One page, everything you need: your weekly shift, the Wednesday meeting, the task board, the Discord taskbot, and what happens if you miss a week.
Volunteer members pay $40/month and give the lab 3 hours a week: a fixed 2-hour shift (same day and time every week) plus the 1-hour volunteer meeting on Wednesdays at 5:30pm. In exchange you get Pro-level membership — the $100/month tier — full access to the lab's tools and equipment. Shifts are shared: you work alongside other volunteers, with a zone manager (or the volunteer coordinator) on site to point you at what's needed.
Four steps and you're a volunteer.
Sign up for the $40/month volunteer membership at members.chicofl.org.
Online, two minutes, no paper: chicofablab.org/volunteer-agreement.
Choose a fixed 2-hour block at chicofablab.org/volunteer-schedule. Slots run during zone managers' hours or Open House (Wed 6–8pm). Nothing fit? Request your own slot on the same page.
The weekly volunteer meeting is your third hour — it's where the week's work gets coordinated, right before Open House.
Brandon is the volunteer coordinator — he confirms volunteer hours, keeps the task list, and always knows what needs doing. Every question about shifts, tasks, or hours starts with him.
Zone managers: you'll have volunteers on site during your zone hours — put them to work on your zone or anything the lab needs. Got tasks piling up? Send them to Brandon any time and he'll queue them for volunteers.
If it's not on the board, it's not a task.
All lab tasks live in one place: the CFL Volunteer Task Board. Log in with Discord, claim a task, mark it done when you finish — completed tasks count toward your hours automatically.
Adding tasks from Discord — no website needed. In any channel of the CFL Discord:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| /task add | Adds a task to the board. Describe the work, optionally pick a zone and priority. Tasks from Brandon go live instantly; everyone else's are held until Brandon approves them. |
| /task list | Shows the newest open tasks (only you see the reply). |
So the flow is: zone managers and members send needs to Brandon (or type /task add themselves) → Brandon curates the board → volunteers pull from the board during their shifts.
If you miss your weekly shift and don't make it up, there's a $15 charge for that week. The math is deliberate: volunteer membership is $40/month, each missed week adds $15, so missing every week adds up to exactly the $100 Pro rate. Do your hours and you're getting Pro access for $40.
How we actually handle it:
Heads-up rules from the agreement: give 24 hours' notice for conflicts (4 hours if you're sick), and make up missed hours within the week when you can.
| Thing | Where / When |
|---|---|
| Pick or change your shift | chicofablab.org/volunteer-schedule |
| Volunteer meeting | Wednesdays 5:30pm at the lab |
| Open House | Wednesdays 6–8pm |
| Task board | tasks.chicofl.org |
| Add a task from Discord | /task add |
| Coordinator | Brandon Cline — @eagleeyeedit |
| Volunteer agreement | chicofablab.org/volunteer-agreement |
| Anything else | info@chicofablab.org |
Pick your weekly shift and we'll see you Wednesday at 5:30.