Want to Volunteer for Kids with Cancer?
You're in the right place.
We love to make kids smile and laugh. Their bright eyes give us life and you're here because you believe in the power of childhood play. Giving your time to sick children is one of the most generous gifts you can give. The For a Day Foundation provides quality of life experiences to children with cancer through our renown play therapy programs, with the help of volunteers like you. Through play-oriented programs like Queen for a Day and Hero for a Day, we bring smiles, laughter, and distraction to hospitalized children.
Joining the network of For a Day chapters provides a support circle of experience, positive reinforcement, education, and momentum. We invite you to explore what it means to become a For a Day Foundation Local Chapter Director.
Cancer affects one in every 300 hundred boys and one in every 333 girls before the age of twenty, leading to a large population of children with cancer. The incidence for childhood cancer is highest in the first year of life, when a child’s physical and emotional being is at its most delicate stage. Just as cancer spans color spectrum, socio-economic status, geographic location, race, gender, and all other classifiers, so do our services.
Diagnosis and treatment can overwhelm a family, forcing them to forget that patient is still a person. A mother who was crying at a QFAD party because she had forgotten about the little girl behind the disease best exemplifies this point. She said since the diagnosis, she had only been able to see her daughter as a child with cancer. The QFAD party showed her that her daughter was still a little girl—her little girl. Numerous patients have undergone a personality transformation during FADF events. From being tired and shy, to dancing and sharing their new make-over with anyone in sight, children revel in the joy of their youth.
The nature of our programs is simple - but our vision extends well beyond a simple hospital visit.
We aim to create community leaders, collaborators, & influencers.
We serve communities through a national network of local chapters. Each local chapter is led by a Local Chapter Director, who is appointed by FAD through an application process. To learn more about this opportunity, keep reading.
First, if there's already a local chapter established in your area, you can register to receive email notification of upcoming volunteer opportunities with that chapter. And explore our other opportunities.
Current chapters are:
The For a Day Foundation seeks volunteers that want to create an entity beyond themselves, to establish local chapters that live on even when the originator steps away from leadership. We strive to reach as many children as possible, so our chapters need to operate on a long-term vision as well.
main responsibilities
Available to attend hospital visits during weekday business hours (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm)
Organize hospital visits (at least two per year)
Recruit volunteers & sponsors
Communicate activity to home office
Fundraising
Be at least 21 years of age
Respect patient privacy & organization policies
SKills & Qualities needed:
Takes initiative
Sets goals
Resourceful, creative
Eager learner
Respectful persistence
Entrepreneurial
Effective time management
Powerful communicator: persuasive, concise, uses proper grammar & punctuation
Current Local Chapter directors say...
These skills have been integral to their success:
Fundraising
Organization
Ability to interact on an executive level
Team leadership, delegation, & recruitment
Knowledge of public relations & social media
Strong verbal communication
The For a Day Foundation is a 501C3 nonprofit organization that heavily relies on volunteers to implement its programs for kids. Local Chapter Directors receive extensive training on sensitive nonprofit operational policies and complying with hospital volunteer requirements. Children with cancer are a vulnerable population and we have built our credibility by developing procedures that honor patient privacy and immune control in accordance with hospital policies.
No medical experience is required to volunteer for kids with cancer, nor is experience with or knowledge of cancer required. Our purpose is to treat the child, not the disease, during our hospital visits.
Seeing the spark of joy in a child's eyes is a life-changing reward!
Additionally, our Local Chapter Director experience aims to develop your professional skills. With mentorship from the executive leadership, you will elevate your professional career with skills like creating b2b relationships, strategic planning, the art of 'the ask,' team management, project delegation, branding, and more. It is our hope that volunteering with FADF satisfies your desire to give back to your community, and also rewards other areas of your life.
The application process consists of completing an initial application, supplying two references and submitting a resume. The references will be asked to complete a brief questionnaire and you will be sent a second application. Once all these pieces are in place, a phone interview is conducted. This is also the time for you to ask questions and clarify your understanding of the volunteer opportunity.
If appointed as a Local Chapter Director, you will receive a contract to review, sign, and return. You'll then receive a manual to review and instructions for participating in the training program.
PLEASE NOTE:
January - March: accepting & processing applications
April - June: applications can be submitted, but will not be processed
July - September: accepting & processing applications
October - December: applications can be submitted, but will not be processed