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Volunteer Appreciation Month—we appreciate you! 

April is Volunteer Appreciation Month, and we wanted to take a moment to honor and appreciate the 2,800 people who volunteered with The Arc Minnesota and Arc’s Value Village stores in 2020. Each volunteer is essential to our success and contributes to our mission of promoting and protecting the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  

The Arc Minnesota and Arc’s Value Village involve volunteers and interns in all aspects of the organization to create lasting change for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Without the volunteers’ skills, experiences, talents, and expertise we would not be able to fulfill our mission. We are grateful for our volunteers and appreciate the impact they are helping us to create,” says Michelle Theisen, The Arc Minnesota’s Volunteer Development Manager. 

Julie’s Story 

Julie has been volunteering with Arc’s Value Village New Hope location since at least April, 2014. In that time, Julie has volunteered for over 600 shifts totaling more than 1,28hours. She is super friendly and works well with all staff and volunteers. Not only does Julie stock hard goods overall, she takes pride in keeping the Office & Party Supplies area clean and organized. Julie helps with the weekly color pull and is always merchandising to keep the sales floor looking great!  

Julie was one of the first volunteers to return following the Covid-19 shutdown. She was quick to adapt and follow all of Covid-19 safety protocols and was a leader amongst the other regular volunteers. Her commitment to safety and positive attitude helps insure a great shopping experience for our customers. We appreciate Julie’s dedication and positive contributions to Arc’s Value Village New Hope and to the Arc Minnesota. 

Alexis’ Story 

Alexis is a Bachelor of Social Work Intern finishing her internship with The Arc Minnesota this spring. Alexis is extremely accountable and responsible. She exceeds all expectations when it comes to her workload and internship tasks. She says “yes” to any and all projects and has a desire to learn as much as she can.  

More importantly, Alexis has moved The Arc Minnesota’s mission and vision forward. She is constantly thinking about how social work principles, disability and racial justice, and accessibility relate to her work at The Arc Minnesota, and her personal life. Alexis has offered great insights from her perspective during her time with us and gathered other social work interns together to chat about shared experiences. Alexis fully embodies our mission and vision. 

Carol’s Story 

Carol is an outstanding volunteer from our Bloomington Arc’s Value Village location. When Carol started volunteering with us, the Bloomington store wasn’t even 6 months old. Since then, she has volunteered 2 to 3 times a week nearly every week that we have accepted volunteers. 

Carol has 1,600 hours of volunteer work with us and has become a key figure in our weekly rag out pulls, and cloth stocking. She is a regular shopper, and hasn’t missed a volunteer appreciation event yet. Carol is one of the best! 

How to Volunteer 

There are so many ways to volunteer with The Arc Minnesota! Whether you’re looking for one-time opportunitiesongoing opportunities, or internships we have something for you! You can also volunteer at Arc’s Value Village and all across the state 

To learn more visit our volunteer information page or contact us at 833-450-1494 or volunteernow@arcminnesota.org