How you can help
Agencies interested in you:

• United Way of Kern County
  Have you ever been a volunteer?  Do you realize that volunteering makes you feel better about yourself and impacts the lives of others?  A volunteer is someone who enters into or offers themselves for a service of their own free will...with no pay.  In 1995, volunteers nationwide gave 15.7 billion hours of their time.  United Way of Kern County and other non-profit agencies in Kern County need volunteers to assist in performing a wide variety of tasks.
  
  Be a volunteer… e-mail us to learn more about volunteer opportunities at United Way and our funded agencies.
  
  

• Volunteer Center of Kern County, Inc.
  Provides volunteerism as a means of fostering citizen involvement in the community, enabling public and private non-profit agencies to enhance or maintain needed human services.  If interested in volunteering, call 661-395-9787.
  
  

• Kern Adult Literacy Council
  Kern Adult Literacy Council is seeking volunteer tutors.  No experience is necessary. The Council provides tutor training the 2nd Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of each month from 6 - 9pm.  We will work around your schedule to place you with an adult learner.  Tutor/student teams meet twice a week for 1 1/2 hour sessions.  If you are interested in becoming a tutor please contact the Council at 661-324-3213. Kern Adult Literacy Council is making a difference in Kern County.....you can too!!
  
  

• Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault
  The Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault is committed to stopping domestic violence and sexual assault in our community. For over 21 years we have assisted those who have suffered from these crimes to reclaim their lives.
  
  Some of our services include 24-Hour Hotline and Hospital Accompaniment programs, shelter for battered women and their children, counseling services for victims and their families, and prevention and education programs for youth, the general public and the professionals who come in contact with victims of these crimes. In addition, we work with the Courts, law enforcement agencies and with the District Attorney’s Office to provide support and assistance for those who are victimized and to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable.
  
  The Alliance needs your help in order to continue providing these services for our community. Web Page Link. 
  Call our office at 661-322-0931
  
  

• The Bakersfield Homeless Center
  The Center depends upon community volunteers - in fact, volunteers comprise 67 percent of our workforce.  The success of the Center has been a community effort.
  
  BHC needs volunteers in all departments…kitchen, dormitory, grounds, social services; client services and aministration.  We have tasks and times to fit your skills and interests.  You can volunteer from as little as one hour to a full day.
  
  Do you have a special skill?
  Cutting hair, gardening service, tutoring, data input, cooking and writing?  How about grant writing, marketing or fundraising skills?  BHC needs you.
  
  What can you do to help? Call 661-322-9199

• The N.E.E.D.S. Center, Inc.
  110 Asher Avenue
  Taft, CA 93268
  
  The mission of The NEEDS Center is to improve the health and well-being of qualified low income residents of Taft and surrounding areas of West Side Kern County by the distribution of goods and services at no charge to clients. The Center has been in operation since 1972 and is operated by volunteers and the executive director, the only paid employee.
  
  Our services include food programs, clothing, emergency shelter, rent and utility assistance, medical care and prescription payment assistance, and a Catholic HealthCare nurse to assist clients twice monthly with basic health tests and consultation. We work with court-ordered community service workers and have an extensive referral system for our clients.
  
  Come join our family and help us make a difference in the lives of those in our community. Call our office at 661-763-4888 or email thecarecenter@peoplepc.com to volunteer. Grant writing skills, accounting, cleaning, packaging and serving food, or just lots of enthusiasm; we need you!
  
  

If your non-profit agency would like to be listed on this page e-mail United Way at don.h@uwkern.org