Union County seeks volunteers for meal delivery, litter cleanups, library help and VITA tax assistance

Union County staff outlined a suite of volunteer opportunities available to residents, from meal delivery for older adults to litter pick-up, library assistance, free tax-preparation support and animal-shelter work, and invited people to sign up via department web pages.

Anaris Ross, human services program supervisor with Senior Nutrition Services, said the county’s Senior Nutrition program provides meals to residents 60 and older and depends on volunteers to deliver them. "Volunteers deliver 29 routes a day," Ross said, describing the delivery routine: volunteers pick up a cooler and hot bag at a meal site, deliver meals along the route (typically about an hour) and return the containers when finished. "We are so grateful for our volunteers. We could not do this without you," Ross added.

Caleb Sinclair of the Union County Department of Solid Waste described a new loaner litter-kit program to support roadside cleanups. The kits include a litter picker, bags and a safety vest, and the department will provide free disposal for the collected waste. "You can join us by completing our loaner litter-kit checkout form at the Union County Department of Solid Waste page," Sinclair said. He also noted that library branches will carry kits that patrons can check out like a book.

Stephanie Johnson, volunteer coordinator with the Union County Library, said volunteers help with shelving, preparing informational materials and staffing events. "Volunteers are at the heart of what we do for the library," Johnson said.

Chris Zigler, Senior Volunteer Services Coordinator, outlined two county programs that use volunteers: the Christmas Bureau, which provides holiday assistance and can involve gift sorting, food-box preparation and distribution or sponsoring families, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), which "provides free income tax filing services for eligible residents." Zigler described volunteer roles for VITA as either preparing returns or providing administrative support such as scheduling and greeting clients.

Carrie Rivers, volunteer coordinator with the Union County Sheriff's Office, described opportunities at the county animal facility, including dog walking, bathing and kennel cleaning. "We have volunteers come in Monday through Saturday," Rivers said, and noted there is an online application on the Sheriff's Office website.

Holly Dils of Union County Parks and Rec invited residents to one-day and multi-day projects such as park cleanups and scout partnership improvements. "So whatever you're looking for in a volunteer world, I'm sure we've got it out here for you," Dils said.

County staff gave multiple sign-up options: loaner litter-kit checkout via the Solid Waste webpage, volunteer applications on the Sheriff's Office site for animal-shelter roles, and department pages or library branches for other programs. The announcements did not specify application deadlines or upcoming orientation dates.

For more information, residents should visit the relevant Union County department web pages listed by Solid Waste, the Sheriff's Office, Parks & Rec, the Library and Senior Nutrition.