Dear friends and volunteers

As we step into May, we’re already looking ahead to a very exciting and impactful June. We’d like to take this opportunity to share two important upcoming events, along with ongoing opportunities where you can make a meaningful difference in our community.

Looking Ahead

• Samedi du Partage – June 13 & 14

One of the biggest and most rewarding projects of the year is nearly here! Samedi du Partage, Geneva’s large-scale food collection initiative, returns on June 13 and 14, and Serve the City is proud to be participating once again.

Each year, this project collects approximately 400 tons of donated goods across 90 participating stores in Geneva. The donations support 90 local institutions that provide essential services to those in need.

This year, Serve the City will be serving at eight different store locations, and we’re calling on our amazing community of volunteers to sign up early! In total, 2,400 volunteers take part in this citywide initiative—Serve the City is providing 100 of those. We sincerely hope that includes you!

Early registration is essential to ensure we have enough hands on deck. Please consider signing up soon and being part of something truly impactful.

• Claire Bois 50th Anniversary Events – June & September

We are also thrilled to support our long-standing partner, Claire Bois, a center for youth and adults with multiple disabilities. This year, Claire Bois celebrates 50 years of dedicated service in Geneva, and Serve the City is honored to be involved in their celebrations for the past 14 years.

We will be assisting at four events, helping with setup, clean-up, general support, and offering a cheerful presence to the children, families, and staff. The dates for these events are:

• June 5, 13, 19  and the big annual party that will take place on September 6 (a Family celebration)

The September event is particularly special, and we’ve been helping with it for over five years.  It’s a joyful day full of gratitude and support for families who face daily challenges with strength and love.

Event details and sign-up information will be available on our website soon.

We are looking for a project leader to look after the project and volunteers for both the 13th and 19th of June. if interested please indicate your interest in the comment section when you sign up.

Other ongoing projects include:

• Jardin de Montbrillant Soup Kitchen

It is with profound sadness that we share Ridwan’s passing with you.  Ridwan was a key person for STCG, leading our support of the Jardin de Montbrillant soup kitchen for many years.  He had a gift for contact with people, knew and engaged with everyone and would welcome the customers in many languages.  He guided and welcomed us too, the volunteers, inspiring us with his kindness, wisdom and humour.  He was a bright light in everyone’s lives. In December 2023, he was even awarded a certificate at a ceremony at the British Embassy in Berne for his charity work during the Queen’s platinum Jubilee. We will miss his smile, his laugh, his insightful views on life, politics, his love for garlic, his friendship.  May his soul rest in peace.

Serve the City continues to serve at the Montbrillant Soup Kitchen four days a week all year long. Volunteers can sign up for dates that suit them, and final confirmation will come from the project manager.

• Bioparc

For those unfamiliar with this project, more details about the Bioparc and how to get involved will be shared soon. It’s another fantastic way to connect with nature and support meaningful local initiatives.

Over the past 7 years, more than 1,200 people have generously offered their time to help make Bioparc the best sustainable animal park in Geneva—perhaps even in all of Switzerland. From moving logs, sand, and wood chips to pruning trees and helping with landscaping, it has been both a pleasure and an honour to be part of this journey with you all.

On behalf of Angela, the Bioparc team, and the Geneva community, thank you!!! Your support has been instrumental in shaping Bioparc into what it is today.

• Join Us

As we look toward these events, we encourage early signups so we can plan effectively and ensure the success of each initiative. Your involvement truly makes a difference.

Thank you for being part of Serve the City Geneva. Together, we continue to bring hope, help, and heart to the community.

Warm regards,

The Serve the City Geneva Team

 L’Arche la Corolle community, founded in 1983 in Versoix, works to support people with intellectual disabilities and currently welcomes 42 adults into its homes and workshops. It is looking to fill the following volunteer positions (French speaking)

L’ Arche La Corolle recherche : une Présidente ou un Président bénévole pour son association, 15 à 20 heures/mois sur 10 mois.

Une Présidente ou un Président bénévole

L’ Arche La Corolle recherche : une Trésorière ou un Trésorier pour son association bénévole, 10 à 12 heures/mois sur 10 mois.

Une Trésorière ou un Trésorier bénévole

We are thrilled to announce that Serve the City Geneva is just starting its 15th year of service! We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our incredible volunteers for your unwavering support and dedication. Your help and your heart to make a difference in our community, truly inspire us every day.

Some of the project comming up include Partage Food Collection Program – June 13th & 14th.   Signups will start May so do watch this spot. This week, we had a productive meeting with the Partage group about their upcoming food collection program Samedi du Partage. While Serve the City will be supporting eight stores, it’s amazing to see how thankful they are for our continued support over the past 10-12 years.

Although our eight stores are a small part of the 90 stores participating in the event, we will need about 100 volunteers to help cover these locations.

Following the collection, there will be sorting of goods for the next 6-8 weeks. Serve the City will provide help during this period in the mornings at the Partage offices. Your assistance will be a great help to the community, as Partage provides meals and food to over 2,000 people per week, for the next 6 months.

The Partage team has a special need during the month of April.. They have 50 pallets of chocolate, biscuits, and pasta which need to be sorted. If you and some friends would like to participate at the partage offices signup here. 8:30 to noon. Partage Map is on STC home page..List date and number of helpers iin your signup,..

Upcoming Event: Biopark Support on April 12th.  Signups are now available, as are other opportunities with the soup kitchen and Salvation Army.

The Biopark in Bellevue is extremely happy with the wonderful work our volunteers have done over the past several months. We are excited to support the work the BioPark is doing in the education and protection of birds and animals in our area.

We thank all of you for being a part of this project as well , and of supporting the Parc.

 This spring, we are excited to offer some new and renewed relationships, with the service providers in our area. Stay tuned for exciting updates and opportunities to contribute.

We encourage everyone to continue opening your hearts to the marginalized members of our community. We greatly appreciate the wonderful response we’ve received for those requesting Serve the City admin help. We’re committed to matching skills with interests to meet our community’s needs.

Thank you for being a part of the Serve the City team!

Dear Serve the City Geneva Volunteers,

We are thrilled to invite you to our Serve the Servers Gala Dinner, an evening dedicated to celebrating all those who have given their time and energy as volunteers. Whether you have participated in one event or many, this evening is for you!  The red shirt (and signup is all you need to join into the great eventing..

Event Details:

Date: Friday, 7th February

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Refettorio Restaurant, Rue de Lyon 120, Geneva

This is a wonderful opportunity to:

Connect with the Serve the City team.

Meet event planners and fellow volunteers.

Learn about upcoming opportunities to get more involved.

We are expecting around 60 attendees, and we would love for those who have earned a red shirt, to be one of them.

For Those Who Have not had an opportunity to volunteered yet:

This is your moment! We need volunteers to;

Set up tables

Serve the food

and Clear the tables afterward

This is a perfect opportunity to earn your red shirt and become part of the Serve the City community.

How to Sign Up:

Please sign up on our website as soon as possible to confirm your participation. (under the Serving option)

We are looking to see you on the evening of the 7th! Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.

Warm regards,

The Serve the City Team

Greetings, all Serve the City Geneva volunteers.

We have a couple of announcements for you…1. we could use your help and 2. we would love you to come and join us for a Galla Dinner Thursday 30 January.

We have an immediate demand for some additional help in sorting the goods collected from the Samedi du Partage food collection last month.   If you or you and your group,  can come and help us, we’ve got three days of service that we have promised to full fill with Partage. And it would be fantastic if we could get some help sorting all of these generous goods that have been collected from the generosity of the shoppers of Geneva. The result will be servicing 5,000 people per month with these donations, and we’ve got to make sure that they are all sorted so they can be distributed properly. We have booked 3 more days this month and would appreciate your help.  The xxx project has been postponed due to lack of participants, and hope to reschedule later this year.

On January 29th, Wednesday, the Biopark is looking for some help to help restore the camel enclosures and perhaps some other things. If you are free on that day,  I would appreciate very much signing on the website. Other information will be distributed on your sign-up.

And lastly, just a special invitation for all of you who in the past couple of years have at least participated in one Serve the City event. We would like to honour you and thank you, by inviting you to a dinner on Thursday evening 30 January at 18:30. The dinner will be held at the Soup Kitchen right across the street from the train station, so there’s plenty of parking. And we look forward to seeing you and being able to introduce to you the STC team and other volunteers that have been working so hard over the past several months. And we look forward to joining this special dinner occasion. Please signup early to insure your place.

If you have never participated and you do not have a red shirt, you are also invited to participate. We are looking for volunteers to serve at the dinner. . So if you’re willing to come maybe an hour early and help set up the tables, serve the meal and clean up the tables, we would love to have you. We need about a half a dozen new registered sign-ups and look forward to meeting you. And you can also meet those involved with Serve the City volunteering and administration. Thank you very much for your sign-ups found on the website. We look forward to seeing you at the end of the month and trust that you will continue to enjoy working with Serve the City to help the marginalized people of the community.

Thank you very much. Serve the City team.