VolunTOTS seeks young volunteers, donations for big holiday project
Courtesy of Cami Teacoach
VolunTOTS volunteers fill Thanksgiving boxes in the South Hills. The organization donated 491 boxes, packed by 600 volunteers across four sites, to area nonprofits this holiday.
Courtesy of Cami Teacoach
When they’re not volunteering, the Teacoach family enjoys spending time together. Here, Cami Teacoach spends an evening at the beach with her husband Jon Teacoch and their two boys, Bennett, left, and William.
Volunteerism isn’t just for adults.
VolunTOTS of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a Pittsburgh-area nonprofit, offers toddlers, grade-school children and teens the opportunity to make friends, enjoy new experiences, learn valuable skills and, above all, help those in need at monthly volunteer events throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“When the weather is nice out, we really like to get outside. We have planted and harvested produce for community food pantries. We’ve hiked and we’ve picked up trash. This October, we trick-or-treated in nursing homes. We do a little bit of everything,” said founder and executive director Cami Teacoach, who inadvertently started the nonprofit last February.
The Wexford mother of two grew up participating in community service with her own mother, and was looking for ways to get her sons involved. But children’s volunteer opportunities were hard to find.
“They didn’t exist,” said Teacoach, a former social worker. “I planned volunteer groups in middle school. I was like, I’m going to make a fun little group for my friends. I started a Facebook group – I figured it would be my friends – on a Thursday afternoon. By Monday morning, there were 500 people in the Facebook group. It took off in a way I had not anticipated.”
Today, the organization has nearly 2,000 followers on Instagram alone, and averages 20 to 30 young volunteers at events.
Last month, 600 volunteers across four sites throughout greater Pittsburgh packed almost 500 Thanksgiving boxes, which were donated to the Sojourner House, North Hills Community Outreach, The Lighthouse Foundation, Salvation Army Pittsburgh, YWCA Greater Pittsburgh and Auberle.
The volunteer opportunities reinforce Teacoach’s belief that children need to see the impact of their actions. VolunTOTS stresses the importance of kindness, generosity and civic engagement and encourages young people to help others while gaining knowledge and cultivating social skills.
During COVID, “I really struggled with not having that little village around me,” said Teacoach. “I thought, what do we want the world to look like after all of this? I knew I wanted opportunities for me to be with my friends, my son to be with his friends. I’ve seen friendships bloom.”
She’s also seen the impact of children helping others, and is excited for VolunTOTS’ current Bridge to Home project.
“Over the summer, I was scrolling Instagram. I have two biological sons, but foster kids is on mine and my husband’s radar,” Teacoach said. “I saw someone posting about the sad state of visitation rooms. I was like, someone should really do something about that. Wait a minute, I can do something about that.”
Teacoach interviewed birth parents and asked what they would like to see in those visitation rooms. At the suggestion of parents and professionals, Teacoach determined to redo centers, turning them into learning centers of sorts, with separate rooms decorated appropriately in colors and activities for each age group.
“Bridge to Homes is our big holiday project,” Teacoach said. “On Saturday, Jan. 21, we’ll be having groups go in and do the heavy work, put together toys, put together furniture, hang shelves.”
VolunTOTS hopes to facilitate healing – the goal of foster care is always reunification – through redecorating visitation spaces and creating warm environments in which biological parents and their children spend time together.
Foster care centers, including Presley Ridge and Auberle, will get a VolunTOTS glow-up, complete with new books, toys, imagination stations and, as Teacoach said, furniture.
“Last year we supported foster care. We presented for kids involved in the Three Rivers Adoption Council. This is the first year that we’ve actually created our own program,” she said.
VolunTOTS is looking for new and gently used toys and books for its Bridge to Home project, along with monetary donations, which can be made online at https://voluntots.org/donate-1.
And, of course, the more hands the merrier; VolunTOTS is seeking volunteers to join the 4,000 little helpers making projects and dreams come true throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. VolunTOTS has a strong footprint in the South Hills and Upper St. Clair, and hopes to expand into Washington County and beyond (the nonprofit recently expanded into Cleveland).
Steering committee positions are open, and interested individuals are encouraged to reach out to Teacoach at cami@voluntots.org.
“We’re always looking to get more kids involved,” Teacoach said.
Teacoach is still surprised that her little Facebook page has grown into a community of young, active volunteers who make a difference.
“I just thought I was going to create this little group for my friends. Now, we are hoping to go national,” she said, adding, “It’s my third favorite child.”
To learn more about VolunTOTS and volunteer opportunities, visit https://voluntots.org/.