Turning A Story Into A Mission

By Teddy Hennes, VIP Fellow at Big Brother Big Sisters of Orange County and Maria Lemus, VIP Leader at OneOC

With volunteer, training, consulting and business services, we help Orange County’s nonprofits become as effective and efficient as they are passionate about their missions.

OneOC’s mission is accelerating nonprofit success.  Our services are fully integrated, and strengthened through partnership with other local service providers. Together, we work to accelerate the success of Orange County nonprofits, enabling them to reach their full potential.  OneOC’s nonprofit partner, Big Brother Big Sisters of Orange County, currently hosts AmeriCorps VIP Fellow, Teddy Hennes as their Community Outreach Coordinator. Here, Teddy shares the impact that a story can make for a nonprofit’s mission:

“Stories are transcendent in their ability to share experiences and provide relatable identities.  We see throughout our daily lives how the act of storytelling supersedes cultures and regions as the primary way to connect us as human beings.  The people we may never meet or speak with understand us through the stories we share and the stories that are shared about us.  As such, there is no greater tool in a recruiter's possession than the expression of his or her organization's volunteer stories.  

At Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County, we feature the stories of our volunteer "Bigs" and mentee "Littles" to motivate the thousands of potential Bigs in our county to become actual Bigs who will create new experiences with their Littles that will be shared with our community and beyond.  That is not to say that hard numbers are unimportant from a recruitment standpoint--they are--but many individuals are not sparked because there are over 125,000 single-parent families in the area who could use our service; they are driven by the tangible impact that our Big of the Year, Richard, has had on Julio and the bond of friendship that has developed throughout their decade-long match.  It is Richard and Julio's story that connects with people in a much more profound way than statistics could solely achieve. 

Every organization has a story to tell about its volunteers, and every volunteer is a microcosm of that story.  In many of your nonprofits, these people are the difference between upholding your mission and not, so engage your potential volunteers with those relatable experiences that inspired the volunteers that came before them.”

AmeriCorps Works... four final photo contest winners!

Today we get to announce our final two photo contest winners!  Take a look at these great shots:

Winner: Best Volunteer Photo

 

Our pick for Volunteer Photo comes from Luis Alberto, VIP Fellow at the Boys & Girls Club of Tustin through OneOC.  We love seeing young volunteers get excited about service!  Luis says, "This is Ori helping to make cupcakes for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tustin fundraiser."  

Winner: Best Overall Photo 

 We love this creative photo from VIP Fellow Nick Larson, and we've picked it as our Best Overall Photo!  Nick serves with The Link: Youth in Action through Cal Poly SLO.  Here is some of what Nick had to say about this photo:

"One of the most difficult populations with whom I have ever worked is eighth grade boys. I discovered this while taking a group of six middle school students on an overnight camping trip with students who are part of a gang prevention program for at-risk youth.  They were a group with very-little-to-no previous experience with activities like kayaking, hiking, and camping, not to mention being away from computers, tv, videogames, and phones. These boys were not perfect angels, but they showed up and participated gladly.  Two days and one night in the great outdoors definitely made an impact on them.  Two weeks later, they still talked about it.  The boys experienced something completely new, their faces revealed a light, and now there are new possibilities that life can bring them."

Congratulations to Luis and Nick!  You've got some prizes headed your way!

Now, hold on to the edge of your seat... our video contest winner will be announced next week...

AmeriCorps Works... for our (first 2) photo contest winners!

Thank you to all of the creative VIP Fellows who entered in to our AmeriCorps Week photo and video contest!  We're proud to announce a couple of our winners today... drumroll please!

Winner: Best Service Photo

VIP Fellow Amy Chi (left) with volunteers for Western Youth Services.

Our winning Service Photo comes from Amy Chi, VIP Fellow with Western Youth Services through OneOC.  Here's what Amy says about this picture:
"The name of this event is the Valentine's Day Card Project.   For a week Western Youth Services, a nonprofit mental health organization, coordinated a card project for Valentine's Day.  We wanted to provide an opportunity for the children who seek our services to work on a fun activity and to reflect on the meaning of the  holiday.  We were able to collect a large array of colorful, thoughtful, and very lovely slips [from the kids].  On Valentine's Day, we took all 241 slips over to Soka University in Aliso Viejo, where students volunteered their time and helped us turn all the slips into beautiful cards."

Winner: Best Member Photo

Our pick for Member Photo comes from Hannah Elliott, VIP Fellow with the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center through Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz.  This picture depicts Hannah (on the far left, in her AmeriCorps gray T-shirt) with the group of volunteers that gathered to build a garden at Tyler House, a residential substance abuse recovery program for teens.

Congratulations, Amy and Hannah! Keep a lookout for some prizes coming your way in the near future!

Check out our blog tomorrow to see our final two photo contest winners... 

Reading to make a difference: OneOC's Spirit of Giving Project

Last month, groups of volunteers, including Union Bank employees, joined the OneOC AmeriCorps VIP team in reading to kindergarten and first grade classes in Title I schools throughout Orange County for the annual Spirit of Giving Project, one of OneOC’s Days of Service. Our volunteers read to the students about sharing, giving, and helping others in times of need. In demonstration of these qualities, Spirit of Giving was able to donate “Lend a Helping Hand”, a Berenstain Bears story, to each child in every classroom that participated in the reading project.

Pictured to the left are twenty-four students in Ms. Meyer’s blended kinder and First Grade

classroom at Davis Elementary proudly showing their teacher the new books they received. Also pictured are Michael Nussbaum, a volunteer reader from Union Bank, and Jessi Kraai, the AmeriCorps VIP Fellow, serving at KidWorks in Central Santa Ana.

VIP Volunteers Help Improve Santa Ana Students’ Vision

On November 3^rd, Children’s Health Initiative of Orange County partnered with Kids Vision for Life and Santa Ana Unified School District to host a clinic that will provide free eye exams and glasses to two Santa Ana elementary schools, Walker and Roosevelt, whose students have some of the greatest needs in Orange County.  To prepare for the clinic, two screenings were held over two days to screen 1,550 students for vision imparities.  Throughout September the committee met at both schools preparing for the screenings and the major clinic that will be held at Walker Elementary in November.  After weeks of preparation, and with the help of five doctors and 30 volunteers we identified 275 students who will be returning for eye exams and free glasses. 

The screenings were a whirlwind as students from Kindergarten to 6^th grade came in droves to the library to be screened by our volunteers and doctors.  Volunteers from UC Irvine, CSU Fullerton, West Coast School of Nursing, and Children’s Health Initiative of Orange County worked diligently to see that the vision of all students was assessed.  Two volunteers shared their experience:

“The Kids Vision for Life Event opened my eyes up to how necessary community involvement is and how great of an impact it can have on people’s lives. It was such a fun and rewarding experience, yet at the same time devastating seeing all the children struggling with their vision. I am a senior attending Cal State University, Fullerton studying sociology and psychology, so I am glad I finally can be a part of something that embraces what I’ve been so interested in. It felt wonderful to give back the community and allow myself to open my eyes to issues beyond the scope of my world and what I am used to. I would have never known how great of an impact events like these had on the community if I had not been a part of it myself. I look forward to participating in more events like Kids Vision for Life and continue to make a difference within the community.”  – Amy Hollenbeck, long term CHI OC volunteer.

“I have always enjoyed working and being around children. Their personalities and smiles are contagious. The vision screening at Walker Elementary was rewarding because I know I made an impact in a child’s life. Coming across students that had difficulty reading the letters made me sad because I can imagine how they struggle in their classroom and at home. These events are truly amazing because they make a huge difference.”   –Dulce Navarro, Cal State Fullerton senior and long term CHI OC volunteer.

 

Volunteers left the Screenings sharing stories about adorably tiny Kindergarteners and hysterical sassy 5^th graders.  Each volunteer had dedicated their time to make a difference in the lives students who will undoubtedly never forget the enthusiastic kindness of all the wonderful volunteers.

Inspiration Thursday: Encouraging volunteer story from OC Food Access

"I came to a harvest at a time when I needed a community to reach out to me.  I was struggling with a long term illness, and was feeling very alone.  The prospect of fresh fruit and companionship pulled me out of bed and energized me enough to make some connections.  I was captured by the friendliness and excitement of the other volunteers.  Sampling the produce was also exciting.  I had never had an orange picked directly from the tree before.  The flavor and quality of a freshly picked orange blasted all of my expectations about what citrus should taste like.  It was a small healing moment for me.  I was so happy to be sending something so amazing to people who really needed a boost.  I could relate in that moment.

As time went on, and I had the opportunity to not only pick the fruit, but deliver it, recruit other volunteers, and get deeper into the Harvest Club community, I came to love it more and more.  I was able to talk with growers about their trees, some with long history.  I saw just how many oranges would go to waste if we hadn't picked them.  I witnessed the joy it brought to people who received the produce.  And I got excited about finding new and better ways to serve this community.  I definitely look forward to being involved with this group for years to come.

"

-Sarah Vay Kerns (Volunteer from OC Food Access)

Inspriation Friday - from a KidWorks volunteer

Need a little motivation to volunteer? Here is some inspiration from the experience of Jessi Kraai, volunteer at VIP partner site KidWorks:

"I volunteer with the hope of making a small difference in the life of one of my students.  I understand the many influences that play a role in shaping the characters of each of my students; I hope that I can be a positive influence and role model for them.  Developing and maintaining a relationship with each student is one of the best parts of volunteering.  As the months and years pass I am privileged to see my students grow and mature academically, socially, and spiritually.  I treasure the moments I spend with my students.  For the past few years I have volunteered with KidWorks, I have learned more from my students than I had ever imagined."

VIP Impact: A Story from Mike Kamer

My name is Mike Kamer and I'm a 2nd year AmeriCorps VIP member.  I stepped into social service after finding inspiration from Geoffrey Canada and his work with the Harlem Children Zone.  Having seen the power of curing social problems by attacking their roots, I found myself empowered with hope and needing an outlet.  This led me to AmeriCorps.  I took years of skills developed running promotions for a Las Vegas nightclub and - thanks to the VIP program - have been using them for the last 2 years to organize and activate volunteer efforts in my community to address problems form the ground up.

For my second term as a VIP member I have been placed at The YMCA of Orange where I have been honored and lucky enough to lead up one of the coolest projects I've ever been involved with.  My supervisor and I agreed that The Y could take an active roll in fighting childhood obesity as well as unhealthy habits in the children that attend The Y's programs.   To do this, we decided to have them get excited about making the right dietary choices by involving them in the process of preparing their food - from the garden to their plates.

Through 3 days of service and the work of over 300 volunteers, we took a hazardous, weed-ridden, and derelict field and created both a fruit tree orchard and children’s' learning garden.  The orchard will have 20 different fruit trees of multiple varieties by the time I leave. The garden meanwhile consists of ten 10x12 plots which contain tomatoes, watermelons, cucumbers, herbs for tea, various greens, corn, peppers, and so much more! We've even created a comic book that will come out quarterly to document the progress of the garden, while also explaining to the kids the power of volunteerism and the importance of serving in their community.

AmeriCorps has been such an amazing experience. It has allowed me to do the work I'm compelled to do in communities, while also preparing me for a career in the world of NPO's. As members we save billions of dollars for organizations by utilizing volunteers and our own professional skills to serve local communities. It's a powerful organization and one that all of you should take great pride in being a part of. I know I do.