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Volunteer

We couldn’t achieve our mission without our amazing volunteers.

Key Volunteer

Michael Angelidis

Volunteering is a Two-Way Street, by Michael Angelidis Giving back is very important to any society and volunteers are integral. Today we all lead extremely busy lives and it can be hard to find time. However, the benefits are enormous; providing important support to organizations, like OHBD, dedicated to worthy causes all over the globe. […]

Yeggy Michael

Yeggy Michael, artist volunteer and designer of our logo,  http://www.yeggystudio.com/ My vision is to provoke questions about natural cycles, provide a sense of place and to reflect on the movement of time. My paintings, I consider personal works though they are for others. They are positive contacts for vibrant thoughts and spiritual moment. I use mosaic […]

Read About Previous Volunteers Here

Thanks to all the volunteers from these local schools
and organizations who regularly volunteer.

Eastside Catholic High School

Ethiopian Commuinity in Seattle

Issaquah High School

Kentlake High School

The Northwest School

Skyline High School

Current Event needs:

Don’t think you have anything to donate? Maybe these ideas will help you.

  1. Ask friends, those with businesses, artists or crafters, or those with a vacation or second home, those with season tickets, or connections to local businesses.
  2. Ask businesses such as restaurants, retailers, services providers that you frequent to donate. If not local, solicit national chains. They often want to support their customers and we can offer good publicity in return.
  3. Clean out your closet and garage. Keep an eye out for items you don’t need that still have their tags attached, or gifts that weren’t really you but might delight someone else. Any of these could be silent, live auction items, display or decoration help.
  4. Go to garage or estate sales and look for new or vintage items.
  5. If you shop, look at outlet malls, off price retailers or eBay for deals on uniquely wonderful items for the silent/live auctions
  6. Check for gift cards you might not want to use but would be happy to donate to support the cause.
  7. Bake or donate a dessert for the dessert auction.
  8. Donate or lend display or decor items such as wine racks, cake plates, mannequin, table stands, flowers, etc.

Ask businesses that you patronize if they are willing be to be sponsors. They can offer as $25-$50, and we will recognize them in our marketing materials

  1. If you are local / have local connections, consider becoming a table captain and bring eight or more people to an event.
  2. Invite a friend or several to attend with you.

We need volunteers to reach out to media organizations interested in East Africa to share our efforts with Ready Set Go books and our Model Programs.

We need support with social media, as well. Creating your own posts about our books and projects or sharing and amplifying existing social media efforts within your network.

With your support, we will empower more kids to create a better tomorrow. People like you make a tremendous difference in the lives of girls and boys across Ethiopia.

We also welcome and support personal Facebook fundraising for special events, i.e. birthdays, and are constantly testing new approaches. https://www.facebook.com/pg/OpenHeartsBigDreams.org/fundraisers/?ref=page_internal 

Share social media updates and requests with your networks including work, friends, clubs, church, neighborhood, etc.

Suggest a donation; any amount is helpful. $2 buys two books.

We also welcome ideas for smaller online events that a volunteer can run themselves with our support. Facebook fundraisers for a birthday or special occasion are a great way to have a big impact.

Current Book Project needs:

We need art to make these stories come to life.

Artists are welcome to work with kids to create the art. Our designers will help create the book from what you produce.

Are you a native speakers of any of the 3 core Ethiopian languages?

  • Tigrinya
  • Afaan Oromo
  • Amharic

Can you provide a quick review to proofread, i.e., making sure punctuation hasn’t been inadvertently left out. and to make sure that text is placed correctly into the books.

Need to be familiar with email, PDFs and DropBox.

We are looking for schools, churches, or other organizations that want to sponsor book creation including raising funds, choosing the stories, creating the art. and directing where they would like books to be first distributed.

A great way to get more visibility for our books on Amazon and other sites where they are offered is reviews from readers.  If you have read our books, we would appreciate your review. We are also happy to send you sample books if you would like to review one or more of our titles.

We are looking for schools, churches, or other organizations that want to sponsor local book printing and distribution including raising funds, choosing books, and directing where they would like books to be distributed.

We need volunteers to do outreach to schools and libraries in the US to carry our Ready Set Go books. Seattle Public Library is carrying our entire catalog and has a standing order for new titles quarterly. We know kids in the US would enjoy our books and for each one sold, we can fund multiple books printed and distributed in Ethiopia.

We need grant writers to solicit funds from organizations focused on literacy in Ethiopia.

Get Involved

We welcome your ideas on how you can help.  Please contact us to inquire further about our current needs, to provide ideas, inspiration,  and/or support.