(24.12.2017)

Dear volunteers,

Serve the City Geneva is in its 7th year and we must thank the community so very much for stepping out to help others less fortunate or to working on environmental projects in our community!  It is so wonderful to work with a team of volunteers who are so willing to do just about anything including gardening, pulling weeds out of swamp areas, setting up parties for handicapped kids, painting, laying carpet, and just taking time out of their busy lives to lend a hand!  We thank you so much for your gifts of personal time and your compassion for the needs of others, as do our service providers!

At the moment we have 1,658 registered volunteers, and we’d like to know what is going on and available.  About 920 of them are already active and wearing red shirts! We are not sure how many of the 1658 are still in town as the our Geneva community tends to involve many comings and goings! And we all know that typing REMOVE is a hard thing to do…!

Here are some things you didn’t want to know;
Of the 1658; 609 are English-only speakers, 14 are French-only, 829 prefer English, 206 prefer French!
1247 are living in Geneva, 223 in France and 188 on the West bank.. perhaps 2 or 3 as far as Lausanne.
This year we have had 50 new registrations. And in the past 6 months, when asked how you heard about STC here are your replys:
Google  16
Friend    4
STC projects 3
Facebook 3
School 11
Radio 74 1
Hello Switzerland 1
… and we thank you, for upping the Friend total !!

We hope you realize that you are making a difference, and how important you are to those fortunate people that you might support in some way!. We also hope that opportunities will continue to arise for you to help others. (And when the opportunity opens, to get to know those without a name.!  )

STC is currently running with a staff of 7 but we really need more help to keep in touch with Service Providers for our 1658 volunteers! Do you have skills in this area?
Do sign up, and pressure us, to give you a chance to lend a hand!
Zou might also help us thru your organizations or on Facebook.

Seasons greetings to each and every one of you,….you are so appreciated!  
The Serve the City Geneva committe

(04.12.2017)

Dear volunteers,

First,  many many thanks for the 60+ volunteers we had for Partage collections. A new high of 167 tons of donations.. (to be sorted)

On to next projects..:

– Call for MEN !! We need 4 men on Saturday 9 Dec. to work at Eureka, a housing project for the needy. We need to rotate a tent in order to improve its covering, to be more effective over the winter months. 9:30 to noon with nice BBQ lunch prepared for us.. 

– We have a new opening for Partage sorting for 5 helpers on Wednesday 27 Dec. The sorting is the normal 8am to noon. Lunch is included. 

– Ronald McDonald Houses could use 3-4 volunteers to prepare their two gardens for winter and put a small edging for one of the gardens. Its a morning job 9:30 to noon including lunch.  (the houses are near the HUG hospital in Geneva)

– We have a project in Bellevue doing some gardening and cage cleaning at the Zoo this Saturday at 9:30.  If you are interested, please sign up and we will send more on the project.

– For those in the Christmas or New Years spirit, Carrfour Rue has a homeless shelter by the bridge and a soup kitchen by the train stations in which they want to present the residents or the hungry with special meals at the holidays.. 

We need :

• 14 people from 7 pm at la Coulou on 24.12. to help prepare a meal, decorate shelter, serve the meal and clean up  
• 12 people from 10 am to 12 & from 7 pm at Jardin de Montbrillant on 31.12  to decorate and set up tables, and deliver for sit-down meals
• 15 people from 7 pm at la Coulou on 31.12.      Same as Coulou above only New Years Eve.

People interested can send an email to carrefour-rue@carrefour-rue.ch for information  and sign up on the STC website More details will be sent closer to date to all volunteer signups.

We are pleased to announce that GEDS has nominated Serve the City as the recipient  of the charity theatre event on Dec 8 and 9 in Geneva. It’s titled Too Close for Comfort, more information available on their website 

http://www.geds.ch/events/too-close

STC will be using the funds to fund holiday meals for those in the shelter of the Salvation Army.   Those wishing to participate in creation of these meals  should send a message  to Info@ServeTheCityGeneva.ch and let us know of your interest..

Thank you !    The STC Team.  

(20.10.2017) (update: 30.10.2017)

One of our biggest regular events, the Samedi du Partage, is coming up again soon on Saturday, 25 November. We will be working in five supermarkets and so will need lots of volunteers to fill all the shifts! All the food and hygiene products collected that day will be stored by the Partage food bank and distributed throughout the year to charitable groups all over Geneva, which collectively provide around 900 free meals every single day to those in need, thanks in part to the generosity of the public. By volunteering with us for the Samedi du Partage collection, you’ll help to ensure that these vital and much-appreciated services can continue. This November, we are hoping to collect 150 tonnes of items for the needy of Geneva.

Sign up now through the Get Involved page, letting us know your preferred time slot and shop from the following:

Times: 

• 8am – 12 noon
• 12 noon – 3pm
• 3pm – 6pm

Shops:

• Aldi, Chêne-Bourg
• Aldi, Petit-Lancy
• Prodega, Satigny
• Coop, Grand-Saconnex
• Migros (and Denner), Meyrin

We are also hoping to provide a team for the new Vendredi du Partage slot on Friday, 24 November (afternoon/evening) – watch out for more information if you’re interested.
Vendredi du Partage confirmed @ MIGROS in Meyrin from 15:00 to 19:30

Partage sorting

Once the collection is over, the next step to sort the items in the Partage warehouse in Carouge to facilitate their distribution later. During the last event in June, around 140 tons of food and hygiene products were collected, so sorting itall is a big job!Serve the City is expecting to provide teams for around five weekday mornings, from 8am to 12 noon, in late November and December – the exact dates will be communicated soon.
The following dates for partage sorting are confirmed:
Monday, 11.12.2017
Friday, 15.12.2017
Thursday, 28.12.2017
Wednesday, 03.01.2018 and
Monday, 08.01.2018

Video: Become a volunteer (with rules): https://youtu.be/wJoQGKEQE4Y

Please note that once you’ve signed up for an activity, we are relying on you to be there at the time you’ve chosen. Unfortunately in June, a huge number of volunteers didn’t show up. This can drastically reduce the amount collected as it means fewer people telling the public about the event, and those volunteers who do come struggle to manage the donations they do receive. With that in mind, it is absolutely essential that you tell us in good time if for any reason you can’t make it so that we can make alternative arrangements, and don’t sign up if you don’t really intend to come. We truly appreciate the time that our volunteers give, but sadly we do on occasion have to reject volunteers who are consistently unreliable as it has a negative impact on our relationship with our partners and, most importantly, on the beneficiaries.

Zumba for the Association Cerebral Genève

We are looking for 10 people to assist with aZumba event supporting theAssociation Cerebral Genève on Saturday, 4 November 2017.This event aims to raise funds for an Easter holiday week for 12 children living with disabilities.

Volunteers will be needed to help throughout the event, which will include numerous fun activities such as Zumba classes (in which the volunteers can also participate), paella service, dancing and spending time with some great kids!Volunteers’ missions will include: selling tickets, serving paella, staffing the bar, cleaning up the venue at the end of the event, and most importantly sharing our love. The event is scheduled to begin at 2pm and end around 1am.

The association looks forward to welcoming Serve the City volunteers to help guarantee a special evening for some very special children! If you’re interested, please signup on our website indicating the hours you would be able to serve.

Expat-Expo

Serve the City has been offered a table at the Expat-Expo this year, and we would love to have a couple of volunteers on hand to talk about volunteering and take sign-ups. The exhibition will take place at the Starling Hotel and Conference Center at Palexpo on Sunday, 5 November from 11am to 5pm. Please get in touch if you’re available for a shift of 1 or 2 hours.

Thanks for your service!

Serve the City Geneva