Whether you need the hours for an assignment, for TN Promise, or just feel like volunteering, there are close to a million ways and places to volunteer here in Montgomery County. Here is a select list of our favorite places to volunteer at. 

• Of course we had to start with the S.O.S. Food Pantry here on campus. They are always needing volunteers and donations. The Pantry is a wonderful place to volunteer and offers a lot of hands-on volunteer experience. The Pantry offers gardening options during the warmer months, but if that is not your forte they also offer a position inside where you get to assist students inside of the building in helping them pick out items or finding the right outfit for an interview. When covid numbers rise they often limit the number of inside volunteers to 1 and have the volunteer fill orders for the students. Their full list of options is filling online pantry orders, organizing/cleaning pantry and thrift store, feeding chickens, watering/weeding garden beds, harvesting fruits and vegetables. If you would like to volunteer, here is the link to the form https://www.apsu.edu/volunteer/sos-food-pantry/ .
• Another option is the Clarksville Queen City Lions Club, which is part of Lions Club international. This is a network of volunteers who work together to find solutions to issues of those in need. Currently they are working to raise money to purchase a vision machine to test the eyes of the children in Clarksville/Montgomery County. They are also taking donations of unused eyeglasses and hearing aids so that they can be recycled and repurposed and given to those in need. They meet every 2nd Monday of the month at 5:30 at Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 3375 Sango RD, Clarksville, TN. You can register to volunteer, donate, or generally learn more about the organization here https://e-clubhouse.org/sites/clarksvilleqc/projects.php . 
• A wonderful place to volunteer for is Loaves and Fishes. They offer group project volunteering as well as solo volunteering options. By volunteering here you have the opportunity to prepare and cook meals, set up and clean-up after guests in the dining area, provide administrative help, monitor phones, complete warehouse inventory assistance, help with food distribution to other agencies, be a driver for food pick-up, be a greeter who welcomes and hosts their guests. A wide array of options are offered here and more can be found on their website, you can go to their calendar to click on a volunteering option that appeals best to you here https://loavesandfishestn.org/volunteer/ . 
• Keeping with the trend of food pantries next up is Manna Café Ministries, a local food bank dedicated to stopping hunger. The thing that sets them apart from the rest is that they not only have multiple locations but also different ways of distributing food. They have a brick and mortar location open on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. As well as a mobile pantry that is a one-day event held in cooperation with Second Harvest Food Bank, during which a trailer truckload of food is distributed to approximately 300 clients; it occurs at satellite locations in parts of the city not otherwise serviced, making food available to unique populations, including those without transportation. In addition to those options they also provide a mobile Café which is a soup kitchen on wheels, with ranging dates and times. If you would like to volunteer with them here is the link to their calendar https://mannacafeministries.volunteerhub.com/?format=Calendar&filter=All#_=_ .
• Most commonly when Habitat for Humanity is mentioned immediately the thought of being sweaty and building homes comes to mind but they provide so much more assistance to their communities than that. Through Habitat for Humanity you can be a ReStore Volunteer where you can help sort donations in the warehouse, price items, and maintain the sales floor. If that’s not what you are interested in you can assist in one of their construction projects, these run on an as-needed basis and are typically performed by groups.  They also have projects like A Brush with Kindness repair program and their Habitat Crafters program. These program dates are to be determined but you can email info@habitatmctn.org to stay up to date with the progress on the projects and to know how you can be of help. If you are interested in their construction projects you can call 931-645-4222 and if you want to be a ReStore Volunteer you can check out their calendar here ReStore Volunteer Calendar.   
• If you are looking for more interesting ways to volunteer, you may want to look into volunteering for your local fire department. Montgomery County Government provides the Service’s equipment, vehicles, utilities and insurance. You do not have to have any prior training or experience to be able to apply but you do have to have at least 20 hours of training to be able to stay on with the department. There are training courses provided once or twice during the month that you can attend. You get tons of hands-on medical experience, rescue operations, rope class, forcible entry training, all of this on top of learning how to put out fires.  It is definitely an unusual way to volunteer within the community, but don’t knock it until you try it. The application form to volunteer can be found here https://mcgtn.org/storage/departments/fire/APPA1.pdf 
• Want to look after some cute animals for a little while? Montgomery County Animal Care and Control is always accepting volunteers. They would prefer that you work at least four hours. They’re willing to work with special skills that they can utilize at the shelter such as social media skills and photography. Their volunteer needs and opportunities include but aren’t limited to adoption counseling, door greeter, adoption follow up services, animal enrichment, shelter maintenance services (washing dishes, laundry, picking up around shelter), and visitor assistance. If you’re interested please visit https://mcgtn.org/animal-control/volunteer or email animalcontrol@mcgtn.net.
• Not wanting to toot our own horn, but you can volunteer with us! We are always taking on volunteers and offer training in all of the services we provide (Makerspace, field work, drone work). We are a nonprofit organization conveniently located on Austin Peay’s campus and are open from 8-4:30 throughout the work week. No experience required, just a willingness to learn! We always have a number of interesting and innovative projects in progress, and we’re always excited to collaborate with students and provide resources for their research ideas. If you are interested in volunteering or have a great idea for a project that you don’t have the resources or knowledge to complete, please contact Mike Wilson at wilsonm@apsu.edu. If you contact Mike via email, please identify what you are interested in volunteering for.
• Another great organization to volunteer for is the Big Brothers Big Sisters. They have two volunteer programs available, and the volunteering requirements differ between the programs; the minimum age requirement for both is 18 years of age. The first one offered is the Community-Based program with this one you commit to a match for in the calendar year, meet 2-4 times a month for 1-3 hours doing things you both enjoy, arrange outings to fit with your schedule, outings normally during late afternoon, evening and weekend hours. The second program is the Student-based program in which you will meet for an hour a week each week, meet at the school during the school day, commit to a match for one year, matched with a child according to your interests, matched with a child at a partner school (Burt Elementary, Minglewood Elementary and Northeast Elementary). This is a great program to look into if you are wanting to make an impact and help people. There is a training program that you go though and an extensive interview process then you will be placed with you “little”. You can find their application form here https://www.bbbsclarksville.org/volunteer.html . 
• The American Red Cross is always taking on volunteers, especially for their blood drives. Don’t sweat it though- if blood isn’t your thing they also offer volunteering opportunities such as remote work and disaster relief. All positions vary depending on location, in depth information about the opportunities they provide can be seen here https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer/urgent-need-for-volunteers.html/?icid=surge&imed=display&isource=regionalcontent. 

None of these options appeal to you? No worries! Of course google is just a click away, and there are other ways to find volunteering opportunities here in Montgomery county. The Community Engagement and Sustainability group at APSU exists to support and encourage the collaboration between APSU. They want to provide the space and opportunity for students to become active citizens from the classroom into their community by making their mark on the world. So, if none of the aforementioned options peak your interest, try reaching out to them! Their website can be found here https://www.apsu.edu/volunteer/ with all of their information. There is also United Way of the Greater Clarksville, they stay up to date with the newest volunteering opportunities here in Clarksville. Here is the link to their website https://uwgcr.galaxydigital.com/ .