VOLUNTEER SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE!
April is Volunteer Appreciation Month!
Volunteers are the backbone of Habitat’s mission. In 2020 alone, volunteers contributed over 35,000 hours at the ReStore and on the build site - that's over four years of volunteering! Thanks to our volunteers, the ReStore has continued to run smoothly, divert goods and appliances away from the landfill, and reinvest funds back into the community. We have deeply missed our volunteers and supporters at the build site and are looking forward to welcoming everyone back later this spring. We would not be able to carry on with our work towards building a stronger Chicago without the hard work and dedication of each and every one of our steadfast volunteers and supporters.
For the month of April, we will be holding a virtual scavenger hunt in honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month! We want to take this time to celebrate all of you and check in on what you all have been up to for the past few months. For this event, we are asking you to complete a series of five photo challenges that will get you up and moving both in your home and around your neighborhood! Now's your chance to share a little bit more about yourself and see what fellow volunteers have been doing while at home.
Here’s how you can get involved:
Step 1: Take a moment to complete the following photo challenges:
- Who have you been spending your time with? Take a selfie of yourself, your family, or your pets!
- What has been your go-to item? Do you have a favorite mug or recipe? Snap a picture of something you haven't been able to live without while at home.
- How have you been spending your free time? Have you made progress on or completed a home project, a book, or challenging puzzle? Snap a picture and show it off! This is also a chance to showcase an item you have repurposed from the ReStore (be sure to include the hashtag #WhatIBoughtattheReStore).
- How have you been giving back during these times? Take a picture of how you have continued to engage with and give back to your local community. Here's a great opportunity to send a picture of your endurance challenge of choice from Move-In for Habitat Chicago last month (be sure to use the hashtag #MoveInforHabitatChicago)!
- How have you been enjoying your time outdoors? Snap a picture of you taking a walk around your neighborhood or going on a bike ride by the lake.
Click here to download a copy of these challenges!
Step 2: Once you have compiled your photos, send them over to the Volunteers Team at volunteer@habitatchicago.org.
Step 3: We are accepting submissions until the end of April. We will be posting your photos on our social media throughout April, so be on the lookout! Please let us know if you would prefer to keep your photos anonymous.
For inspiration, here are some photo examples from our AmeriCorps Volunteer Coordinator, Abi:
1) Who have you been spending your time with?
Since I live by myself, I have been spending most of my time with my lovely cat, Buddha.
2) What has been your go-to item?
I actually have two go-to items: my coffee maker and ceramic pour-over. Coffee has been a daily part of my at-home routine.
3 ) How have you been spending your free time?
I have been spending most of my free time at home reading! To showcase my growing collection, I even ordered and put together these two bookshelves:
4) How have you been giving back during these times?
I have been donating to local organizations, signing petitions, and reaching out to my local representatives in support of affordable housing initiatives, such as Habitat for Humanity's Cost of Home campaign.
5) How have you been enjoying your time outdoors?
I love to go on walks around my neighborhood, Buena Park. Here are some pictures from a local garden that I visit often!
From all of us here at Habitat Chicago, we want to express our gratitude for all that our volunteers have and continue to do to support our efforts to build thriving communities in Chicago. If we've learned nothing else in the past year, it's that home is what you make it. Check out what our most recent cohort has to say about their new homes in our Virtual Home Dedication video coming later this month!
