Christmas Cheer Toy & Food Program

We need 2 forklift drivers per shift. Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age, and either certified or have experience in using a forklift. Please note, this is not an opportunity to gain experience how to use one due to people moving around and safety concerns.

These are the unloading, unpacking and sorting days. Duties will include emptying set up supplies, storage pods of toy bags, boxes and bikes, accepting toys from people dropping off, unboxing and sorting toys by age group, counting toys, removing the “extra blessing items” from the main toys for distribution and boxing toys according to age and gender. Christmas Tree assembly and decorating will be done during these 2 days as well.

Continue processing left over items from Friday and Saturday and begin the set-up process for distribution. Bundling gift sets will be done today. Toys will be moved to behind the staging area and the display set will begin to be assembled. 

Last minute sorting, toy acceptance and major set up of the toy shop and food distribution area. This includes assembling the roller trays, making food boxes, unpacking non-perishable food items, getting the line ready for the first families to arrive late Tuesday afternoon.

This position warmly greets the families who come to this area to be checked in and confirmed. You will need to check the IDs of the head of household, check to make sure they have signed up and retrieve this walk-through paper from the files. The paper is then given to the client, and they receive a call number ticket and proceed to the waiting area to be served. This is mostly a sitting position, but you will need to get up and retrieve the paper from the file. Just a few steps. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old to volunteer in this area.

This position calls the client’s numbers for them to line up to get their toys and food. You need to be willing to use a microphone and be in front of people. You are welcome to tell funny stories, have kids come up and sing a song, etc. This is a fun time to interact with a small crowd. There will be an employee near you to tell you how many numbers to call each time. There is a stool available for you to sit on if needed. Volunteers must be 18 years or older.

1. This position greets each family at the beginning of the toy shop area and assists the head of household with choosing toys for the children. You will receive the paper with ages and gender for proper selection of toys. Generally, this is 1 toy per child. Note that occasionally some age/gender groups may be able to choose 2 toys per child based on the amount of donations in those specific groups. You must use the ages on the paper unless there is a mistake. Families cannot choose items from other age groups, (unless there is a special accommodation which should be noted on the paper). Families may not add children. We need to ensure that we do  not run out of toys. 
   1. Toys MUST BE chosen from the display tables in front of the curtains. Shoppers may not go back into the stock area to look for specific toys. This greatly backs up the lines causing unnecessary delays in the processing of families, so please stick to the current toys on display. If families are taking too long to choose, you will need to encourage them to choose quickly or choose the toys for them. 
   2. Occasionally we will put out a bike card. If the bike card is on the table, the family may choose that for their toy. Bikes are retrieved by presenting this card at the end of the food line. Bike cards cannot be requested. These are put out randomly, so each shift has an opportunity for bike selections. 
   3. When you have completed the shopping, you can direct your family to the food line where those volunteers will take over. Volunteers in this area must be at least 16 years old to volunteer in this area.

This position requires some flexibility. This area will have limited forklift movement. Volunteers will be unpacking toys, sorting through toys by age and gender, counting toys, bundling gift sets, etc. On distribution days, restocking the staging area, assisting the shoppers in the staging area to choose toys, toy sorting and assisting with bike retrievals will be added responsibilities. Volunteers can be assigned to this area as young as 13, but to stand behind the staging area on distribution day, they will need to be at least 16 years old.

This is a busy area with many moving parts. This area will have forklifts moving frequently. Volunteers will help to make boxes, pack boxes, restock food staging stations, assist with breaking down boxes. Volunteers must be at least 13 years of age to volunteer in the food area.

This is a great opportunity to meet the families while assisting them to their vehicles with their toys and food boxes. Once the family is loaded, the cart runners bring the carts back in. Boxes will need to be broken down for disposal in between helping families to their car or trash may need to be taken out. Dress for the weather. This is a very important step in the Cheer experience.  Also, this is a great opportunity for individuals as well as school groups, troop groups, sports groups, etc. This is also a great opportunity to earn community service hours. Need to be able to help lift about 20-25 pounds from the cart to vehicles. The minimum age is 13. 

This shift happens at the end of distribution on Thursday evening. Volunteers will be counting and packing leftover toys for storage for next year’s program. The toys are counted, placed into the bins by age and gender and wrapped. This is crucial for cleaning up and loading on Friday. There may be some food packing as well. Minimum age is 13.

This is a particularly important day where volunteer help is greatly needed. It is crucial that we are packed, loaded, and cleared out of the Lausche building on Friday, December 20th by 3:00 p.m. because of another event that will be using the building. These need to be volunteers that can do some lifting and packing. This will include breaking down final boxes and taking them to the dumpsters along with some trash. We understand that this is not the most glamourous volunteer opportunity, but it is just as important as the other shifts.