Volunteer Opportunities with GLSEN Richmond

Aug 10, 2006

Write letters or emails to your legislators or policy makers. Sign up for the GLSEN Richmond email list. From time to time, we will send out a GLSEN Richmond Action Alert about a legislative issue or potential school board action where we need citizens to write letters in support of our position. When you receive the Action Alert, we ask that you write a letter or email to help our cause. For example, in the last two legislative sessions, HB-2868 (in 2005) and HB-1308 (in 2006) would have allowed prohibiting Gay-Straight Alliances in Virginia schools. In both cases, GLSEN Richmond helped defeat these proposed laws through citizen involvement in testimony, letters and emails, etc. In the past year, we have learned of efforts in two school systems in Virginia to prohibit GSA groups in their schools. Information about how to contact the legislators or policy-makers, talking points to use in your letter, sample letters or emails, etc. will be provided to help you follow through.

Volunteer at Diversity Thrift to help raise money for GLSEN Richmond. Diversity Thrift, located at 1407 Sherwood Ave., will donate $10 to GLSEN Richmond for each hour you volunteer if you log your hours for GLSEN on the Volunteer Log Book. Volunteers help out at the store by straightening up the store, helping at the cash register, sorting clothes and pricing items – what you do can be adapted to your interests and needs. Diversity Thrift has a variety of potential volunteer times – evenings, weekends, and even weekdays – so contact the store’s Volunteer Coordinator at 353-8890.

Write letters to the editor or other media – From time to time, we learn of articles, media stories, or letters to the editor concerning glbt youth issues in schools or Gay Straight Alliances in schools, etc. We need individuals willing to write letters or speak on camera about these issues in support of GLSEN’s viewpoint.

Volunteer for Public Education – We need individuals who are willing to be speakers or presenters at workshops or conferences. We also need individuals who are willing to staff information tables at various public events. We provide materials and help new individuals by pairing them with a more experienced person when you volunteer to help in this way.

Contribute your graphic design or web design skills. We would like to have individuals who can design posters or flyers for our chapter and the events we sponsor. For example, we could use a flyer or advertisement that could be printed in newsletters or papers to encourage involvement in GLSEN Richmond. We also need individuals with web design skills to help keep our web site informative and up-to-date – especially when we need the web to provide information about Action Alerts and other issues.

Help use raise funds. How about hosting a party or some other event at your home, apartment, or pool to help GLSEN Richmond raise funds?

Help with projects or take on a leadership role. GLSEN is involved in a variety of projects that need sporadic help – for example, someone to help at a GSA Summit to organize refreshments or staff the check-in table. Think about taking on a leadership role – we need individuals who are excellent organizers who can inspire and get the job done. Is there an area or a project where you would like to take charge? Let us know.

Help with the GLSEN Richmond newsletter. You could write a brief article, edit or proofread, help with copying and mailing.

Don’t see something that matches your skills or interests? Contact us by email at glsenrichmond@yahoo.com to talk about additional ideas!