LIFT

LIFT-Chicago recruits volunteers from Loyola University Chicago and LIFT-Evanston recruits students from Northwestern University. Volunteers come from a variety of gender, racial, ethnic, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as a broad range of academic majors including Community Health, Spanish, Human Services, and Economics.

Volunteers are required to dedicate four to 10 hours per week to client service. LIFT-Chicago and LIFT-Evanston also provide additional leadership opportunities through its Student Director positions and volunteer leadership teams.  Specific areas for additional responsibility include managerial roles in public relations, volunteer recruitment, advocacy, and community partnerships.

Members of leadership teams have the opportunity to:

• Organize and execute LIFT’s recruiting strategy for volunteers, including creating and distributing informational materials in university classrooms and at involvement fairs. Volunteer Recruitment leaders also support Site Coordinators in planning and facilitating New Volunteer Trainings,
• Coordinate press strategies and media outreach as part of the PR leadership team, including drafting press releases, contacting media about upcoming events, and disseminating updates to the LIFT-Chicago regional network via email and social media.
• Create and implement the office’s strategic plan regarding community partners.  The assigned Student Director conducts outreach sessions at neighboring organizations and sits on local advisory committees, such as CSAC-North’s Prisoner Re-entry advisory council.