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Wild, Wonderful & Healthy WV

Volunteering – Ways to Get Involved in Charleston West Side

Have you ever wanted to help make a difference in your community, but don’t know where to start? Are you interested in personal development? Volunteering is one of the best ways to get involved and help positively impact your community, as well as invest in personal development. There are numerous opportunities to volunteer based on your topic of interest such as basic needs, education, health, and financial stability. Giving back in these ways builds skill, develops character, and instills compassion and pride in both those who volunteer and their communities.

Read on to learn about a few of the volunteering opportunities that benefit the Charleston West Side.

Food Distribution

There are several admirable volunteering opportunities for Food Distribution in Charleston. It is important for able community members to volunteer at food pantries, and/or soup kitchens, in order to support our neighbors in combating food insecurity.

Manna Meal is a soup kitchen located in Downtown Charleston, which serves two free meals – breakfast and lunch – daily, 365 days per year. Volunteer assistance is crucial to the daily operations of this organization, as it works to combat food insecurity for our local community. Manna Meal volunteers have the opportunity to assist with meal prep, food pick-up and delivery, gardening, and more. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to join the Manna Meal team.

Covenant House WV is an organization that offers direct services for people in need of food, housing, and healthcare assistance, with the goal of creating social change through education and advocacy work. The Covenant House Food Pantry is open weekdays from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm to support Kanawha County individuals and families facing poverty. The coordinated volunteer team helps with activities including putting together food orders, bagging groceries, and stocking shelves.

Health and Wellness

Our community is fortunate to have numerous volunteering opportunities for healthcare and wellness. Volunteers in the health and wellness field are vital to our community, as they support our local medical professionals in providing quality care to our neighbors.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern West Virginia  is a non-profit organization that provides essential services to families whose children are facing medical conditions and treatments – including but not limited to – RSV, NICU, and Premature Birth Effects. RMHC is significant to our community as it supports and enables parents to remain close to their critically ill children. There are many volunteer programs at RMHC such as Guest Services, Kitchen, Hospitality, and Facility Volunteering. Volunteers have the opportunity to participate in activities including organizing pantries, preparing rooms for guests, office duties, and more.

Charleston Area Medical Center  is a complex of five hospitals located in Charleston, and serves as the primary medical facility for the city. CAMC is a general medical and surgical facility, as well as a teaching hospital. Each CAMC facility maintains its own auxiliary board.

Volunteers serve as support for hospital staff, as well as patients and their families to provide a comfortable, charitable, and attentive environment. There are numerous volunteering opportunities available through CAMC hospitals, including; Emergency Department Ambassadors, Greeters, Waiting Room Liaisons, Office Support, Crafters, Gift Shop Attendants, Special Projects, and more.

Clothing and Basic Needs

Here in Charleston, WV, we have remarkable volunteering opportunities for distribution of basic necessities. Catering to our struggling community members’ basic needs is critical, as individuals and families need these essentials to live everyday life happily and most importantly healthily.

Heart + Hand Outreach Ministries is a community based organization which provides donations of clothing, food, household essentials, furniture, and monetary assistance to neighbors in need. There are many ways that volunteers can support this organization such as: working the food pantry, organizing food drives, sorting and processing donations, leading classes, and organizing the thrift store.

Faith in Action of the Greater Kanawha Valley is a volunteer program which provides an array of free services to elderly community members – aged 60 and older – in both Kanawha and Putnam counties. Volunteer opportunities include assisting elderly with grocery shopping, a weekly reassurance call program, transportation to medical appointments, and minor home repairs through the Honey Do Crew team.

 

If being an active community member is something you desire, we encourage you to participate in one of these amazing volunteering opportunities. Volunteering is not only good for promoting a happy and healthy society, but for personal growth. Volunteering motivates you to be selfless, while enhancing skills for everyday life. Volunteer in Charleston, and help our community thrive.

« Return to WWH WestSide WV

A Program of:
The Center for Rural Health Development
75 Chase Drive
Hurricane, WV 25526
(304) 397-4071
Email Program Manager

 

Have you ever wanted to help make a difference in your community, but don’t know where to start? Are you interested in personal development? Volunteering is one of the best ways to get involved and help positively impact your community, as well as invest in personal development. There are numerous opportunities to volunteer based on your topic of interest such as basic needs, education, health, and financial stability. Giving back in these ways builds skill, develops character, and instills compassion and pride in both those who volunteer and their communities.

Read on to learn about a few of the volunteering opportunities that benefit the Charleston West Side.

Food Distribution

There are several admirable volunteering opportunities for Food Distribution in Charleston. It is important for able community members to volunteer at food pantries, and/or soup kitchens, in order to support our neighbors in combating food insecurity.

Manna Meal is a soup kitchen located in Downtown Charleston, which serves two free meals – breakfast and lunch – daily, 365 days per year. Volunteer assistance is crucial to the daily operations of this organization, as it works to combat food insecurity for our local community. Manna Meal volunteers have the opportunity to assist with meal prep, food pick-up and delivery, gardening, and more. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to join the Manna Meal team.

Covenant House WV is an organization that offers direct services for people in need of food, housing, and healthcare assistance, with the goal of creating social change through education and advocacy work. The Covenant House Food Pantry is open weekdays from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm to support Kanawha County individuals and families facing poverty. The coordinated volunteer team helps with activities including putting together food orders, bagging groceries, and stocking shelves.

Health and Wellness

Our community is fortunate to have numerous volunteering opportunities for healthcare and wellness. Volunteers in the health and wellness field are vital to our community, as they support our local medical professionals in providing quality care to our neighbors.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern West Virginia  is a non-profit organization that provides essential services to families whose children are facing medical conditions and treatments – including but not limited to – RSV, NICU, and Premature Birth Effects. RMHC is significant to our community as it supports and enables parents to remain close to their critically ill children. There are many volunteer programs at RMHC such as Guest Services, Kitchen, Hospitality, and Facility Volunteering. Volunteers have the opportunity to participate in activities including organizing pantries, preparing rooms for guests, office duties, and more.

Charleston Area Medical Center  is a complex of five hospitals located in Charleston, and serves as the primary medical facility for the city. CAMC is a general medical and surgical facility, as well as a teaching hospital. Each CAMC facility maintains its own auxiliary board.

Volunteers serve as support for hospital staff, as well as patients and their families to provide a comfortable, charitable, and attentive environment. There are numerous volunteering opportunities available through CAMC hospitals, including; Emergency Department Ambassadors, Greeters, Waiting Room Liaisons, Office Support, Crafters, Gift Shop Attendants, Special Projects, and more.

Clothing and Basic Needs

Here in Charleston, WV, we have remarkable volunteering opportunities for distribution of basic necessities. Catering to our struggling community members’ basic needs is critical, as individuals and families need these essentials to live everyday life happily and most importantly healthily.

Heart + Hand Outreach Ministries is a community based organization which provides donations of clothing, food, household essentials, furniture, and monetary assistance to neighbors in need. There are many ways that volunteers can support this organization such as: working the food pantry, organizing food drives, sorting and processing donations, leading classes, and organizing the thrift store.

Faith in Action of the Greater Kanawha Valley is a volunteer program which provides an array of free services to elderly community members – aged 60 and older – in both Kanawha and Putnam counties. Volunteer opportunities include assisting elderly with grocery shopping, a weekly reassurance call program, transportation to medical appointments, and minor home repairs through the Honey Do Crew team.

 

If being an active community member is something you desire, we encourage you to participate in one of these amazing volunteering opportunities. Volunteering is not only good for promoting a happy and healthy society, but for personal growth. Volunteering motivates you to be selfless, while enhancing skills for everyday life. Volunteer in Charleston, and help our community thrive.

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Welcome to Wild, Wonderful & Healthy Smithers and Montgomery

What is Wild, Wonderful & Healthy WV?

No matter what your respective role is—to mitigate the opioid crisis, to ensure our children are ready for school and adults are ready to work, or to support economic growth—it all begins with healthy West Virginians.. Alone, no one person will have all the answers, but the direction we must go is clear, and together we can achieve our vision of a healthy West Virginia. Click here to learn more about the Wild, Wonderful & Healthy WV program as a whole.

 

Smithers and Montgomery Vision

Our Vision for Smithers and Montgomery is to build active and healthy communities that strengthen our economy.

 

CORE Support Team

A small group of individuals from the partner organizations are responsible for organizing the community health planning process and moving it forward. The current CORE Support Team consists of the following members:

  • Anne Cavalier, Mayor of Smithers
  • Greg Ingram, Mayor of Montgomery
  • Noel Mitchell - WVU Extension, Fayette County
  • James Bennett, Fayette County Health Department
  • Orlando Craighead - Kanawha Coalition for Community Health Improvement
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Smithers and Montgomery Community Calendar:

January 2025

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
  • Story Hour - Ages 3 to 6
2
  • Lego/Knex
  • Spin Class
  • Book Club - Montgomery Public Library
  • Open Art Studio - Gallery on 4'th
3
  • Adult Coloring
4
5
6
  • 1 on 1 Computer Help - by appointment only
  • Smithers Building Commission meeting
7
  • Chair Yoga
  • Finance Review - City of Montgomery
  • Court Hearings - City of Montgomery
8
  • Story Hour - Ages 3 to 6
9
  • Lego/Knex
  • Spin Class
  • Upper Kanawha Valley Strategic Initiative Council Meeting
10
  • Adult Coloring
11
12
13
  • 1 on 1 Computer Help - by appointment only
  • Smithers Fire Department Board of Directors meeting
  • Smithers City Council meeting
14
  • Chair Yoga
  • Smithers Sanitary Board meeting
  • Montgomery City Council meeting
15
  • Story Hour - Ages 3 to 6
  • City Beautification Strategic meeting
16
  • Lego/Knex
  • Spin Class
17
  • Adult Coloring
18
19
20
  • 1 on 1 Computer Help - by appointment only
21
  • Chair Yoga
22
  • Story Hour - Ages 3 to 6
23
  • Lego/Knex
  • Spin Class
24
  • Adult Coloring
25
26
27
  • 1 on 1 Computer Help - by appointment only
28
  • Chair Yoga
  • Park Board meeting
29
  • Story Hour - Ages 3 to 6
30
  • Lego/Knex
  • Spin Class
31
  • Adult Coloring
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Smithers and Montgomery Insights:

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What is Wild, Wonderful & Healthy WV?

No matter what your respective role is – to mitigate the opioid crisis, to ensure our children are ready for school and adults are ready to work, or to support economic growth – it all begins with healthy West Virginians. No one of us alone will have all the answers, but the direction we must go is clear, and together we can achieve our vision of a healthy West Virginia. Click here to learn more about the Wild, Wonderful & Healthy WV program as a whole.

Summers County's Vision

Wild, Wonderful & Healthy Summers County is an organization working hard in our community to support safe and affordable housing, strengthen our recreational opportunities, and support the economic development of our local small businesses.

Priority Focuses

Inadequate Housing.
Small Business Development.
Recreational Opportunities for Youth.
Community Green Spaces.

While Summers County has a myriad of health issues on which we could focus our work, over the next year the Community Health Improvement (CHI) Committee will focus on a lack of safe and affordable housing for low and moderate-income residents. The lack of safe and affordable housing in the county and city of Hinton and the abandoned and dilapidated structures have a detrimental effect on property values, public safety and health, fire safety, and economic development.

To accomplish this goal, we have defined three measurable objectives that will guide our work and be completed by June 30, 2023: 

Objective #1: Increase the number of safe, affordable, and well-managed houses for low and moderate-income renters by 30 properties. 

Objective #2: Improve community safety and the environment by demolishing 15 blighted buildings.

Objective #3: Ensure that city code and county ordinances promote and sustain safe, affordable, and well-managed housing. 

Read more in-depth about our priority issues and our objectives here.

Accomplishments

Despite delays resulting from the impact of the COVID pandemic, we were able to accomplish
the following:
• Identified over 45 properties for demolition as of October 2020
• Over 65 dilapidated properties demolished as of December 2024
• Identified vacant property for construction of green space that City of Hinton has
purchased. Worked with WVU Extension’s Community Engagement Lab to develop plan
for the space. Raised $43,000 to construct green space.
• Team members selected to serve on the county’s Dilapidated Buildings Committee.
• At the request of the Hinton City Council, agreed to repurpose a small vacant lot as a
green space; which opened in December 2022.
• City has hired a code enforcer to ensure that properties in Hinton are maintained at the
standards required by city ordinances.
• City has contracted to create a list of available rental housing.
• City is addressing housing issue, including absent property owners, in their 5-year plan.

We have much more planned - so stay tuned!

CORE Support Team

A small group of individuals from the partner organizations are responsible for organizing the community health planning process and moving it forward. The current CORE Support Team consists of the following members:

 

  • Patti Crawford - Retired, WV School of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Janima Bond - Burke & Herebert Bank
  • Kristal Straub, FMRS Health Systems
  • Mike Yancey - REACHH-Family Resource Center/Child Advocacy Center
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