Volunteer with Us in the New Year: Make 2025 a Year of Impact and Change

As we step into the new year, many of us are thinking about how we want to make 2025 a year of growth, impact, and meaningful change. For some, this may mean reaching personal milestones or embarking on a new adventure. For others, it’s about giving back to the community, and becoming part of something bigger than themselves. If you find yourself identifying with this second category, we have some opportunities for you!

Cool Davis is kicking off the New Year with a variety of new volunteer opportunities to match the unique abilities and talents you bring to the table. Check them out here! Whether you’re a longtime supporter or new to our mission, we invite you to lend a hand and join us in creating a better future for our community.

Why Volunteer with Us?

Volunteering is not only a way to give back—it’s also an opportunity to grow, learn, and connect with others. At Cool Davis, we provide a wide range of opportunities to engage in our cause: from putting on community events or assisting with administrative tasks to providing your neighbors with expertise in navigating their home energy transformation. Here are just a few reasons why volunteering with us in 2025 will be a rewarding experience:

1. Make a Real Impact

When you volunteer with Cool Davis, you’re not just lending your time; you’re making a direct impact on individuals and families who learn and evolve from our programs. Faced with the extensive threat of global environmental destruction, knowing you’re contributing to a cause that aligns with your values can help you feel connected to something meaningful. Your assistance extends our outreach and increases the impact of our advocacy, creating lasting change that ripples through our community.

2. Expand Your Skills and Network

Volunteering allows you to develop valuable skills in areas such as leadership, communication, non-profit organization, and event logistics. It’s a great way to boost your résumé, gain hands-on experience, and discover talents you didn’t know you had!

3. Support a Community of Like-Minded Individuals

When you volunteer with us, you’re joining a vibrant and welcoming community. Our team is made up of people from all over the region who are united by a common mission: to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build community resilience. Whatever your role, you’ll be surrounded by passionate, caring individuals who share your dedication.

4. Its Fun and fascinating and never boring!

Whether you are talking with households at the Farmers Market, researching a topic for our newsletter or dancing as a Mascot in the Picnic Day Parade there is always something interesting to do and fun people to do it with!

How You Can Get Involved

No matter your schedule, skills, or interests, we have a volunteer opportunity for you! Here’s a few options:

1. Hands-On Opportunities

We offer a variety of hands-on volunteer activities, such as:

  • General Logistics: As a General Volunteer, you’ll receive training and assist with a variety of tasks to support Cool Davis’ overall sustainability mission. Responsibilities can include event support, community outreach, administrative assistance, and other duties depending on current projects and needs.
  • Communications: Communications Volunteers create and distribute media content for campaigns and general communications across various channels, including writing, editing, photography, and social media. They help manage social media accounts, promote events, and craft compelling stories to increase engagement and support organizational goals.
  • Data & Admin Support: The Data & Admin Support Volunteers collect, manage, and analyze data to support impact measurement and decision-making. They help with data entry, organization, and reporting, ensuring data accuracy and contributing to program evaluation. They also assist with other tasks related to financial management and fundraising!

2. Specialized Roles

Cool Davis Energy Outreach Team at Covell Commons Neighborhood Event Fall 2023

For those with particular expertise, we also have specialized roles where you can have a major impact. Whatever your skill set, there are ways for you to contribute your talents to the cause.

  • Experts: Cool Davis Experts help community members live more sustainably by providing information and answering questions about a range of sustainable practices, including home energy and transportation. Experts help design programs, give presentations, support campaign champions with training, and often answer questions from community members engaged in transforming their lives, homes and neighborhoods.
  • Champions: Cool Davis Champions are advocates who are excited to chat with friends and neighbors about how to live more sustainably. You are probably already doing that, so make it official with Cool Davis! The goal of becoming a champion is to use your first-hand knowledge and passion to effectively help people address barriers preventing them from taking sustainable action. We will provide you with additional training. We have roles for Champions in our Community Engagement, Home Energy, and Transportation teams.
  • Coalition Working Group Support: All of our coalition working groups can use a hand in both data and communications support (see role descriptions above). Lend your skills to a specific working group— COOL Cuisine, DEVA, Yolo Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice— and collaborate with partners to advocate for meaningful change.

Join Us in Making 2025 a Year of Change: How to Get Started

It’s easy to start volunteering with Cool Davis; visit our website [here] to get more information and apply. We’ll match you with the perfect volunteer role to ensure you’re able to make the greatest impact possible.

Choose to give back, make a difference, and become part of a community of change-makers. Whether you can commit a few hours a week or dedicate more of your time, every bit of support counts. Together, we can accomplish so much more.

Ready to get started? Visit our website to sign up today!

This is the first article in a series of volunteer narratives that will be posted to the Cool Davis website! I’m Maddie Davis, the AmeriCorps Neighbor-to-Neighbor Fellow, focused on building organizational volunteer capacity and community engagement. Stay tuned and keep a lookout for future volunteer spotlights!

This could be you! Have fun, be silly, and embrace your acting abilities as one of our Cool Davis mascots! Pictured here is La Gotita (“Little Water Drop”).