Volunteer Opportunities

There are plenty of opportunities for volunteering at the Ivedics.

Volunteers help in the office by answering phones or questions of devotees who come in. Those who are good at making garlands make them for the deities as needed. Volunteers are needed to help cut vegetables, clean the kitchen and dining area and the temple prayer halls. Volunteers also help maintain order, direct lines for Prasadam. Volunteers box and distribute Prasadam on a daily basis.

For Events

Volunteers are key to the success of any event.
Prior to the event itself there is a lot of planning. There are different committees to do different tasks.

 
• The Hospitality team: takes care of airport runs to get visitors or house them either n volunteers’ homes or hotels
 
• The Fund-raising team: works on raising funds for the event including getting advertisements for souvenirs and exploring ways to raise funds for the event and sponsorship details for the pooja.
 
• The Parking team: organizes event parking and organizes shuttle buses if needed to drop and pick devotees to and from the event parking site.
 
• The Prasadam team: Prior to the event works on getting the vegetable, fruits, groceries needed, by creating spreadsheets and tracking what is donated. A couple of days before the event, the sorting, cleaning, cutting and assisting with all that is needed in the kitchen. On the day of the event getting the to-go boxes ready or serving prasadam as decided.
 
• The Decoration team: Helps with the decor of the stage and the temple before the event. It may involve making garlands, putting kolam and other decorations as needed.
 
• The Audio-Visual Team: organizes the audio for the event and TV screens to view the event. Sometimes the events are web cast and photos or videos taken.
 
• The Security and crowd-control Team: maintains the order and the logistics of what happens with the devotees and when. They organize the lines and ensure that at every stage there is no chaos and keeps things under control.
 
• The Cleanliness and Up-keep team: ensures that the trash is not left lying around and is picked up and disposed. The team ensures that the environment is clean and tidy at all times.
 
• The Front-desk:Plan where the desk should be set-up prior to the event. Ensure that electric power, internet access is available as needed. Ensure that there is a flow of devotees to the event and that devotees have a quick way to sponsor for the various poojas for the event. The team greets visitors explains the event and is responsible for answering all questions. The Volunteers list, emergency phone numbers are all maintained at this desk. Credit card transactions, checks and cash transactions are done at this desk.
 
• The Religious Activities team: They work with Prashantji ahead of the event to plan the step-by-step ceremonies and on the day of the event, participate/ help the priests with the religious activities for the event. They are responsible for the smooth running of the religious ceremonies.