Dear volunteers and STCG members!

Spring is beckoning and things are blooming! New missions await you.

We hope all is well with you and we’ll meet soon at one of our partners events,

Especially Samedi du Partage (Save the date!) needs to mobilise many volunteers. Without you, this project wouldn’t be possible. So, have a look at our sign-up page, choose a place, a date and a time slot, talk about it around you and come in numbers!

Big thanks for your engagement from the beneficiaries, may they have 2 or 4 legs!

The Upcoming Big Event – Samedi du Partage

A little earlier as usual this year (and the same weekend as Geneva Marathon…), Friday 8 and Saturday 9 May. Once again Serve the City will be managing 8 stores across Geneva, Meyrin, Versoix and Chavannes for the summer edition of the important twice-a-year «Samedi du Partage» food bank collection. We will need 100 volunteers to collect food and hygiene products for the beneficiaries. Registrations are open on our website – choose your preferred store and time slot! Bring friends and family!

During Samedi du Partage, over 90 stores in the Geneva canton invite shoppers to donate food and hygiene products – a staggering 400 tonnes of product are collected in Geneva each year! The donations are sorted over the following 2 months, before being distributed to support more than 2000 people and associations for the next six months.

Bioparc is alive and kicking as ever!

We got a request from the Bioparc: there is the team that goes constructing with Angela and of course, the yearly open doors function with many different tasks. But there is also a need for a more regular mission. Can we help Bioparc with some of our volunteers?

We would need a project manager for the task called Bioparc Protection Request. And several other volunteers, too, to be regularly available on Wednesdays and/or weekends for a couple hours. Please do signup on our website and let us know at what «frequency» you could come to this very special zoo. (You’ll find Tobias’, the Bioparc director, letter further down on this page).

A note from the Salvation Army

The Salvation Army Geneva has written to us in answer to our proposition to work with them.

Here some elements:

• Only long term engagements (3 months minimum)
• Regular weekly or monthly activities e.g. 1x week, 2x month)
• Shifts from 2 to 4 hours
• Morning, lunch time, evenings
• One-person assignments or in a group of maximum 4 persons
• In groups with the other volunteers (not necessarily STCG members)

If you are available on the long run, once or even twice a week, earliest shift starting at 9a.m., there are several places and missions to fill.

One of our old stomping grounds: “Jardin de Montbrillant” soup kitchen

Part of the Carrefour Rue network, the soup kitchen at Jardin de Montbrillant has been doing very well since the renovation.

There is a great group of volunteers already in place, but they could use some reinforcements. Other associations, churches and companies send people, but we from STCG are the most constant volunteers, coming in at least 3 or 4 days a week for sometimes 300 lunches. The serving needs more servers (and no, not the blinking beeping ones!)! Having extra help is always a good thing. Please do go on the website signup page for availabilities.

The «Refettorio» Restaurant project

The restaurant situated in the brand-new, if not shapely, building at Rue de Lyon 120 is serving 60 meals to his beneficiaries in the evening. For lunch, the restaurant serves a first class meal to paying guests (to very reasonable prices, compared to the quality), way of financing the charity project. This is certainly making a difference to many in Geneva these days. A number of you have already been signing up the past 2 months and we look forward to continuing our support. Want to have a scrumptious meal in an agreeable setting with nice people and be useful to the community at the same time? Then come join us!

For all projects: register first, and once you have, log in to sign up for events on http://www.ServeTheCityGeneva.ch

Many thanks for your continued help and support

The STCG Team

P.S. Here is the message Tobias Blaha, director of Bioparc, sent to STCG:

Dear Serve the City,

I hope this message finds you well.

Since our Bioparc has been growing in popularity (also thanks to you STCG), thanks a million!

We have increasingly been facing major challenges. […]

Specifically, we would need a team of 5 volunteers every Wednesday and on weekends when the weather is nice, to help protect our animals from visitors who access them without permission […].

Would this be something Serve the City could help us with? Your support would make a huge difference in keeping our animals safe and ensuring a positive experience for all visitors.

Thank you very much for considering this, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Warm regards,

Tobias

Here is the link from the BIOPARC team album.  Here is where you can see a little of what the Serve the City team is doing for the great resource for helping save the planet.. 

Welcome to Serve the City Geneva!

Welcome to those who are with us for a long time, and to the newcomers!

While you are reading this, STCG is coming on strong with the biggest event of the year: Samedi du Partage!

You can learn about the project on our website “Our Partners” or directly on https://www.partage.ch/en/.

The Upcoming Big Event – Samedi du Partage

The weekend of Thanksgiving, Friday the 28 and Saturday the 29 of November, we’ll take part in one of Geneva’s most important community efforts – Samedi du Partage! Serve the City has booked 8 stores across Geneva, Versoix, and Chavannes, and we’ll need around 100 volunteers to help collect food and basic necessities for those in need.

For those who haven’t participated before: over 90 stores across the canton invite shoppers to donate food and hygiene items during this event. Thanks to this effort, more than 2000 people and associations, which are important for the community life, are supported for six months – a remarkable impact!

For those who participate for some time now: same procedure as every year!

Sign-ups are open, choose store and time slot. In case you must cancel, please sign out as soon as possible so another volunteer can take your place.

Usual projects

“Jardin de Montbrillant” Soup Kitchen

Each week, from Tuesday to Saturday, volunteers help provide over 250 free lunches a day. On some days extra help is needed – please sign up, regularly or occasionally, to ensure we have a full team each week. Your presence truly makes a difference! The Jardin de Montbrillant soup kitchen is situated behind the train station; rue de Montbrillant 3, 1201 Genève.

The special zoo of “Bioparc”

Bioparc is a place for animals, like a zoo, but with a special attention to their needs regarding natural habitat, food, care and privacy. Our monthly visits to the Bioparc (former Parc Challandes) are greatly appreciated by the staff, the community, and even the animals! Thank you for your continued dedication to this special project; and for those who do not mind getting dirty and can manage a shovel and a hammer, there is always a place for you in our dynamic team!

Serving with Clair-Bois

We have also enjoyed another great season working with Fondation Clair-Bois across their five different locations. The staff and the residents have expressed deep gratitude for our service. Clair-Bois is an important institution in Geneva that takes care of persons with multiple disabilities. Despite all the challenges, they have outings and parties, in which STCG plays a big role for several years. These events are greatly appreciated by volunteers and residents alike.

Serve the Servers Dinner – Save the Date!

We are excited to announce our Serve the Servers Dinner on Friday 12 December at the Refettorio Restaurant!

This special evening is our way to thank all our volunteers on behalf of Serve the City Geneva and our partner organizations. It’s also a chance to meet our team, celebrate our shared work, and hear about the 20th Anniversary Serve the City Forum recently held in Brussels with over 150 participants representing 33 cities from around the world!

Serve the City Geneva is entering its 15th year of service, and we would love for you to celebrate with us.

Who’s invited?

All STC volunteers who have served and earned their red shirt!

If you help during Samedi du Partage, you will receive your red shirt and an invitation to the dinner!

If you haven’t had the chance to volunteer yet, you can still participate – by signing up to help serve the dinner or assist as a sous-chef that evening (and earn your red shirt on the spot!).

Welcome New Volunteers!

Thrilled to welcome all the new faces that have joined Serve the City Geneva in the past two months! Thank you for stepping up to make a difference. We look forward to serving alongside you soon!

As we approach the holiday season, many exciting things are happening at Serve the City! We know the holidays will be busy for everyone, but we hope you can still find a moment to help those who are less fortunate before you go skiing or travel.

Warm regards, your STCG team

P.S. A gentle reminder: if you sign up for a project, please show up – or sign out if your plans change. At least, call the local coordinator for the event. Our partners rely on us to deliver what we promise, and reliability is one of our greatest strengths as a community.

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