Volunteer
Volunteers are an integral part of the El Sol community; without them, El Sol would not be able to operate. Each year, hundreds of active volunteers contribute their time in order to support El Sol’s many different programs. El Sol’s volunteers and partners are committed to the organization. On an average day, volunteers welcome employers, make and serve food, teach classes and help with the administrative needs of El Sol.
Volunteers are also a bridge between cultures. Whatever your background, we hope that you’ll come to El Sol willing to share it with others and to be enriched by what others contribute to our Center.
You’ll meet a whole new group of friends and learn how El Sol helps our community. Our volunteers say that their service makes them feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Whether you’re looking for a way to give back, spend productive time in retirement, gain high- school or college service hours or fulfill court community service obligations, please join us in the joy of giving back.
El Sol values every hour that every volunteer spends with us. We would be pleased to give you a tour of the Center so you can determine whether volunteering at El Sol is right for you.
For more information, please contact Thomas Witkop, Development Manager thomas@friendsofelsol.org
(561) 745-9860 ext. 4102
“I volunteer because it feels good to give back.”
– Bobbie Young, El Sol Volunteer
Volunteer Application
If you are interested in joining the El Sol family as a volunteer, please fill out the volunteer application and deliver it to the attention of Volunteer and Communications Coordinator.
Mailing option: Attn: El Sol Volunteer and Communications Coordinator, El Sol, 106 Military Trail, Jupiter, FL 33458
Email option: Scan document and email to volunteer@friendsofelsol.org
In-Person: Once entering the center, the volunteer office is to your left. Please fill out an application and leave it with the labor desk. Drop-offs must be during hours of operation.
New Volunteer Orientation: Volunteer Orientations will be held the second Wednesday and fourth Thursday of each month from 10:30 am to 11:30 am. Email Thomas@friendsofelsol.org for more information!
Frequently Asked Questions
No, you don’t have to speak Spanish to help the workers at El Sol. Here at El Sol, we encourage and teach the workers to learn English, and so English is predominantly spoken at the center. However, we do have particular positions for volunteers who do speak Spanish, either exclusively or as a second language.
Some volunteers are curious about how our programs work. Some of our workers have their “papers” and/or are documented, others are not. We do not ask the workers for their status. As to hiring them, it is no different than hiring a babysitter. So being a volunteer at El Sol is not engaging in any illegal practices.
The workers are always delighted and grateful to meet an American who is trying to communicate with them in their native language. If you have an opportunity to interact with the workers, it would be to your mutual benefit to try to speak in each other’s language. It’s fun to speak to a worker in Spanish and have the worker respond in English. It gives you both an opportunity to learn.
This all depends on your schedule, assignment and willingness to commit to certain tasks. As a volunteer, you are generously donating your precious time to El Sol and we appreciate that very much. Therefore, you can volunteer as little as 1-2 hours per week, or many more. It’s up to you!
Yes! If you volunteer in a capacity commensurate with your professional skills, you are placed in a different category of volunteer for which El Sol receives special considerations as to in-kind donations. Please be sure and let us know if you are a retired professional willing to donate your professional skills to El Sol.
Yes, we have many Snowbirds. Somehow, it always works itself out! When you leave, we still have our full-time residents to fill those positions. When you return, our full-time volunteers are grateful for the extra help or may be ready to take a vacation.
There are some positions that will bring you in direct contact with our workers. Other positions have you in a tangential role. You decide your comfort level. If you feel you want more contact with the workers, you can simply change roles. If you decide you’d like less direct contact, you will be re-assigned. You are in the driver’s seat.
Here at El Sol we have a variety of roles that need to be filled. There is something here for everyone and keeping our volunteers happy and fulfilled is our number one priority. El Sol runs on volunteer power, so volunteer satisfaction is important to us.
Yes. Aside from the required orientation session where you will learn the history of El Sol, our mission, our programs and more, you will be placed with a veteran volunteer who will show you the ropes. You will also be included in our e-blast email list so you are kept in the loop and up to speed on everything that is going on at El Sol.
We appreciate the people who come for those busy times. However, if you are only a “one-time” volunteer, you miss out on so many of the benefits of being a regular volunteer. Here at El Sol, our volunteers, staff and workers develop a rapport that just cannot be replicated if you only come once or twice a year. We have volunteer appreciation luncheons, informal meetings and get-togethers over the year and develop a real bond.
Yes. Night volunteers help out with ESOL, sewing and child care. Weekend volunteers help in the garden, the kitchen, the computer lab and the employer desk; any position that is available during the week is also available on the weekends.