The Guardian ad Litem program recently launched their fourth annual Peanut Butter & Jelly campaign.
Kenneth Chambers, Sampson County GAL Supervisor, is supervising the program for the second time.
Boxes have been placed across Sampson County for people to donate plastic jars of peanut butter or jelly. They will remain in place through the end of December and likely through most of January, until Martin Luther King Jr. Day., when Chambers will collect them. The total number of jars will be tallied up and the data will be sent to the GAL’s main office in Raleigh. Then, all of the jars collected in Sampson will be distributed to local food banks, soup kitchens and shelters.
Sampson isn’t the only county in North Carolina to be participating in the benefit. The GAL program in all NC counties will be participating in the benefit, collecting plastic jars for food banks in their respective communities.
Chambers explained that the GAL program in Sampson County is part of the fourth prosecutorial district, which also covers Duplin, Onslow and Jones counties.
The GAL program sets out to help give foster children a voice in Department of Social Services’ court cases.. The volunteers are advocates for those children in the community.
“We express their voices to the judges in DSS court,” Chambers explained.
Sampson has roughly 25 volunteers for their GAL program. Some other counties have 10 times as many, according to Chambers.
“We go out and we recruit volunteers for Sampson County,” Chambers stated. “We are in desperate need of volunteers.”
Chambers would like to have a volunteer for every foster child in the Sampson County system. There are roughly 100 cases in the county, so the current volunteer number is only 25 percent of what it would need to be.
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. The GAL program does criminal and background checks on all their volunteers to make sure no child is put in harm’s way. Volunteers are required to complete 30 hours of training, which would be provided by the program. The training helps volunteers learn how to become advocates. Individuals will be asked to come in for an interview after their application has been reviewed.
Anyone interested in volunteering can submit an application online, Chambers noted.
“Your heart has to be in the right place,” he stated. “These kids will pull at your heart strings. No one wants to see a child neglected or abused.”
Chambers explained that the community cannot turn a blind eye to these cases. It is important to speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves.
While collecting food for a good cause, the GAL’s Peanut Butter & Jelly campaign helps spread awareness of the Guardians’ mission.
Collection boxes can be found at the following locations: the Sampson Community College library, The Sampson Independent, the NC Justice Academy and Professional Eye Care, as well as several local churches.
Volunteers are still picking up boxes and transporting them to several more locations that have yet to be determined at this time. Verdie Matthews, a current GAL volunteer, picked up a box on Tuesday to drop it off at Matthews Cards & Gifts. She plans to distribute more boxes once she determine more locations they could be placed in.
Matthews has been a volunteer for five years and she loves to be a part of this program.
“Helping others gets to your heart,” Matthews explained. “I know these children are being taken care of when they go into the system.”
Matthews states that it is important for people to know that others out there may look at their lives and use them as examples for their own life. The GAL volunteers are not just advocates for these children, but role models as well.
“They need stability in their lives,” Matthews noted. “If someone could just volunteer a couple hours a month, it would make a difference.”
Volunteers are needed to help mentor these children and possibly get them back to their families. Matthews saw an article about the program years ago and decided that she wanted to help out. Her husband does what he can to help support her with the cases that she takes on, driving her anywhere she needed to go.
A guardian ad litem can serve on a child’s case until a permanent solution has been approved. Sometimes these cases can take at least a year before a permanent plan is set. Guardians must understand that they will be a part of the lives of these children and must remain vigilant to ensure they understand the child’s wishes, they said.
“Anytime you’re helping others, you’re blessing yourself as well,” Matthews stated. She believes that it is an important program, offering her full support to the campaign.
The Peanut Butter and Jelly campaign is one way that the GAL program can get recognition in the community. Campaigns like this get the word out about the need for volunteers and what the GAL program is all about.
“I think it’s important as a community program,” Chamber stated of the campaign. “It’s our way of helping those in our community who are less fortunate.”
Last year, a total of 297 jars were collected in Sampson County. Chambers was told that this was a pretty good success, since previous years in Sampson did not reach that total.
“I thought it was very good for my first rodeo with it,” Chambers noted. “It will help those who need it.”
Chambers would like to exceed last year’s numbers and hopes that the people of Sampson County will donate over 300 jars this year. He wants to give as much as he can to those in need, but also asked that potential donors check the expiration dates of any jars to make sure they have not gone out of date.
For more information on volunteering for the GAL program, visit www.volunteerforGAL.org.
