• The Circus Is Coming! – The Elf Khurafeh Temple generously donates adult and children’s circus tickets so that parents and their children can attend the circus free of charge.
• Project Angel – Customers receive personal care, baby or household items from the Red Cross Project Angel. DHS volunteers prepare applications, sort and copy all referrals from our customers for this project. A casual day at our office is also planned each year as a fundraiser for Project Angel.
• Emergency Food Services – Volunteers pack, shop and provide emergency food for our customers. This service is provided through a network of churches and agencies.
• Goods and Services – Services for many customer needs are coordinated with the Salvation Army, the East Shoreline Red Cross, Created For Caring, churches, schools and other nonprofit agencies.
• Tot’s Room – The Tot’s Room is staffed by Green Thumb personnel in our lobby. The Tot’s Room provides much more than child care. The Green Thumb staff is knowledgeable about community services and free activities for our customer’s families. Income tax assistance is also provided. Housing vacancies, job listings and immunization literature is distributed.
• Student Intern Case Aides – Student interns from S.V.S.U. and Delta College assist staff by helping provide services on assigned cases. Their assignments include monitoring visits, making home visits, assisting Adult, Emergency Services and Project Zero caseworkers.
• Happy Holidays –Thanksgiving and Christmas food baskets are provided to our customers.
• Santa’s Helpers – Over 3,000 individuals received gifts from referrals accepted into our office. All referrals were sorted, reviewed and copied by DHS volunteers.
• Youth Haven Summer Camp – Children receiving Child Welfare Services are given the opportunity to go to Youth Haven Camp in St. Rives Junction, Michigan.
• Royal Family Kid’s Camp – Children receiving Foster Care and Prevention Services are given free camperships to Royal Family Kid’s Camp. This camping experience lasts one week.
• The Frugal Shopper – Volunteers cut, sort and arrange coupons by category. Coupons are placed in a box in the lobby for customer use.
• The Lending Library – Our local library supplies our lobby with books for our customers to borrow and return at their leisure.
• Clerical Aide – Volunteers assist with a variety of clerical work such as typing, filling out forms, copying, etc.
• Coats For Kids – DHS volunteers copy all referral forms and sort completed referral forms for coats received in our office. These referrals are then forwarded to the Coats for Kids program for coat distribution. Coats for adults are also provided through this program.
• Parent Aide Program – Volunteer parent aides meet with clients on a regular a regular basis to work on parenting skills, including making and keeping appointments, cooking nutritional meals, and providing a clean house for their children.
• Car Donation Program – The Bay County Car donation program is operated by Created for Caring (by letter of agreement) in collaboration with Work First and Bay County DHS.
• College Student Volunteers – Student volunteers will assist in the development of a customer satisfaction evaluation tool and will interview customers and compile the results of the survey.
• Internal and External Customer Survey - Student interns will make face to face contact with internal and external customers regarding the completion of the satisfaction survey.
• Children’s Closet – A small children’s closet offers used clean clothing for children receiving Children Services from our office.
• School Supplies – Volunteer Services in collaboration with area churches offers free school supplies to children. Supplies include pens, paper, rulers, pens, folders, backpacks, etc.
• Quilt Program For Children In Crisis – Volunteer Services in coordination with Undercovers, a nonprofit agency, which through the work of volunteers makes quilts for children in crisis situations, will distribute quilts to children who are experiencing a variety of traumatic situations. Bay County DHS received over 100 quilts.
• Operation Lifesaver – Staff who have a customer with a special need informs the Volunteer Coordinator and the need is advertised among our staff. The staff person who makes a donation to fill the need is provided with a donation thank you card (DHS-4118).
• Therapy Companion - Volunteers and their dogs visit area hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living centers. Classes are held to ready and train handlers and their dogs for visits.
• Parenting Awareness Month – During the month of March, parenting information was copied by volunteers and mailed to specific customers at the request of their worker. Also, parenting information was distributed from our lobby by Green Thumb staff.
• Black History Month – Black history is celebrated during the month of February at Bay DHS. A video is shown in our lobby and a booklet of historical facts is distributed to internal and external customers.
• The Mitten Tree - A Christmas tree located in the DHS lobby will be decorated with hats and mittens for children to choose from during the holiday season.
• Volunteer Services Web Site - Bay County Volunteer Services Web Site is updated by staff from the Bay DHS office.
• Corporate Citizenship Project - Approximately thirty employees signed up to volunteer at schools a part of our corporate citizenship project. Desk clocks were provided to each participant.
• The National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR)- Membership provides may free goods to our customers and Bay DHS Social Committee.
• Customer Advocate Program - A Customer Advocate program will advocate for services that Adult/Emergency Services customers may be eligible to receive.

If you would like to find out more about opportunities to volunteer or make a donation, please contact Mary Ann Rankey at (989) 895-2138 or e-mail rankeym@michigan.gov.

Thank you for your interest in Volunteer Services at the Bay County Department of Human Services. We are looking forward to hearing from you and partnering with you to build a better community.