**New virtual opportunities added**

Volunteers are vital to The Shadow Project! Whether you mentor a student to build reading skills and confidence, volunteer in our warehouse to organize and pack program materials for teachers, or provide administrative or fundraising support, you are making a big difference. Thank you for your interest in joining our community! You can subscribe to The Shadow Project to receive updates about current opportunities.

Reading Mentors work with small groups of 3-5 students with learning challenges, motivating them to set and achieve weekly reading goals using assistive reading technology and an extensive audiobook library. You’ll mentor virtually during the regular school day, working with children that attend Portland Metro Area public schools.

Commitment: We are looking for volunteers (18+ years old) that will serve for 2 hours per week. Shifts are either in the mornings or afternoon during school hours. Volunteers must commit to at least one cycle, with the option to continue mentoring for the whole the school year. Cycles are: Sept/Oct through Dec, early Jan through mid-March, mid-March through end of school year.

Create “Shadow Bucks” e-gift cards for students (virtual)

Students in our Goal Setting and Reading Mentoring programs get to pick out prizes for their hard work during virtual learning. You will help issue an e-gift card to each student, which they use to “buy” prizes in an online Shadow Store. This is a special, celebratory experience!

This is an entirely virtual volunteer opportunity. You will use your own device and reliable Internet connection. We will schedule a 20-minute Zoom orientation to train you on how to issue e-gift cards. You do not need any special skills, but should feel comfortable using digital technology. You will receive a list of student names and the amount to load on their gift card. You’ll use Shopify to create that student’s gift card. Lastly, you’ll add the link to the gift card to a spreadsheet. 

Students in our Goal Setting and Reading Mentor programs get to pick out prizes for their hard work during virtual learning. Prizes include in-kind donations from local businesses, like gift cards, movie tickets, and class vouchers. Volunteers are needed to help solicit and follow up with in-kind donation requests.

This is an entirely virtual volunteer opportunity. You will use your own device and reliable Internet connection. We will schedule a 20-minute Zoom orientation to train you on requesting donations. You do not need any special skills, but should feel comfortable using digital technology and communicating in a professional manner. You’ll receive a pre-vetted list of businesses. You will use an email and phone script to ask for in-kind donations and follow up in a timely manner. You’ll record if a donation was secured so Shadow Project staff can coordinate receipt.

Are you a parent, guardian, teacher, or community member that is concerned with providing high quality education for children with learning challenges? Have you been personally affected, or are you a young person that has experienced the challenges of receiving equitable and accessible resources to aid your educational success? Do you have specific knowledge, skills, talents, or a motivation to be more invested in the educational achievement of children in your community?

If so, we invite you to join our Community Advisory Board. 

Last year, Community Advisory Board members weighed in on:
● Program development
● Content creation (Check out some of the webinars and informational videos we produced this summer on the Shadow Project YouTube page.)
● Fundraising
● Research

This year, we envision Community Advisory Board members being involved with:
● Continued development of our newly adapted virtual programming
● Fundraising within personal networks for in-kind donations for student incentives
● Getting the word out about our programs

We anticipate the Board will meet virtually two to three times a year, with the first meeting planned for mid-October. Our work will focus on maintaining the objectivity and comprehensiveness of Shadow programming.