We need you!
Join a caring, multilingual community working to support and empower newly arrived refugee claimants in Montreal. We would love for you to join our team.
Volunteer roles
Sign up for these roles by clicking on the Volunteer with us button below.
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Join us at our warehouse to help out with one or more of the many day-to-day activities that happen at Welcome Collective! These include:
Helping our team sort and organise the donations we receive and prepare kits and packages for newly arrived families.
Accompanying and guiding clients while they select their furniture
Assisting clients in trying and selecting winter coats and boots
Helping update inventory of our more numerous items
Participating in the many other tasks and projects that come up from time to time!
Requirements: Volunteering takes place Monday to Friday, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Regular or occasional volunteering is possible.
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Join our movers on our truck to help pick up donations and deliver furniture and household items to newly arrived refugee claimants. These volunteers must be able to lift heavy items like furniture.
Requirements: Minimum of 4 hours of availability. Weekly, bi-weekly, or occasional volunteering is possible. Volunteering takes place Monday to Friday, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
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If you have a car and some free time, we need you! You can help newcomers by making small pick-ups and deliveries of smaller items across the Island of Montreal. These could include baby clothing, car seats, pots and pans, and more. You will be picking these items up from donors or delivering them to a newly arrived family.
How it works:
We will provide you with an itinerary of pick-ups or drop-offs that fits with your availability
You drive to donor homes and collect donations, and then deliver them to our warehouse where we will help you unload! You could also be delivering small essential items to newcomer families.
You need your own car - but we will pay for gas!
Requirements: The hours for small item pick-ups and deliveries are generally flexible, depending on your availability.
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Are you a whiz with website coding? Can you repair furniture in your sleep? Are you a polyglot who can translate to Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Punjabi, or another language?
If so, we need you! Please be in touch with us if you have a special skill that you think could be of use to us, such as translation, skilled labour, programming, data analysis, photography, and much more. Even if we can’t use your expertise right now, we will gladly keep your information on file for when we are in need of your skills later on.
Special initiatives
At key moments throughout the year, we offer opportunities to volunteer remotely in short-term or longer-term ways. You can run a short-term donation drives for specific essential items, assemble and deliver a Welcome Basket to a newcomer family’s home, or become a Welcome Volunteer to provide 1-on-1 support to a newcomer family.
Each of these volunteer roles has their own way to sign up. Read the description to learn how!
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A welcome basket is a kit of essential items that can help a newcomer family who has just moved into their first apartment and who is experiencing a very challenging financial situation. You will assemble the basket and deliver it yourself to a newcomer family’s home.
Many donors choose to offer a Welcome Basket during the holiday season, but this program is available year-round!
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Our Welcome Volunteer Programme pairs Montrealers with newly arrived refugee claimant families during their first months in Montreal. Welcome volunteers provide valuable support to newcomers, helping them become familiar with the resources and services available in their new neighbourhoods. Working from an advocacy perspective, these volunteers will also advocate on their behalf to obtain services when needed.
The Welcome Programme takes place over 3-month cycles, and we ask volunteers to commit to 2 of these cycles. The programme includes an interview and several orientation sessions of 2-3 hours each.
Learn more about how to become a Welcome Volunteer
Requirements: Minimum of 2-4 hours per week, for a duration of 6 months (minimum 3 months).
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Winter Ambassadors are volunteers who collect winter outerwear from their networks for several weeks. At the end of their ambassadorship, Welcome Collective picks up the donations from the ambassador’s home, business, or school. Welcome Collective also provides ongoing support and check-ins to make your ambassadorship a success!
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A child's first day in a new school is stressful enough. Add in a new language, culture, and country, and it's a lot to handle! We can help children feel ready for this challenge - most likely, one of many they have faced in their young lives - by making sure they have the supplies they need to learn and thrive.
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Because we prioritize families with young children and pregnancies for our services, we ALWAYS need baby items! We welcome initiatives to collect items for babies and young children year-round.
Collections can be organized by a daycare, preschool, parent group, or individual! To organize a collection, please email us directly at benevoles@welcomecollective.org
