Volunteer FAQs
Answers to the most common questions about volunteering at New Life.
Footwear: If you are lifting furniture at all, you must wear closed-toed shoes with grips on the soles to avoid hurting your feet or slipping. For all others, closed-toed shoes are not necessary. However, wear shoes in which you are comfortable standing for long periods on concrete.
Clothing: Remember, you will be working in a warehouse and potentially moving heavy items (depending on the role). Dress appropriately for the weather and in clothing you do not mind getting stained, sweaty, or dirty. Layers are always a good idea. In warmer weather, we have industrial fans. In colder weather, there is heat but you may be working on our loading dock or outside.
Updated May 2021 The age minimum depends on the activity and is noted on our signup. Though we strive to create the safest environment possible for our volunteers, we are ultimately located in a warehouse and have a lot of moving parts in our operation.
- No one under 12 years old is permitted to volunteer at our Donation Center for safety reasons, but are encouraged to get involved in other ways.
- Volunteers aged 12 to 15 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian, who also must sign up.
- Volunteers aged 16 and older can volunteer without a parent/guardian.
Please do not park in the area around the loading dock. Display this parking pass on your dashboard, as these are shared lots.
- Weekdays: Park in the satellite parking lot on the other side of the rail bridge (across from the MBTA parking lot) OR in the Walpole Business Station lot on West Street across from the T stop.
- Weekends: Park in front of Loan Depot in the larger parking lot.
- If you’re facing our building from Elm Street, our entrance is to the far right by the loading dock.
- Enter through the gray door immediately to the left of the garage doors. The main glass doors do not lead to our space.
- Go up the half flight of stairs to the first floor. Follow the signs past the elevator and up to the fourth floor.
The building has a manual freight elevator. Only those trained on how to use it are permitted to operate it. If you need to use the elevator to get upstairs and downstairs, we are happy to have someone operate it for you. Please contact us in advance so we know to meet you downstairs.
The building does have wheelchair accessibility. It is located on the West Street side of the building. If you need to use the elevator to get upstairs and downstairs to our warehouse, we are happy to have someone operate it for you. Before your arrival, please contact Amanda Hartley at amanda.hartley@newlifefb.org for more information.
You’ll receive a confirmation email. Check your spam folder if you don’t see it in your inbox. Alternatively, you can check for your name on the sign up at newlifefb.org/vol. If your name is not there, you may have missed a step. Trying signing up again. If your name still doesn’t appear, contact the Volunteer Coordinator.
Service is an important part of learning. Most opportunities are open to volunteers ages 14 and up on our signup. Remember, all minors under 16 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. If you need a form signed to approve hours, ask the Volunteer and Development Coordinator at the completion of the shift or send an email to amanda.hartley@newlifefb.org. Please do not ask a volunteer Team Leader to sign anything
To complete senior service with New Life, contact the Volunteer and Development Coordinator.
We will alert everyone as early as possible to closings or changes in schedule. On poor weather days, we will often reduce the number of volunteer opportunities and reschedule pickups to a completely different day. New Life will close volunteer and truck operations when Medfield Public Schools are closed for inclement weather AND/OR a winter storm warning is issued for the Medfield/Walpole area. We will send an email to any volunteers signed up for a given shift.
The waiver is built into our sign up. When you sign up to volunteer for the first time, the software will recognize your email as a new profile and bring you to the registration screen. From there you will fill out your information that is tied to the waiver. Within that screen, anyone 18 or old will be able to accept the waiver before they submit their registration. If an adult skips the waiver during registration, it’ll prompt you to accept it when you sign in at New Life.
Anyone under 18 will check the box on the registration screen indicating they are a minor. This will bring up two additional fields to fill out: birthdate and parent/guardian email. Once the registration is submitted, the software will automatically send an email to the parent/guardian asking them to accept the waiver on the child’s behalf with a click of a button. If you don’t see an email, check your spam folder or email the Volunteer Coordinator to have it resent.
Therefore, every volunteer needs to sign up and register. A volunteer can’t go right to registration because they will not be tied to to a specific opportunity.
Once you have accepted the waiver once, you will not have to again unless we update it. The system will prompt you to accept a new one if it’s updated or a if you turn 18.
New Life Volunteer Closings
- January – New Years’ Day
- February – MLK Jr. Day (Monday), Presidents’ Day (Monday)
- May – Memorial Day (Saturday-Monday)
- July – Independence Day (Saturday-Monday)
- September – Labor Day (Saturday-Monday)
- October – Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Monday)
- November – Veterans Day (Monday), Thanksgiving (Thursday-Saturday)
- December – Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years’ Eve
The leadership on duty – whether it’s a Duty Officer, Team Leader, or staff – is trained on safety procedures. Below is a synopsis of our safety guidelines for volunteers. It’s important volunteers listen to directions and follow our guidelines to ensure a safe environment.
- Fire Safety: Do not use the elevator in the unlikely event of a fire and, instead, exit using the three fire exits pointed out by leadership.
- Lifting: Lift by bending at the knees, not the waist, with a straight back. Anything heavy or large should be lifted by two or more people.
- Tools & Equipment: Minors (under 18) are not permitted to use power tools or sledgehammers. Only those that know how to inspect and
- Dollies: Dollies and other lifting aids are designed to make moving furniture easier. Do not stand or ride on dollies. One foot must always be on the floor and others should be holding the dolly still if anyone steps on a dolly with one foot.
- Elevator: We have a manually operated freight elevator that is not for passenger use unless someone is unable to use the stairs. Only volunteers trained on the elevator are permitted to operate the elevator. A trained individual can operate it for someone else.
