'Get on the Bus' tour events planned by United Way

For anyone looking for a place to exercise their volunteer spirit, the United Way of Southeast Missouri is sponsoring "Get on the Bus" tours around Cape Girardeau and Jackson stopping at organizations that need people to chip in and help.

Elizabeth Shelton, executive director of UWSEMO, said they are running these bus tours as part of national volunteer month.

"There's really no better way to demonstrate how the many partners in our network come together to make this community stronger," Shelton said. "At each stop on these tours, people will learn about six or eight different partners that support our focus on health, education and income stability."

The first tourstarts at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 13, with stops at several UWSEMO partners including, First Call For Help, FosterAdopt Connect and Jackson Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry. The bus will start and end at the Jackson Senior Center located at 2690 Traveler's Way.

There will be two tours in Cape Girardeau. The first, on April 20, will have several stops including The Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Voices for Children/CASA. The bus will start and end from the parking lot in front of Centenary United Methodist Church, located at 300 N. Ellis St.

The second, April 21, will visit partners including The Salvation Army, Read to Succeed, and Aging Matters. The bus will start and end at One City located at 610 Independence St.

Each tour will last approximately two hours, and Shelton said each partner is given 15 minutes to talk about their program. She said, while on the bus, people will also hear about volunteer opportunities for organizations that don't have a physical location.

"It's a quick tour, and we don't get to stay at any one place very long and that's the idea," Shelton said. "It's really just to give everyone a sampling of some of our partners and, hopefully, pique their curiosity enough that they will feel passionate about at least one of them and want to engage with them."

Shelton said organizations have a real need for volunteers right now.

"That's one of the things that we hear from our partners," Shelton said. "Nearly all of them need volunteers, and even more so, since we as nonprofits are still rebuilding from COVID. We all lost volunteers during that time and are still working hard to get them back."

UWSEMO is also sponsoring a Lunch and Learn event as another way for volunteers and organizations to connect. Shelton said this event is open to all organizations not just UWSEMO partners. She said the event is also about informing people who may be interested in serving on the board of these organizations.

"I know when I was younger that sounded very intimidating," Shelton said. "So, we're hoping some of our younger folks, who have not had that experience before, will come and learn that everybody can be on some board somewhere."

For more information and to register for the Get on the Bus tours or the Lunch and Learn go to the UWSEMO website at unitedwayofsemo.org or call (573) 334-9634.