No. Not for you, and not for the charities we serve. Workdays are funded by donors and event sponsors.
None. Every workday has jobs for every skill level — experienced hands take the skilled tasks, everyone else carries, holds, paints, packs, and learns. The team leader will match you to a job when you arrive.
Closed-toe shoes and clothes that can get dirty. Work gloves if you have them — we bring extras. We provide the tools, materials, and water. Each event page lists anything special.
At family-friendly events, yes — kids 12 and up are welcome alongside a parent or guardian, and each event page says whether the day is family-friendly. A parent or guardian signs the waiver for anyone under 18 (a coach's or relative's signature doesn't count), and power tools are for adults only.
Please do — friends, family, small groups, coworkers, teams. Text us the headcount when you sign up so we plan enough work. If your company wants a dedicated day for its whole team, see sponsoring a workday.
Text the event keyword (or just VOLUNTEER) and your name to (205) 538-1061. A real person replies with the start time and address, and you'll get a reminder the day before. We only text about volunteer events — never anything else — and you can text STOP at any time.
We make the call early and text everyone who signed up by 7:00 the morning of the event. If a day gets rained out, we reschedule and you'll be first to know the new date.
Workdays run a morning and wrap by early afternoon. Come for all of it if you can — but if you need to leave early, just tell the team leader when you arrive so the work plan accounts for it.
The team leader checks you in, you sign a standard volunteer waiver, you get a name tag and a job, and we go over the plan for the day together. At the end we gather up, look at what we built, and thank each other properly.
Almost certainly. Every workday has lighter jobs — check-in, water runs, sorting, painting at ground level. Mention it when you sign up and the team leader will have the right job waiting.
Immanuel means God with us, and the name says what we believe about showing up for neighbors. But this is not a church program and there's no religious requirement in either direction — volunteers of every background and belief are welcome, and so are the organizations we serve. (If you are looking for a church, we're glad to point you to our friends at Immanuel Reformed Church.)
Immanuel Volunteers is a program of the Northside Initiative, an Alabama nonprofit serving Birmingham's Northside neighborhoods. Workdays are led by trained volunteer team leaders — you can become one.