How We Serve

Dear Monthly Chick Leader/Volunteer,

Thank you so much for volunteering with the West Suburban Chicks! We LOVE spending time with the By The Hand Club girls and truly appreciate you for making it possible. Without monthly leaders and volunteers bringing their joy and passion to By The Hand Club, we truly believe this program would not be the wonderful blessing it is to so many!

Here are a few general guidelines for leading a Chicktime month at By The Hand Club:

You will need to provide approximately 30 minute programs. We recommend you invite 3 girlfriends to lead three of the programs and you lead the fourth. The programs need to be based on the passions and talents of the leaders. For example, if you love to bake, prepare a program that will allow the girls to decorate cookies or cupcakes. If your girlfriend loves yoga, she will prepare a 30 minute yoga class and teach the girls the basics… or your girlfriend may love basketball and she could teach a 30 minute basketball clinic. *A listing of program ideas is attached and available on our website under Program Ideas. We recommend that you incorporate either a snack station or a food item that would complement one of the programs because the girls love to eat!

-Once you decide what programs you will provide, call Elisabeth Christian at 708-407-3993 and discuss your ideas with her. At that time, she will let you know if your activities are appropriate for By The Hand Club. All materials you bring to By The Hand must be approved so make sure you discuss those ahead of time.

-There are approximately 100 girls at the By The Hand Club – Austin Site. You must make preparations for all 100 to attend, providing enough materials for all to participate, but please understand that on any given Wednesday, we cannot guarantee how many girls will be able to attend. Chicktime is a treat for the girls…a reward for their efforts throughout the month in school. Please keep this in mind while planning your activities. We want them to be a fun reward but also enriching!

-The By The Hand Club girls we will be working with to start are between the ages of 12-18 years old. (middle school – high school)

-You are responsible to fund all materials for your programs. If you need fundraising advice and support, please contact Elisabeth Christian 708-407-3993.

-No idea is too big or too small for By The Hand Club. Please see the list below for past programs and our past newsletters on the www.chicktime.com website for more detailed information on past programs. You may also view the Chicktime calendar on the website for upcoming programs.

Your Volunteers:

-You are responsible to bring ALL volunteers needed to facilitate your programs.

-Additional volunteers will join us on any given Wednesday, but they will serve as mentors and rotate through the stations enjoying time with the girls. You may bring additional volunteers to come and ‘play’ in addition to you program facilitators! Bringing your own volunteers to run the programs also opens the opportunity for new volunteers to experience Chicktime!

Invitations:

-Chicktime West Suburban will create an invitation for your event. It is important that you organize your programs as early as possible so that we get the invitation out to the general public. Ideally, we would like that information 2 months prior to your event. We will be in contact with you to get the specifics needed to create the invitation.

-Chicktime West Suburban will send out the invitation for you using our database to our regular volunteers. You are encouraged to send the invitation out to your circle of friends and family as well as print them off and distribute to your community if you desire. On that note, please encourage your friends to fill out our web form and sign-up to join Chicktime West Suburban. Simply click the subscribe button at the bottom of every page to open the web form. Make sure to select IL-West Suburban from the drop down menu. You are welcome to send a link the web form to your friends, post it on your Facebook page, and even include it as part of your email signature!

What to wear:

-We typically wear jeans, capris/long shorts and Chicktime t-shirts. We will have Chicktime shirts available prior to each Chicktime event. T-shirts are available with $20 donation… we encourage you all to get one because it helps spread the word about Chicktime! 100% of the money goes to the By The Hand Club girls! This is how we raise money for special projects for the girls. If you are not planning to wear a Chicktime t-shirt, By The Hand asks that the volunteers wear modest tops that show no cleavage, and shirts that stay tucked in or do not ride up past the waistline of their pants. Also, if you find it necessary to wear a tank top in hot weather, the straps must be atleast 3 inches in width. When volunteers do wear shorts/skirts they need to be long, to the knee if possible (no shorter than two inches above the knee).

What NOT to wear:

-No short shorts will be allowed and volunteers will be asked to change before entering the facility. By The Hand Club also suggests that excessive jewelry and designer clothing is distracting for the girls, it makes them feel ‘small’. Our goal is to blend in with the girls and make them feel a part of our community. Thank you for respecting the clothing boundaries.

***WE ARE TO SERVE AS POSITIVE AND INFLUENTIAL ROLE MODELS TO THESE YOUNG WOMEN***

Other things to consider:

-All Chicktime West Suburban volunteers must attend the training held at By The Hand Club prior to your Volunteer Commitment. This training is held once per month the week before our scheduled times at the Club. You only have to attend once. More information and registration is available on our events calendar.  Visit the Events Calendar under ‘Quick Links” and select IL-West Suburban from the drop down sort menu. All of our upcoming events and trainings will then be listed for you.