Volunteer

Spokane AIDS Network owes its existence to volunteers. In 1985, a group of volunteers formed the agency to support those living with AIDS in Spokane.

Today, SAN maintains an active pool of 50-75 volunteers who serve in three main capacities:

1. Front desk volunteers who greet guests, answer the phone and transfer calls to staff members.
   
   
2. Food program volunteers who assist with sorting and bagging food for clients to pick up, and/or delivering food to clients.
   
   
3. Fundraising volunteers who help plan and execute SAN’s fundraising events, including the Oscar Night Gala.
   
   

Volunteers also occasionally assist individual staff members with administrative tasks. And, of course, a dedicated group of volunteers serve on SAN’s Board of Directors.

SAN currently maintains an active pool of more than 100 volunteers who assist in nearly every aspect of the agency. Although the Volunteer Program is housed at SAN, it is a collaborative program with the Spokane Regional Health District. Clients from either agency (about 250 total) have equal access to the volunteers. SAN’s Support Services Coordinator recruits, trains and manages the volunteers. He meets with case managers and client advocates to ensure they understand the scope of the Volunteer Program so they can use it to help meet client needs. When a request is received from any of the case managers or client advocates, the Support Services Coordinator connects the volunteer with the client.

Volunteers provide the practical and emotional support to people living with HIV and AIDS that no one else provides. Their one-to-one client support, including transportation, light housekeeping and yardwork and “compassionate companionship” empowers people to seek out resources and maintain a good quality of life.

Volunteers started SAN’s Meal Delivery Program in 1990, and they still are essential to its operation Currently, volunteers deliver meals and supplemental items to more than 70 clients weekly, for a total of 84 volunteer hours per week – or the equivalent of two full-time staff people.

Education and outreach volunteers staff information booths at community fairs, distribute condoms and literature at gay bars and forums, and are through Friend to Friend workshops to promote safer sex practices in the gay community. Fundraising volunteers work in committee to plan and stage fundraising events for SAN, such as the Walk for Life and Oscar Nights.

Volunteers also provide essential ancillary services, working directly with paid staff in areas such as front-desk reception, administrative support, research and fundraising activities. Volunteers have saved SAN thousands of dollars by sharing their expertise and donating their professional and skilled services. These pro bono services have included everything from the design of a new SAN logo, to assistance in computer networking, to rewiring the physical plant’s electrical system to bring it up to code.