Volunteering with COAT

 Please let us know how you'd like to help. Don't be overwhelmed by this huge list of COAT projects and specific tasks. Whatever you can do to help will be appreciated! If you are interested in joining us, please look over the lists printed below. You can use them as a form to check off what you're interested in doing. When you've decided, send the form back to us by post, email or fax. Or, you may well prefer to just give us a call. (See the end of this file for ways to reach us.) 

PROJECTS 

Please indicate which of the following COAT project(s) you are interested in helping with from time-to-time over the next year. 

• Fund-raising (organizing an annual event, writing grant proposals and letters to raise money for COAT's activities)
• Non-Violent Play (organizing opposition to war toys and violent games, and promoting cooperative children's activities)
• Nuclear Weapons Conversion (research, education and lobbying efforts to encourage Canadian firms with nuclear weapons-related contracts to convert)
• Opposing Military Trade Events (researching, writing and organizing widespread opposition to military export events)
• PeaceLinks (soliciting letters from NGOs in countries where Canada exports military equipment & then distributing their letters in Canada)
• Press for Conversion! (publishing Canada's only magazine focusing on the conversion of industries and bases around the world) 

SPECIFIC TASKS 

To ensure the success of the projects listed above, many people have contributed their time and energy. Each COAT project involves a variety of tasks and responsibilities. Our successes have always come as a result of the many supporters and volunteers whose ideas and efforts make COAT work. Some volunteers help in a wide variety of ways while others focus their attention on particular tasks. It all depends on your interests, concerns, skills and time availability. However you choose to help out, your contribution is valuable and appreciated. 

Below is a list of the main volunteer tasks which are required to carry out COAT's activities: 

• Please indicate which of the listed tasks you are interested in helping with from time-to-time over the next year.
• If you think you may be interested in helping with a particular task, but aren't sure what's involved, please put a question mark beside the item. We'll let you know, in more detail, what that task involves so you can decide whether that's how you would like to help.
• COMPUTERS:
  • networking (Internet, Freenet, AlterNet, WEB, etc.)
  • troubleshooting (advising on hardware & software crises)
  • word processing (Word Perfect, Microsoft Word, ASCII)
  • designing (pamphlets, fact sheets & posters)
• DISTRIBUTION (magazines, pamphlets to various people, locations)
• DRIVING (pickup & delivery of materials)
• EVENTS (minding info-tables, helping with setup/takedown)
• GRAPHICS/CARTOONS (drawing for the magazine, pamphlets & posters)
• LOBBYING (municipal, provincial and federal politicians & bureaucrats)
• MAILING: 
  •  the 4 S's (stapling, stamping, stuffing, sealing)
  • sorting for second class mail
• MIRACLES
  • changing water into wine, walking on the water, etc
• MEDIA: (writing articles, letters to editor, press releases, press conferences)
• ORGANIZING (forming a local COAT committee, being a COAT representative)
• PLANNING (attending meetings to prepare and organize activities)
• RESEARCH: 
  • doing library searches, scanning CD ROMs
  • info. gathering (collecting articles and materials)
• TELEPHONING (meetings, events & asking subscribers to renew)
• TRANSLATION (French, Spanish, other)
• WORD-OF-MOUTH (talking to friends, groups about COAT)
• WRITING (articles, grant proposals, pamphlets, letters to MPs, COAT cheques!)