Bay area nonprofit needs 150 more classroom grandparents
Schools in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are facing a shortage of volunteer grandparents.
School is back in session, but the nonprofit, Seniors in Service, said it still needs foster grandparents for K-3 classrooms.
Volunteer Sharon Ross takes being a foster grandparent seriously.
“It’s like taking care of your own grandkids or your own kids,” said Ross.
A few years ago, Ross unexpectedly lost her fiancé. She said she was feeling lost, but that’s when the foster grandparent program found her.
“I was just about to give up because I had lost someone I love,” she said.
And she has been volunteering ever since. Ross doesn’t have grandkids of her own, but she treats her kindergartners like they are family.
“I’m so happy because they have been doing wonderful,” Ross said.
The classroom grandparents help students with literacy, emotional support and one-on-one mentorship.
“Shapes, colors, writing their name correctly, and spelling, their numbers,” Ross said.
The nonprofit said it needs 150 more volunteers for Pinellas and Hillsborough County schools. Volunteers must be 55 or older, commit to 10 to 15 hours a week and pass a background check.
Stipends and mileage reimbursements are available to volunteers with certain incomes.
“Right now, there’s so many teachers in classrooms and schools that need support, and we need to help our community. And also a lot of students who are in the classroom who are struggling, who could definitely use some extra support,” said Seniors in Service education programs manager Natalie Salas.
Ross has a new group of kids this year, and she said she cannot wait to meet them on Sept. 2.
“I say goodbye to them at the end of the day at the car circle and say goodnight to the teachers, and when I get home, I have had my day, and I’m done,” Ross said.
The day is done when both the students and the volunteers are fulfilled.
Seniors in Service hopes to recruit those 150 volunteers before September.
View details on applying to be a volunteer with Seniors in Service.
https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2025/08/18/classroom-grandparents