Our Amazing Core Volunteers

Welcome to the final day of National Volunteer Appreciation Week!

As Volunteer Appreciation Week comes to a close, we have one group left to spotlight, our core volunteers. We have more than 70 regular volunteers who come in week after week and help Eastside Baby Corner run smoothly. Our core volunteers are absolutely amazing, the hours they donate each week is astounding. We have volunteers who spend upwards of 20 hours a week working in the hub preparing the donated goods to be given out to children who need it. EBC COULD NOT achieve its mission of helping children thrive without the selfless time and energy put in by these amazing individuals.

In honor of each one of our core volunteers we created the Eastside Baby Corner Wall of Fame. Every core volunteer that has been with us for at least one year got an award hung up on the Wall of Fame. When the idea was tossed around about creating awards and possibly some sort of display, never did we think it would become a fun destination and tour stop within the hub. We welcome you to stop by and take a peek at the all the amazing volunteers and years of service they have given to EBC.

Speaking of years of service, we thought it would be fun to add up all the years volunteers have served and get a grand total. By adding up ALL the volunteers’ years, Eastside Baby Corner has over 518 years’ worth of volunteer service! WOW!

Throughout the week we have spotlighted volunteers who have donated between 1 and 19 years of service. Today we will spotlight five amazing women who have been with Eastside Baby Corner for more than 20 years. Yes, I said more than 20 years of volunteer at EBC. One of those volunteers is Eastside Baby Corner’s Founder and Executive Director Emeritus, Karen Rildon.

Karen Ridlon founded Eastside Baby Corner in April, 1990. With a few small items, a broken playpen for shelves and an unheated donated storage unit from Rowley Properties, Eastside Baby Corner was born. She is a lifetime member of the EBC Board of Directors. Karen has been recognized for her efforts with many volunteer awards, including Issaquah Hall of Fame, Best of Bellevue: Volunteer, and UCSF Distinguished Alumni. Karen was a key player in the development of the Issaquah Community Center and has been a tireless contributor to many volunteer efforts over the years, including scouting, the public schools, and her church. Karen is the mother of three children and a proud resident of Issaquah, where she lives with her husband.

Core Volunteer Shout-Outs!

• 23 YEARS of volunteering
  • Karen Ridlon
  • Helen Scott
  • Margo Shute
  • Mary Steele
• 21 YEARS of volunteering
  • Kay Lehus

Be sure you check-out each of our posts from this week spotlighting our amazing EBC volunteers!

• Monday- Introduction of Volunteer Appreciation Week
• Tuesday- Community Volunteers
• Wednesday- Groups
• Thursday- The Men of Eastside Baby Corner

Once again, THANK YOU to everyone of our volunteers who have helped Eastside Baby Corner over the years.  YOU are the reason EBC is able to continue to serve over 500 children in need every single week.  We wouldn’t be able to do nearly what we do with out each one of you.  So THANK YOU!

Happy Volunteer Appreciation Week!

The Men Of Eastside Baby Corner

Welcome to Day 4 of National Volunteer Appreciation Week!

Be sure you check-out each of our posts from this week spotlighting our amazing EBC volunteers!

· Monday- Introduction of Volunteer Appreciation Week

· Tuesday- Community Volunteers

· Wednesday- Groups

Did you know that we have several MEN who volunteer at Eastside Baby Corner on a weekly basis? Most people are under the assumption that our volunteers are all women and that couldn’t be further from the truth! We are lucky to have men also working to help EBC serve kids in need. Below you’ll learn about the different ways men are brightening the warehouse and sharing their skills:

Workshop Team
             Dick Scott, Greg Wineland, Tom Koeneman & Pete Kraetsch

Have you ever donated a stroller, crib, or another hard good to Eastside Baby Corner? Our Workshop Team checks EVERY single hard good and equipment donated to EBC! They check all strollers, high chairs, pack ‘n plays, cribs & more, to make sure they are safe, complete and ready to give out. They also check the Consumer Product Safety Commission for recalls and order and install kits as needed to fix any safety flaws, and refurbish children’s bikes by fixing chains and pumping tires. These guys help make it possible for us to give out hundreds of ‘like new’ high needs baby and child equipment each month!

Car Seat Team
             Sid Rubin & Tom Koeneman

Each month Eastside Baby Corner distributes over 100 car seats to keep little ones safe and secure while they ride in the car. Sid & Tom check EVERY single car seat that is donated to EBC to make sure it falls within the accepted time frame (must have been manufactured within the last six years), has all the appropriate safety straps and instruction manuals to ensure safety!

Intake Team
             George Vanni, Kevin Brown, Will Hess, Bob Nersveen & Tom Young

Eastside Baby Corner is open to collect donations from the community three times a week: Monday nights, Thursday and Saturday mornings. Donors are greeted by our amazing intake team who help unload cars, carry in donations, add them to our donation station, provide tax receipts, answer basic questions and begin the sorting process to get the goods ready to be distributed. This team is often the only interaction many of our donors have with Eastside Baby Corner and the attention they provide each person is vital to the continuing growth of EBC.

Renovation Team
             Greg Wineland, Pete Kraetsch, Dick Scott & Tim Sullivan

During the past few months, the EBC hub has been undergoing some amazing physical changes. Walls have been knocked down, new offices have been built, shelving has been moved and new offices have been erected. It’s absolutely amazing to see the changes that have occurred! NONE of this could have been done without our dedicated Renovation Crew, who volunteered their time to help make EBC more efficient! Last month alone, the Renovation Team put in over 138 hours of volunteer time working on this massive project. The changes occurring are absolutely wonderful, not to mention changing every single day.

IT / Computers / Online Ordering Program
             Dave Herb

The majority of Eastside Baby Corner’s IT department falls on the shoulders of one very patient man, Dave Herb. Dave is our go-to-guy for all things computers, whether it’s email problems or computers that randomly turn themselves off. In addition, our amazing ordering website was designed entirely by Dave, which improves our productivity, eases the job of care providers and helps us track high demand items. It’s a tool that should be shared and become the standard for all organizations similar to EBC across the country. It is truly amazing!

Facilities Manager
             Tim Sullivan

Did you know that the light bulbs and smoke detectors don’t change themselves? Our volunteer Facilities Manager, Tim Sullivan, keeps the warehouse and all its units in tip-top, organized shape! He helps in all aspects of operations, from figuring out how many pallets of diapers fit in a storage unit, to mapping out how to efficiently move inventory around the warehouse.

Monday Night Organizer
             Steve Tochko

Monday nights are a BUSY bustling night in the warehouse. We fill clothing bags, maternity bags and other miscellaneous orders and prepare everything for Thursday morning’s provider pick-up. As each request is filled it is brought to the distribution aisle where Steve Tochko makes sure the orders are put away in the correct providers’ bin and ready for pick-up.

Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage – EBC Contact
             Bob Angrisano

Eastside Baby Corner loves having a drop-off location in the Issaquah Highlands, and the helping hands of local Cub Scouts assist in moving the donations to the warehouse. But there is one special EBC volunteer who helps us facilitate the monthly excursions by checking out a donated truck from Evergreen Ford and being onsite to help load-up the storage unit, transport the donations and unload the items at the warehouse. It has been a tremendous help to have an EBC volunteer follow the donations from the storage unit to the Hub, help load/un-load and answer any questions people have on either end of the project.

Red Truck Bob
             Bob Hinchberger

Red Truck Bob is a long-time faithful Thursday volunteer. He manages our cardboard recycling inventory and helps facilitate communication with our outlets on the other side of the state. The sight of his red truck rolling into the lot always brings a smile to our faces!

 

 

Core Volunteer Shout-Outs!

• 18 YEARS of volunteering
• Charlie Anderson
• Jane Anderson
• 15 YEARS of volunteering
• Lorna Bonner
• Angela Kennedy

Thanks again to all of our awesome volunteers!

Volunteer GROUPS

Welcome to Day 3 of National Volunteer Appreciation Week!

If you missed out on Monday’s introduction to National Volunteer Appreciation Week, make sure you pop over and check it out HERE.  Yesterday, we discussed community volunteers; if you missed that post make sure you check it out HERE.   

Each month Eastside Baby Corner welcomes a number of groups through the hub doors.  These groups range from corporate groups, girl, boy and cub scout troops, school groups and many different churches.  We love getting groups in to volunteer because they bring great camaraderie and fun to the volunteer shift!

Unlike our community volunteers who mainly sort and organize the clothing donations, our groups that come in often get a special project!  Recent favorites include: reorganizing our clothing inventory, cleaning out storage units, checking and labeling expiration dates on baby food, moving inventory and much, much more!

Volunteers from Sagemont Church, sorting and labeling expiration dates on baby food jars.

Students from Eastside Prep came to volunteer during their Service Learning Day!

This Cub Scout Troop helped us pick-up donations from the Issaquah Highlands Self-Storage Unit and deliver them to the EBC hub!

We were so thankful to have a group from Expeditors and a group from the University of Washington help us tear up carpet!

Microsoft employees came to volunteer during the Microsoft Day of Caring! These guys are helping us sort, organize and edit our excess clothing inventory!

As was mentioned yesterday for safety and task accuracy reasons, we cannot have children under the age of 7 working in the warehouse.  (Remember 7-13 with direct adult supervision and 14+ can come alone!).  However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have special projects for them to do at home and then bring us their final product!

For instance, we get a lot of Daisy and Brownie Girl Scout Troops who want to volunteer at EBC, but because they’re too young they often either host a community drive or put together hair accessories or toothbrush & toothpaste kits.  We will welcome the younger kids into the warehouse to deliver their goods and for a tour!  So if you have a younger one who is interested in helping at EBC, you might think about one of these ideas!

The Kindergarten classes from St. Louise School collected items for EBC and then brought them to the Hub for a tour!

This young girl scout troop helped EBC by sorting socks!

If you are interested in bringing a group in to volunteer, please contact our Program/Volunteer Manager Madeline Fish (madelinef@babycorner.org).

If you are interested in hosting a community drive or participating in another activity with younger children, please contact Cori Benson (corib@babycorner.org).

 

Core Volunteer Shout-Outs!

• 14 YEARS of volunteering
  • Tracy Bury
  • Joy McMains
• 13 YEARS of volunteering
  • Teresa Lindo
  • Nancy Tochko
• 12 YEARS of volunteering
  • Tom Koeneman
• 11 YEARS of volunteering
  • Karen Rubin
  • Steve Tochko
• 10 YEARS of volunteering
  • Dave Herb
  • Edie Herb
  • Lanni Litsjo
  • Dick Scott

Thanks again to all of our awesome volunteers!

Community Volunteers: Come volunteer on your own!

Welcome to Day 2 of National Volunteer Appreciation Week!

If you missed out on yesterday’s introduction to National Volunteer Appreciation Week, make sure you pop over and check it out HERE.   

Over the last year, nearly 1,000 community members have come and volunteered at the hub!  We rely on our community volunteers to do the bulk of our clothes sorting.  Each week EBC gives out more than 150 clothing bags containing a week’s worth of clothing for a child in need.  In order to be able to fulfill all the requests we need to keep our clothing bins topped off and edited!  There is no way EBC would be able to keep the bins filled with size and seasonal appropriate items without the generous time donated by the community!

In addition to sorting clothes and filling clothing bags, our community members help do a variety of other tasks.  They are always ready and willing to lend a hand to help complete a project.  We cannot thank them enough for helping us in many different aspects and jobs within the hub!

Are you interested in volunteering?  It’s fun and easy to sign-up to volunteer at Eastside Baby Corner.  All you need to do is visit our website (www.babycorner.org) and click the “Volunteer Time” button on the right-hand side.  You will be taken to our online calendar and volunteer registration system; based on openings, your schedule pick a time that works for you and sign-up!  Below I’ve included some common questions about volunteering:

How old do you have to be to volunteer at Eastside Baby Corner?

• Ages 7-13: Volunteers can come as young as 7, but we do require a 1:1 ration of child to adult for students between the ages of 7 – 13.  The main reason we cannot have children under the age of 7 is for safety reasons.  Furthermore, we have found that children under the age of 14 are not able to discern the sizes are correct, matching, and seasonally appropriate.  Volunteering at EBC is a great project for a younger student in partnership with an adult.
  
• Ages 14+: Volunteers fourteen or older are welcome to come and volunteer on their own!

 

Core Volunteer Shout-Outs!

• 9 YEARS of volunteering
  • Vivian Berger
  • Bob Hinchberger
  • Sid Rubin
• 8 YEARS of volunteering
  • Kevin Brown
  • Will Hess
  • Betsy Komarnitsky
  • Lisa Kraetsch
  • Penny Lewis
  • Bob Nersveen
  • Laura Tochko
  • George Vanni
• 6 YEARS of volunteering
  • Sue Tank
• 5 YEARS of volunteering
  • Katie Milne

Thanks again to all of our awesome volunteers!

Volunteer Appreciation Week

Eastside Baby Corner has the BEST volunteers!

It’s our mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of children and families in need by collecting and purchasing children’s items and distributing them, free of charge, through agencies who are providing services for families in east King County.  At EBC, we give families help and hope.

There is no way  Eastside Baby Corner could fulfill its mission without the amazing support of our amazing volunteers who come in week after week, rain or shine, hot or freezing weather and give with their hearts to serve children in need.  For the first fifteen years, EBC was run completely on volunteers.  Over the years we have added a couple of staff, but still today the bulk of the work is done by our incredible volunteers!

In 2012, Eastside Baby Corner volunteers clocked more than 17,000 hours helping children in need.  Who are our volunteers?

• Core Volunteers who come in on a weekly base and many manage different areas within the warehouse.
• Community Volunteers who sign-up to volunteer via VolunteerHub and come occasionally.
• Special Groups of schools, churches, scout troops, businesses, etc. who bring large groups of volunteers in for a one time shift.

Volunteers donate:

• More than 1,400 hours per month
• More than 350 hours per week
• More than 50 hours per day

During this week we will be sharing different ways that YOU can get involved and volunteer at Eastside Baby Corner!  We also will be spotlighting our core volunteers and thanking them for their years of valiant service!  Make sure you come back throughout the week to learn more about all the amazing volunteer opportunities and volunteers who make EBC the amazing organization that it is!

Core Volunteer Shout-Outs!

• 4 YEARS of volunteering
  • Roberta Crowly
  • Christy Garrard
  • Enid Olson
  • Maria Breuhaus

• 3 YEARS of volunteering
  • Barbara Elliott
  • Jackie Koeneman
  • Mary Miller

• 2 YEARS of volunteering
  • Andrea Beard
  • Cori Benson
  • Roma Bowen
  • Sandi Dong
  • Brandi Fields
  • Judy Martineau
  • Melissa Roellich
  • Cindy Shoji
  • Tim Sullivan
  • Greg Wineland
  • Wanda Yamashita

• 1 YEAR of volunteering
  • Peggy Angrisano
  • Bob Angrisano
  • Helen Christian
  • Lauren Christian
  • Pete Kraetsch
  • Lorene Luz
  • Katy Nolting
  • Vineetha Parammel
  • Serena Sayani
  • Tom Young

• New volunteers in 2013
  • Kay Eck
  • Dianne Greene
  • Ali Haywood
  • Daksha Varma

Thanks again to all of our awesome volunteers!