The following are community service opportunities in the southwest suburbs:
Pilcher Park Nature Center, 227 N. Gougar Rd., Joliet, needs volunteers to assist with the Mighty Acorns program. Volunteers serve as hike leaders and guides for school field trips to the center and assist with nature programs at the center and in the classroom. Call Holly Conrad at 815-741-7277
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, 30071 S. Illinois Highway 53, Wilmington, needs volunteers at 10 a.m. (workers meet at the administrative building) Wednesday and Oct. 11 and 25 and at 9 a.m. Saturday and Oct. 28 (workers meet at the River Road seed gardens). Families are welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult. Located 12 miles south of Joliet, Midewin is the country’s largest prairie restoration project. Contact Marta Witt at 815-423-6370 or visit midewin@juno.com.
Hospice of Illinois, 5061 N. Pulaski Ave., Chicago, needs volunteers to work with patients and their families in their own homes or in nursing homes. Volunteers serve as visitors, run errands or provide respite care, enabling family members to go out. Volunteers with special interests and talents are welcome to bake birthday cakes or cookies for patients or to make lap robes. Volunteers who work with patients and their families must attend a two-day training program. Call Chris McCooey at 773-539-1286.
Friends of Community Public Art organization needs artists and art students to work on a mosaic mural and sculptures at a Joliet/Cresthill area studio. It is a project of the Neighborhood Improvement Program. Call Marcia Pauling at 815-722-4140.
Park Lawn School and Activity Center, 10833 S. LaPorte, Oak Lawn, needs volunteers to help with its annual telephone fundraising drive from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 13 and 14 at the Oak Lawn facility. Responsible 16-year-olds are welcome. The agency serves children and adults with developmental disabilities. Call Nancy Schmitz at 708-425-6867.
Illinois Theatre Center, 371 Artist Walk, Park Forest, needs adult volunteers to work as ushers for productions, Thursday through Sunday, and to provide clerical assistance. Volunteers are also needed to assist The Happy People troupe, which puts on productions for children in special education programs at area schools. Call Etel Billig at 708-481-3510.
The Center for New Beginnings, 10300 W. 131st St., Palos Park, provides companionship and emotional support for adults and childrenwho have experienced the death of a loved one, job loss, serious illness or divorce. Volunteers are needed to assist clients, provide clerical assistance, work in community relations and raise funds. Contact Rita Greer at 708-923-1116.
A number of Will County agencies and institutions list their volunteer needs with the Volunteer Referral Service of United Way of Will County. Initial inquiry and contact is made through the referral service. All jobs require a volunteer to be 18 unless otherwise noted. Call Jennifer Thonar at 815-723-8510.
Horse walker: Volunteers are needed to walk/lead horses for classes that work with individuals with disabilities in Joliet, New Lenox and Lockport.
Assistance for the elderly: Help is needed at area nursing homes to assist with bingo or at meals, give manicures, serve as a wheelchair escort or as a visitor in Lemont, Joliet and Momence.
Kitchen help: Assistance is needed to prepare and serve meals at homeless shelters in Joliet.
Drivers: Volunteers are needed to drive senior citizens to various appointments and on errands in the Joliet area.
AIDS ministry: Volunteers are needed for a variety of positions: fundraising, education, HIV/AIDS buddy, clerical and Red Cross education in the Joliet area.
Tutors: Volunteers are needed for children of all ages and for adults in literacy programs. Focus is on reading, writing and science. Help is needed in Joliet, Lockport, Wilmington, New Lenox, Bolingbrook, Gardner, South Wilmington, Braceville and Morris.
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If your agency is in need of volunteers, send the information to the Chicago Tribune Family section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, or e-mail to ctc-family@tribune.com.
