SLANT 45's Citizen Volunteers

SLANT 45 is under way and attracting a LOT of attention! We are lucky to have so many groups and organizations throwing their support behind this project - from the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee to the local school districts to the mayors of 112 cities in North Texas and many more. Some of our most invested partners are the Junior League of Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Arlington, and Richardson, and The Links, Inc. from Plano/North Metroplex, Mid-Cities, Trinity, Dallas and Fort Worth. These groups were among the first to sign on and offer their services as volunteer partners - and they've been hard at work with us ever since.

The women of the local Junior League chapters are working as coaches' assistants. When a project leader, or "coach," registers their team, the League closest to them springs into action. Each team is assigned to one member, who sends the coach the information packet, playbooks and t-shirts. The Junior League member is also available to help the coach set up awareness opportunities and events, and give hands-on help and advice. This is the first time that all the local Junior Leagues have banded together to work on one single project, and we are certain we couldn't do it without their help!

The women of The Links, Inc. are part of the SLANT 45 Speakers Bureau. They have done intense training, and know everything there is to know about the project. When a school district, corporation or organization calls us and asks for more information, our volunteers are ready to go out and share their knowledge. Without them and the other members of our Speakers Bureau, we would be hard-pressed to inform everyone who's interested in the project.

A project of this size - 20,000 kids, 45,000 hours of community service - demands an all-hands-on-deck approach. However, our biggest pool of volunteers with SLANT 45 are those parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, teachers, and youth organization leaders who are serving as SLANT 45 team coaches for groups of kids in their lives. It’s easy to volunteer as a team coach! You get to set your own schedule, your own timeline, align the team project with the interests of your teammates and spend your time on something you’re passionate about! Most importantly, you’re involvement as a team coach teaches kids the value of giving back to their community.

We’ve had a variety of projects with SLANT 45. Some are done right in one’s own home, such as starting an electricity conservation campaign with your kids. Others involve sports teams like the one featured on this blog – Team Sasha, whose coach helped a children's basketball team start a Lego collection in honor of their teammate Sasha Okhotskiy. Others, like Stephanie, an afterschool program director at Clarke Elementary School in Fort Worth, worked with her group of students to come up with no less than FOUR fantastic service-learning programs.

There are many ways you can be involved. If you are interested in signing up a team, you can register on the SLANT 45 website – you’ll get all the (FREE) materials you'll need to get your team started AND an invitation to the blowout bash that’ll be thrown at Cowboys Stadium in January to celebrate your efforts and those of your team. What are you waiting for? Sign up today!