Patchers to Volunteer at Citrus Heights Community Center

You may notice it's a little harder than usual to reach your local Patch editor on Thursday. That's because Patch editors from around the Sacramento region will put down their laptops for the afternoon to tutor kids at a Citrus Heights community center.

It's all part of a national Patch program called Give 5, in which Patchers from around the country spend five days per year volunteering in their communities.

Run by volunteers with funding from the City of Citrus Heights, the Sayonara Community Center after-school program serves mostly low-income kids who live on and around Sayonara Drive. Students receive help with homework, afternoon snacks and a free backpack filled with school supplies at the start of the school year.

With about 80 students in grades K-8 coming in each weekday, center coordinator Gladys Standard says it's hard for her staff of retired teachers and church members to keep up.

"I need three times the volunteers that I have," Gladys told us. Since we'd just launched a new Patch site in Citrus Heights, we thought it made sense to pitch in.

So if you see fewer stories than usual on Patch Thursday afternoon, it's because we're busy handing out hotdogs and brushing up on our fourth-grade math.

If you'd like to volunteer at the Sayonara Community Center, email citrusheights@patch.com and we'll put you in touch with Gladys.

Where should Patch editors spend our next Give 5 day? Use the comments section to nominate a worthy organization in your town.