Program Needs
There are many ways to support our Refugee Community Services!
In-Kind Donations
The Refugee Community Center is a busy place with many visitors every week! Help us stock the center with bus tokens, pens, pencils, coffee and more, or check out our wish list items.
Ongoing needs:
- Winter clothing items: coats, hats, gloves and scarves
- Bus tokens for DART (Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority)
- Small hygiene items, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and shampoo
- Ground coffee
- Sugar packets
- Pens, pencils and lined notebook paper
- Cardstock
- Dry erase markers
- Kleenex
- Paper towels
- AA batteries
- Clorox wipes
- Reusable grocery bags
- Notebooks, journals or ledgers
Seasonal and one-time needs:
- CD Walkmans and headphones
- Card table
- Wheat straw without weed seed for mulching
- Compost and/or mulch
Urban agriculture program needs:
- Small handheld tools
- 6 cu. ft steel wheelbarrows
- Shovels, hoes, metal garden rakes and spades
- 5 gallon buckets
- Calculators
- Clipboards, highlighters, sharpies, pencils and rubber bands
- Basket and/or wood crates for market display and storage
Wish list:
- Digital video camera and tripod
- Projector
- Cart for audio/video equipment
- Garden tiller
Direct Financial Support
We’re so thankful for the corporate, community and individual support that allows us to deliver these critical programs. For giving information, click here.
If your corporation or community organization is interested in partnering with us financially, please contact:
John Claes
Advancement officer for corporate relations and major gifts
515.271.7379
English as a Second Language Volunteers
Come spend an hour or two with a group of students who love to learn and laugh!
English as a Second Language teachers and teaching assistants help teach English classes offered during weekday mornings.
Corporate Volunteers
Share your professional expertise as a corporate volunteer with our intensive work readiness program.
- Serve as a guest speaker to an intensive work readiness class
- Help conduct mock interviews at an intensive work readiness class. You’ll simulate a job interview and provide written and oral feedback for the student. Duration: 2 hours.
- Host a class of up to 16 students at your business to help individuals learn about the American workplace. You’ll be asked to give a tour, explain the various roles in your company and talk about the attributes of successful job candidates. Duration: 2 hours
To learn about corporate volunteering, please contact:
Nick Wuertz
Director, Refugee Community Services
515.271.7443
