensure that you schedule every volunteer opportunity either online or via phone/email with a member of the Volunteer Team. If you do not see any volunteer opportunities online that means we are full for that week. We post new opportunities online each week so please keep checking. While we can frequently take drop-ins, we hate to turn anyone away that shows up without scheduling and we’re completely booked.
Cancellation Policy
No Shows are hurting our organization. We understand that things may come up so please give us at least 24 hour notice if you are scheduled to volunteer but will not be able to serve.
When You Arrive
Report during normal operating hours to the Volunteer Center at 2002 N. Florida Ave (directions) or to the Family Care Center at 2010 N. Florida Ave after hours. You will be instructed to fill out a time sheet and receive a name tag to wear. Each time you return, you will need to complete your time sheet. If it has been removed for entry in our volunteer database, simply fill out a new one. You will also need a new name tag as they are good for one day only.