Thank you for volunteering! 

This serves as a confirmation that you are officially signed up for the event you selected. You will receive a more details and directions via the email address you registered the week prior to the event. 

If you are registering for an event on Camp Pendleton, we will need the following information for all the volunteers you are registering over the age of 18:
-Full Name
-Date of Birth
-Driver's License #
-Address
-Phone number

We are required to turn in this information to the base a week prior to the event for background checks to access base. Once approved, each of these checks will allow you to access base for our projects for 90 days -- all you'll need to do is bring your license to scan at the gate where they will already have your information. 

We appreciate your time and talents and can't wait to work side-by-side with you. 
Sincerely,
Team OHH

In the meantime, Here are some details and flyers that may help you prepare for the day and answers to commonly asked questions:

VOLUNTEERING FOR OHH ON MILITARY BASES: 
  • Always have a current photo ID with you.
  • If you are a driver, please also have your registration and insurance handy as well.
  • We give the gates and units a full roster of our volunteers for their reference, but the bases also now require us to give your name, license #, address, phone number and date of birth. We know this is an extra step for our long-time volunteers, but we know you understand and appreciate their desire to protect our fighting forces AND our volunteers. :) 
  • Once your background check is approved, your license can be scanned to volunteer for our events for 90 days. 
  • You are welcome to bring cameras, but we do ask that you never take pictures of building numbers and name plates/tags when taking photos of our service members and where they live for their safety. We'd love it if you would send us your photos to share with others, too. Email them to [email protected] 
  • Gates close and security levels can change on bases. We try our best to alert you if anything changes, so please always check your emails the morning of events. 

VOLUNTEERING FOR BARRACKS PROJECTS:
  • Dress comfortably in clothing you do not mind getting dirty. We suggest wearing layers as we are often outside preparing bags/gifts but rooms can get hot. If you have an OHH T-shirt or tank top, please wear them to this event.
  • Cleaning supplies: We will have paper towels, Windex, brooms and some basic cleaning supplies with us for your use. If you have a preferred cleaning method (swifters, vacuum, wipes, deodorizers, etc.), please bring them with you. The less we spend on cleaning supplies, the more our donation dollars are used to buy welcome home goodies.
  • What you'll be doing: For the typical barracks project, you will first gather for an orientation, then be assigned rooms/service members to welcome home. We start with cleaning rooms and making beds then stage welcome home gifts in each room. It can be hard work as barracks buildings are several floors. If you have any physical limitations (lifting, stairs, etc.), please let Cindy Farnum know so she can assign you a job accordingly. [email protected]
  • Food: We will have waters for all volunteers at the events, but we ask that volunteers plan to eat before our barracks projects and/or bring a sack lunch.
  • Items we need most for barracks projects in order of need (this project operates year round so no donations ever go to waste): towels, wash cloths, deodorant, shaving cream, trial size laundry detergent or laundry pods and fabric softener sheets, snack foods, trial shampoos/shower gels, candy bars, cookies, instant coffee, sports drinks, waters, t-shirts (male M-XL preferred), playing cards, microwavable foods, toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, socks, razors, trial lotions, noodle cups/microwaveable mac and cheese, and-- closer to the event-- oranges, apples and fresh baked goods. 
  • Personalized items: When you volunteer, you are ALWAYS welcome to bring your own welcome home posters and notes to add to the rooms you prepare. The average group of volunteers (2-5 per group) will prepare 5 or 6 rooms for roughly 12 returning service members. 
  • Ways to donate to this project: donate online and we can purchase our most needed items (that haven't been donated through drives) right before each project. You can even write us a memo to designate what you want purchased from the wish lists with your donation. Mail us wish list items or gift cards to purchase items: Operation Help a Hero, PO BOX 80996, Rancho Santa Margarita, Ca 92688. Bring wish list items with you to the event. We will have a donation table set up and tax receipts on hand. If you choose to bring items with you, it is a BIG help to know what you're bringing so we don't duplicate your efforts. Please email what you're bringing with you to Wendy Ruiz [email protected]


VOLUNTEERING FOR OHH BABY SHOWERS: 
  • Dress: For prep days, dress comfortably. For the showers, please wear your OHH tees and tanks if you have them OR something snappy casual. 
  • What you'll be doing:  In an effort to have all of our volunteers experience the joy of pampering the mommies AND giving those with other children some respite during the shower, all volunteers will help IN the shower with games, food service, baby holding, etc and OUT of the shower in our babysitting room playing with their kids. Your time will be divided equally between the two rooms UNLESS you prefer to stay in the childcare room to provide consistency the whole time. It is great fun! Our main goal is to help the mommies feel pampered with a focus on getting them networking with each other and sending them home with baby items that will help them start their journey into motherhood.
  • Food: We will have waters for all volunteers at the events, but we ask that volunteers plan to eat before our baby showers and/or bring a sack lunch.
  • Items we need most for baby shower projects in order of need (this project operates year round so no donations ever go to waste): folks to adopt their own mommies and make baby baskets from our wish list, large raffle prizes, game prizes, $25 Target, Walmart or Babies R Us gift cards, baby bjorn carriers, diapers, wipes, baby toys, baby books, towel/wash cloth sets, baby bath items, baby bath tubs, grooming sets, shopping cart covers, boppies, baby outfits, blankets, baby thermometers, teethers, pacifiers, receiving blankets, bibs, baby socks, diaper bags. Right now our greatest need is for neutral baby items for mommies who do not yet know the gender of their babies.
  • Ways to donate to this project: donate online and we can purchase our most needed items (that haven't been donated through drives) right before each project. You can even write us a memo to designate what you want purchased from the wish lists with your donation. Mail us wish list items or gift cards to purchase items: Operation Help a Hero, PO BOX 80996, Rancho Santa Margarita, Ca 92688. Bring wish list items with you to the prep event (two days before the baby shower. We will have a donation tax receipts on hand. If you choose to bring items with you, it is a BIG help to know what you're bringing so we don't duplicate your efforts. Please email what you're bringing with you to Cindy at [email protected]

GET MORE INVOLVED!
  • OHH'S Executive Director, Cindy Farnum, is currently taking applications from volunteers who are interested in getting more involved behind the scenes with OHH and/or even joining our leadership team. Applications simply help Cindy and our team best identify your strengths, interests and availability and match it with our needs. If you want to be involved, we'll get you involved! 
  • For an OHH Team Application, please email Cindy at [email protected]

WHY DO WE WAIT UNTIL A WEEK BEFORE THE EVENT TO SEND DIRECTIONS?
  • We wait until signs ups are complete -- to include having an accurate volunteer roster and most cancellations would be made.
  • Our emails to volunteers are not automated; everything sent to you is from a real person, so we try to wait and send out one volunteer  email  per event rather than having our team send out hundreds of emails for each sign up. 
  • Most importantly, our events involve military families and service members, and their safety (and yours) is important to us. To further this effort, we only send out directions to registered volunteers (accountability and identities verified) and with just a week's notice  for directions to limit the amount of time information about event locations could circulate. 
  • We ask volunteers to understand that we are working in these heroes' homes (barracks projects), caring for their children (camp joy), spending time pampering their spouses and babies on the way (baby showers), and supporting families through various programs (Operation Enduring Support, Operation Christmas Spirit, Comfort for the Caregiver). We take their trust, their privacy and their safety seriously so we try to protect addresses, identities, and event details from misuse on social media and the Internet.

WHY DON'T YOU KNOW DATES FOR BARRACKS PROJECTS MORE THAN A MONTH BEFORE THE EVENTS?
  • We try to arrange barracks projects as close to return dates as possible so food, fresh baked goods and supplies do not sit long in their rooms before their returns.
  • Return dates are usually not formally locked on for units until 1-2 months before they return. The can and USUALLY DO change right up until days before units return. Because of this, we try not to lock on our project dates until we have a go ahead from the unit's command team that the dates we're looking at would likely not need to be changed. 
  • When units apply for our Operation Rack Pack project, they give us an estimated month in which they think they will return. We use this month to plan out our projects. It's not until the deployment is well under way and returns are on the radar that we are able to really plan these events, and they OFTEN shift by months and weeks.