Vancouver, WA – Friends of the Carpenter (FOC) will host Volunteer Orientation & Training Classes starting on July 29, with additional dates of Aug. 26, Sept. 30, Oct. 28 and Dec. 16; all sessions held from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Friendship Center, 1600 W. 20th Street.

To pre-register contact Tod Thayer, executive director, at 360-750-4752 (select option #1) or tod@friendsofthecarpenter.org

“We are seeking caring, compassionate people to volunteer at our Friendship Center. And we welcome everyone … after all, we call it the Friendship Center for a reason,” said Thayer. “We are seeking people who can lovingly bring their passion for service, their caring for others, their skill at building relationships and their willingness to love people where they are and for who they uniquely are.”

Friends of the Carpenter provides safety, structure and purpose to vulnerable members of our community.  FOC serves people who are homeless, people with varied abilities, veterans, school groups, and community groups.  FOC does this through the medium of woodworking and carpentry. “We shape and build with wood…but we change lives with love,” added Thayer.

Open volunteer opportunities include:

1. Receptionist/Hospitality-greet people, answer phones, check people in.
2. Shop Assistants-help keep shop organized, clean and help as needed.
3. Guitar and/or musicians for devotion music.
4. Devotion Leaders-individuals to lead worship and inspirational time.
5. Product Room Organizers-clean, organize, catalog products for sale.
6. Table Host/Activities Asst.-help guests and engage in activities, kit projects and fun!
7.  Outreach-willing to share with groups, churches, and businesses our mission of love.
8. Woodworkers.

About Friends of the Carpenter

Friends of the Carpenter was incorporated in Vancouver, WA in Oct. 1998 and began as a vision of a practical outreach of simple welcome and personal interaction between volunteers from the church and people living in poverty. Since the beginning, regular contact has been made with vulnerable members of our community through woodworking events scheduled around the area and which, today, are mostly held at FOC’s Friendship Center. Our mission: Friends of the Carpenter is a non-profit, faith-based day facility that provides safety, structure and purpose for vulnerable members of our community. Learn more at friendsofthecarpenter.org.

###