Local Nonprofits Seek Volunteers

BY FRANCINE FULTON

Area nonprofit organizations rely on volunteers to help them fulfill their missions. Local residents are encouraged to consider donating their time and talent as a way to make a positive difference in the community.

Compeer Chester County, a nonprofit organization that pairs people living with mental health challenges with volunteer friends from the community, is in need of volunteers. Participants are asked to meet with their friends for four hours each month for at least one year.

Compeer volunteers are paired with individuals of the same gender and geographical area who share common interests. “We need both male and female volunteers from (all) areas of the county,” noted Donna Kueny, program manager. She noted that the pairs can share activities such as meeting for lunch or coffee.

To learn more, contact Kueny at 610-436-4445 or dkueny@mhphope. org. More information, including a volunteer application, is also available at www.compeerchesco.org.

Lucky Dawg Animal Rescue (LDAR) is also in need of volunteers. LDAR is a foster-based rescue, but it also has a property where dogs are temporarily housed until they find their forever homes. In addition, some cats rescued by the organization but not in foster care can be adopted from Petco, located in the Bradford Plaza, 680 Downingtown Pike, West Chester.

“(We need volunteers to help with) walking dogs at the kennel in Avondale Compeer volunteer Terry (left) and her friend, Lauren

and assisting with the cats at Petco,” said Mary Bauer, LDAR founder. “We are also always looking for fosters for cats and dogs.”

For details and to complete a volunteer application, visit www.lucky dawganimalrescue.com/volunteer.

The Volunteer English Program (VEP) in Chester County is seeking tutors to provide weekly, one-toone English language instruction for adult immigrants or refugees living in Chester County. Tutors are asked to make a one-year commitment to the program. Tutors and students may meet virtually or in person. A teaching background or knowledge of another language is not necessary to become a tutor. For more information, visit www.volunteer english.org or www.facebook.com/ VolunteerEng or call Terri Potrako, VEP executive director, at 610-918-8222.

Another agency seeking volunteer tutors to help individuals from other countries with their English language skills is the Adult Tutoring Program of Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC). No experience is necessary, but volunteers must have a bachelor’s degree.

Tutors are asked to meet with a student for three hours a week, which typically takes place in two 90-minute sessions. Tutors and students have the option of meeting in person or virtually. OIC provides online training through the Pennsylvania Department of Education and offers monthly workshops for tutors.

For more information, contact Debbie Rikess, adult tutoring program coordinator, at drikess@ cc-oic.org or 610-344-4013 or 610-344-4014. BY FRANCINE FULTON

Chester County 4-H continues to offer clubs for youths that give them a chance to explore their interests.

The next scheduled program is the Windy Hollow 4-H Horse Club, where children and youths ages 8 to 18 will learn facts about horse science and general horse knowledge. The club will meet on the first Saturday of the month beginning in February from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The meetings on Feb. 4, March 4, and April 1 will be held at the Romano 4-H Center, 1841 Horseshoe Pike (Route 322), in Honey Brook. The remaining meetings on May 6, June 3, and July 1 will be held at Line It Up Farm in Coatesville.

“If socioeconomically or where they are located doesn’t lend for (horse) ownership, it a great opportunity for them to have that experience,” said 4-H Extension education Audrey Reith. “We hope that it leads to a lifelong interest.”

The first several club meetings will focus on horse safety guidelines, identifying and locating 30 external parts of the horse and making model horse tack, among other activities. “We will discuss markings and color patterns on a horse,” Reith said. “We will learn about bridles and saddles, and they will make bridles for a model horse.”

In subsequent meetings, Amy Pippin from Line It Up Farm will bring a horse for hands-on activities. Children will learn how to approach the horse, grooming techniques, how to clean a horse’s hooves and how to properly tie, saddle, bridle, unsaddle and unbridle a horse.

Reith said that the Windy Hollow 4-H Club is a longstanding club in the county, but is being revitalized to attract new members. “Amy has been a longtime volunteer, and she is restarting the club with children new to

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