Schenectady Inner City Ministry (SICM)

Volunteer Opportunities

The Schenectady Inner City Ministry (SICM) is an ecumenical partnership, founded in 1957, of 58 congregations (15 denominations) for ministries of social service and social justice.  Individual programs operate at differing locations and times. 

SICM Food Program:

Emergency Food Pantry, 839 Albany Street, Schenectady, 346-4035; foodpantry@sicm.us
The Food Pantry provides emergency food to people of Schenectady County who are in need.  In 2009, more than 40,300 people received emergency provisions to feed them for 3 days; a total of 362,997 meals were provided.  Over 130 volunteers were involved in the program, donating over 15,000 hours.  The SICM Food Program needs volunteers to:

-greet guests/file cards
-intake/interview guests
-pack groceries/repack bulk items
-work the produce counter
-distribute food at service window
-help load/unload food items at pantry
-sort food
-organize a food drive at your organization
-input computer data
-plant/weed/harvest at community gardens
-lobby/advocate special events

The pantry is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday each week, from 9:00 until noon, and also on the last Thursday of the month for Mass Distribution.  Occasionally help is needed on other days, as well.  Consider working during your school vacations or if you have mornings free.  Volunteer once a month, once a week, or whatever fits your schedule.

CROP Walk

The annual CROP Walk is a celebration to fight hunger locally and overseas, and SICM is a lead organizer for the event.  Walkers find sponsors for a financial pledge.  The event is held the first Sunday in May.

Summer Lunch

SICM serves free lunches in parks and various church lawns during the summer, to children and youth from infancy through age 18.  The summer of 2009 was an incredible time for the SICM Summer Lunch program, and all of our previous records were shattered in terms of how many kids depended on us for their daily lunch. We served a total of 37,766 meals to hungry kids in 2009, which is a 24% increase over 2008. In Schenectady, 73% of our children now qualify for free or reduced rate lunches when school is in session, and too many of these kids would not have regular meals during the summer break. That’s where SICM and our tremendous teams of volunteers step in.

We served the children and youth at 12 locations across the city, including 4 city parks
(Central Park, Jerry Burrell, Quackenbush, and Hillhurst), 3 Municipal Housing Complexes
(Yates, Steinmetz and MacGathan), and at 5 church fellowship halls or lawns (Faith United
Methodist, Friendship House, Trinity Lutheran, Mount Olivet, and the SICM Lawn). For the
first time ever, we served kids all ten weeks of the summer break. In past years, when we typically ran the program for 8 weeks, too many children had asked us where they could eat lunch until school began, and it was often heartbreaking to send them away. In 2009, several additional volunteer teams stepped forward so we could expand the program for the entire summer. We averaged serving between 850 and 900 kids a day, and on 3 days we fed over 1,000 kids (first time reaching that milestone).  Over 650 volunteers from 66 congregations, non-profit groups and businesses served the meals and interacted with the children.

If you are interested in volunteering for the Summer Lunch Program, please contact Crys Hamelink at 374-2683.

Damien Center

The Schenectady Damien Center is a community drop-in center for persons infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, whose mission is to provide fellowship, spiritual support, social and recreational opportunities, as well as access to employment, health, counseling, and educational services for Schenectady’s HIV/AIDS community.  The Damien Center happily welcomes volunteer support!  While we prefer volunteers to provide regularly scheduled hours (once a week, once every other week, once a month), we are also glad for the help of one-time volunteers.  Areas of need include:

*We ask that our volunteers:  be 18 years or older or have parental permission; have clean criminal records; provide at least one personal reference; and be willing to sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement.

AIDSWalk

AIDSWalk, last Sunday in September, Washington Park Lakehouse, Albany
A walk to remember the people we have lost, and with hope that the services offered in the Capital District will support the people currently living with HIV/AIDS, as well as to provide information and motivation to stop the spread of HIV.  This community effort provides funding opportunities for many AIDS service organizations in the area, including the Schenectady Damien Center. 

Internships

High school and college youth may participate in summer internships at SICM, working in a variety of areas and programs, including Summer Lunch and Computers for Kids.  Computers for Kids is a summer program teaching hardware and software skills to high school youth.  Internships are available in coordinating the program and teaching the students.  Often interns are sponsored by local SICM congregations.  Contact Janet Mattis at jmattis@sicm.us or 374-2683.

 

Executive Director, Rev. Phillip N. Grigsby                     
Phone 518 374-2683 / Fax 518 382-1871
E-mail:  revphil@SICM.US