Community Partners in Walking Distance of CNU

Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula has ensured youth living on the Virginia Peninsula have an inclusive and safe space to engage in an array of development opportunities since 1946. During our after-school and summer programs, youth not only enjoy the benefits of participating in Club programming, but they also develop positive relationships with peers, adult staff, and volunteers. Our core programs focus on Education, Leadership & Service, Health & Wellness, The Arts, and Sports & Recreation. More than seventy-four years ago, 250 neighborhood boys in Newport News entered the Boys Club of Newport News on 28th Street and experienced a family atmosphere while engaging in new and unique experiences. The organization has witnessed incredible growth since those first young men walked through those doors. We now serve over 5,000 boys and girls ages 6-18 each year in the cities of Newport News and Hampton and in the counties of York, Gloucester, and Mathews at 12 Club sites.

CERO will seek to educate, train, and prepare the CNU and greater peninsula community for all potential emergencies. From an everyday cut or scrape to a cardiac arrest or car wreck, the club will help train members and the greater community on the best and most efficient way to respond, render needed assistance, and stay collected during a variety of emergency situations. This is accomplished through bringing initiatives including STOP the Bleed, CPR training, AED training, and EMT certifications on campus and making them readily available to students, staff, and faculty. CERO also works to provide Basic Life Support coverage for the CNU club sports. CERO members are provided opportunities to develop their skills in weekly meetings beginning at the bystander level.

Captains’ Connection is an independent student-led service organization
at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. Captains’ Connection, (CC) is an organization which establishes meaningful connections through peer mentorships between CNU students and individuals with one or more disabilities.

We establish group and individual mentorships with people in the
surrounding community with disabilities, and in doing so, we provide guidance, activities, and a sense of belonging; which all deserve. As involvement in our organization increases, we will continue to create an ever-growing voice of advocacy for individuals who are often underserved, underrepresented, and misunderstood.

Our community partners are the Hampton Therapeutic Rec and Newport News Public Schools.

Claus Cares is a small non-profit focused on community betterment. We run a clothing boutique providing clothing to those in need. We collect and distribute donations involving all aspects of those in need from household goods to pet supplies and everything in between. Volunteers can assist in many ways from hosting collection drives to assisting at our Santa Claus events from check in to photography. As well as assisting with sorting and distribution of donations and many ways in between.

Dignity for the Aged is a 501(c)3 non profit organization based in Virginia with more than 1500 members nation wide. Our purpose is to advocate and provide support for long term care residents and their family members, to educate people regarding long term care and to improve conditions in all long term care facilities.

dignityfortheaged@gmail.com

Fear 2 Freedom empowers students to combat sexual violence through sexual assault prevention training and support survivors of sexual violence through our Kit distribution program.

Site Team Leader: Caroline Branch (caroline.branch.21@cnu.edu)

We are a middle school with a population around 1100 students. We have many speciality programs including Dual Language Immersion, Talented and Gifted, English Language Learners, Students with Disabilities (including 3 self-contained classrooms - 2 Autism and 1 Mild Intellectual Disability). We have a full range of course offerings as well.

All persons interested in volunteering at a school, or for a school related program or event, must complete the school division’s online volunteer application. All prospective volunteers will be subject to a background check against the sex offender registries in all 50 states and the custom databases set by each school. The school principal or designee shall review the prospective volunteer applications and ensure the volunteers have cleared the screening process and completed all required documents. All volunteers must be approved before volunteering at any school or event, or chaperoning any school field trip. Prospective volunteers and schools should allow at least one week for this process. Service of volunteers will be limited to the five areas listed below:

1. General assistance in the school and in the classroom.
2. Tutoring, which includes reinforcement and remediation activities.
3. Enrichment, limited to those activities which are in harmony with the purpose, scope and development of the curriculum including special presentations and programs.
4. Mentoring, providing provide motivation, support and role modeling.
5. Sponsoring a club or other extra-curricular activity that supports the mission of the school or school division.

NNPS Volunteer Application can be found below.

At Girls on the Run we inspire ALL girls to build confidence and make intentional decisions, while fostering care and compassion for self and others. Girls on the Run Hampton Roads serves girls in grades 3-8 across 14 school districts in Western Tidewater and Hampton Roads. We offer a fall and spring season, where teams meet for 90 minutes twice a week for 10 weeks. These amazing volunteer coaches deliver 20 lessons that use physical activity and dynamic discussions to build social, emotional, and physical skills in every girl while encouraging healthy habits for life. Stressors related to COVID-19 have undoubtedly affected girls, between social isolation, anxiety, and more limited opportunities for physical activity. Girls need us now more than ever.

TFAC is a fine arts center on Christopher Newport University's campus focused primarily on serving the CNU and Hampton Roads community. Comprising four main galleries, various studio classrooms, and a 150-seat auditorium, the center provides an admission-free space for students and community members to explore artworks and exhibits from around the world. TFAC aims to be a space where all individuals feel seen and welcomed, primarily through the medium of art.

Mercy Chefs is a faith-based, non-profit disaster and humanitarian relief organization. We exist to provide professionally prepared, restaurant-quality meals to victims, volunteers, and first responders in natural disasters and national emergencies, and we partner with existing like-minded organizations to further their mission by providing food service in underserved communities across the country.

Volunteers must have long hair pulled back into a ponytail and all volunteers should wear closed toe shoes. Please know that all first time volunteers will receive a t-shirt when they serve with us.

The MISSION of NNPS Youth Development is to promote positive experiences, positive relationships, and positive environments for every Newport News Public Schools student, staff, and family. Our VISION is that every Newport News Public Schools student feels seen, heard, valued, loved, and affirmed.

The Youth Development Department operates on the premise that all young people will be successful when offered the right combination of opportunities, supports, and services. NNPS Youth Development is also dedicated to the wellbeing of young people, no matter what circumstances they may face.

Positive Youth Development is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth with their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people's strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths. (Source: youth.gov/youth-topics/positive-youth-development)

Our mission at No shame. Period. is to erase the shame and stigma of menstruation for this generation of students in Hampton Roads and beyond. We're doing this by providing period packs to local elementary and middle public school nurses and promoting menstruation education.

MRC units across Virginia are teams of medical and public health professionals, along with non-medical members, who volunteer to support public health initiatives and health emergencies throughout our community.

Peninsula MRC actively improves and protects our community’s public health by supporting:
-Health education and preventative health screenings.
-Efforts to provide medical services to at-risk populations.
-Communicable disease outbreak response.
-Volunteer emergency preparedness training and exercises.
-Local, state and national response to terrorism attacks and disasters; providing staffing support for medical services, emergency shelters, mental health outreach, dispensing sites for medications and vaccinations, disease investigations and environmental health efforts for food, animal and human safety.

Quality of Life Inc. (QLI) is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization established in 2016, that works to inspire, promote, and enhance the “Quality of Life” of youth and their families in our community through personal, educational, and social development and growth. QLI understands the importance of one’s well-being and provides various programs, events, and resources to ensure each individual in our community truly understands “Your Well-being Matters.”

Mission and Vision
Our Mission is that “We inspire, promote and enhance the quality of life of individuals in our community through education, community programs, and individual and family services.”
Our Vision is “To transform communities by helping individuals evolve through personal, educational, and social development.”

Agency Overview
Quality of Life Inc. allocates funds to serve, assist, develop, and grow the local community and its surroundings by providing services and programs such as Mentoring (school-based, evidenced-based, individual, and group), Life Skill’s Coaching, Tutoring, Truancy prevention, Vocational Training, etc. for both youth and their families. Quality of Life Inc. hosts and facilitates numerous events during the year to assist our community with items as school supplies, hygiene items, food, water, and shelter. Quality of Life Inc. reinvests in our youth by providing scholarships annually to high school seniors enrolling in secondary education. Quality of Life Inc. educates both veterans and elderly citizens on resources in the community that will aide them in become more self-sufficient to ensure their years are spent flourishing in the communities they helped build. Quality of Life Inc. also assists and educates parents with tools, education, and resources to assist with removing barriers faced by their at-risk children to preserve the family unit.

We are looking for Volunteers, that are caring and understands Hospice.

Do YOU have some free time?
Write cards, assist in writing notes/ life story for others, admin duties, music or pet companions, read to others, Veteran program, make flower arrangements, make blankets, companion for someone in their most needed time. We would LOVE to have YOU!

Mission Statement
To care for others as we would care for those we love _ to enhance their well-being and improve their health

Riverside Care Difference

Keep me Safe
Help me Heal
Be kind to me
Respect my Wishes

Riverside Regional Medical Center (RRMC) is the primary location in the Riverside Health System.

Site Team Leaders: Rachel Fitzsimmons (rachel.fitzsimmons.21@cnu.edu); Emery Moore (emery.moore.20@cnu.edu)

Serve the City connects people who want to serve with meaningful opportunities to do so. We share kindness in multiple ways in the community. We offer projects ranging from making cards and cookies for 1st responders, to doing minor home repairs, and yard work for the low-income elderly and disabled people on the Peninsula.

Site Team Leader: Katie Bowersox (katelyn.bowersox.20@cnu.edu)

There is also a STC Club at CNU, led by Katie Bowersox. Contact Katie to get involved or to carpool to events. Her contact is katelyn.bowersox.20@cnu.edu

The Hidenwood is an Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care Community nestled in the woods of Newport News, Virginia. Newport News is a town where friendships last a lifetime, neighbors help each other, and families have roots. Chances are, if you've lived around here or in the area you already know someone who lives at The Hidenwood.

Water Connects Us All
A Message from our President Howard Hoege III
The mission of The Mariners’ Museum and Park is to connect people to the world’s waters, because that is how we are connected to one another. Across our nation and the world, we see daily reminders of the forces at work pulling communities apart. During these times, we believe our Museum has a powerful narrative to tell about community and what binds us together. We strive to provide an intellectual and emotional experience that is shared by generations, across cultures, and without barriers or judgment. It’s not just about displaying artifacts, but having our visitors learn and feel something, while awakening and introducing them to their maritime roots. It is through exploration of our collection and engaging experiences that we connect people to the world’s waterways. A steward of one of the world’s most extensive maritime collections, The Mariners’ Museum and Park is committed to the preservation and conservation of more than 32,000 objects and several million library and archive materials. We provide access to the collection through exhibitions, loans, publications, educational programs and online media. The Museum is proud to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and follows its standards of care to ensure the survival of the collection for generations yet-to-come.

We are a non-profit organization that re-gifts fresh flowers to patients in the hospital. We partner with local venues that host events, like weddings and receptions, with fresh flower arrangements. After the event, our team of volunteers gather donated flowers and transport them to Riverside Hospital in Newport News where we arrange them into bouquets that are delivered to individual patients by hospital volunteers the following day. To join our team of volunteers, sign up at simplesunflower.org.

The Virginia Living Museum is a combination aquarium, zoo, botanical garden and science center, exhibiting animals and plants native to Virginia. Volunteers and interns can work in all areas of our organization, from Animal Care to Education to Administration, to support our non-profit's mission to connect our community with conservation and the natural world.