Foster Grandparents Program Looking for Extra Help in Classrooms

St. CLOUD -- With less than a month to go before students head back to school, many school districts are looking for a few volunteers to help in the classroom.

The Foster Grandparent program has been helping out schools, non-profit daycare's and other organizations providing a helping hand to kids.

Sara Heurung is the Area Supervisor for the Foster Grandparent Program. She says they could use about 25 more volunteers for the upcoming school year.

We're in need for volunteers. Our kids really need that extra support and teachers really enjoy the help in their classroom. It just makes a big difference.

Volunteers have become an important asset for teachers as schools continually face budget cuts.

She says no matter what talents you have the opportunities are endless.

A lot of our volunteers tend to go to our kindergarten through third grade classrooms because they feel comfortable with the reading and math levels. If you're really into books, reading, vocabulary and you want to work with older kids that's fine we will find a place for you working in English and reading.

Heurung says foster grandparents must be 55-years-old or older, like working with kids and volunteer a minimum of 260 hours per year. Kimball and Sauk Rapids-Rice are just a few school districts looking for volunteers.

The Foster Grandparent program is run through Catholic Charities and serves the 16 counties of the Diocese of St. Cloud.