Welcome to the Volunteer Infrastructure Project, 2011-2012

Written by Patrick Link, CalSERVES Local VIP Leader

Those of us at the CalSERVES VIP office would like to extend a warm welcome to all the VIP Fellows, Leaders, and Site Staff beginning, or returning to, their service this year! Although the project is a mere two years old, each year it grows in its success and endeavors.  We wish you all the best as you begin over these next few months, and we extend our support for any bumps you encounter along your journey.

The impact we have on the communities we serve across the state is astounding! To give you some perspective, from 2010-2011, VIP participants across California at 140 different partner organizations recruited around 27,000 short-term and 12,000 long-term volunteers; those numbers continue to swell as we receive the final numbers from organizations.

However, it is impossible to determine the effect of those volunteers by their count alone. Imagine how many more children had a safe place to go after school; how many more hungry people were given a warm, nutritious meal; and how many more people received help they needed. During the year, it might be easy to become lost in the numbers and planning. If you encounter this, we encourage you to peer beyond all the paperwork, and realize the purpose behind your position: to serve your community. With the constant fluctuations of stocks and budgets, organizations require people like you to build and develop their volunteer infrastructure. Without your presence, many would be struggling to find support to stay afloat.

On that note, we would like to express our gratitude for your future service and hard work this year. Set your goals, formulate your plans, and go for it! You’ll be amazed at all you can accomplish in just one year.

Let us leave you with a few last words of encouragement based upon the CalSERVES vision of “Passion, Potential, Power”: we believe and remain amazed by your passion to make a difference, your potential to accomplish your dreams, and your power, individually and as a whole, to change the world.

Cheers,

The CalSERVES AmeriCorps VIP Office

Leaving our Legacy

As our AmeriCorps term is wrapping up, we’ve been talking a lot about the legacy we are leaving to our organizations, and it makes me incredibly happy to think about everything we’ve given to our partner organizations this year.

As the Statewide Leader, I have had insight into the work of all VIP Fellows across California over the last year, and every day I have heard something new that put me in awe of the great things happening at our partner organizations:  A huge event staffed totally by volunteers; a new project put into motion by a VIP and kept in motion by dedicated volunteers; new tracking systems put in place; new ways of recruiting; and new positions created for volunteers that allow our organizations to serve more clients – this is the kind of news we get every day.  With 140 dedicated members working hard at as many different partner organizations, progress is made constantly.

I feel so privileged to be a part of a group whose passion and dedication will be sustained in the organizations they have served for years to come.  As a program, we’ve done something so much larger than the services provided this year.   We’ve created the systems that will allow that service to continue for years to come.  We’ve created the structures that will allow organizations get more support, allow volunteers to contribute to the well-being of their community and to develop their own skills, and provide more services to clients in need of a helping hand. 

We have stepped out into our communities and led our neighbors towards service.  We grew as individuals and came alongside volunteers as they did the same.  I’m so thankful for this program, and incredibly happy to be a part of this great legacy we are leaving behind.

THANK  YOU to all of our hardworking VIP Fellows finishing up their terms in the next couple of days.  It's been a great year and we've done great work - let's be proud of what we've accomplished!  It's been a fantastic term of service.

Volunteering in California

Good afternoon, everyone!

Did you know that 24.8% of Californians volunteer?  How about that volunteers in California served nearly a billion hours in 2010 - an amount of service valued at about $20.6 billion?

Check out California's page on the Volunteering in America website to see some more of the trends in volunteering in our great state.

Pro Bono Volunteers - Doing Good in Michigan

The Chronicle of Philanthropy posted an article earlier this week about one nonprofit that got the privilege to work with a team of business professional pro bono volunteers.

The nonprofit, Kids' Food Basket, saw a need for higher efficiency, but rather than getting dismayed by their finances or flustered by their ever-increasing problem, they turned to a business to seek highly-skilled volunteers that could help them solve their problems.

What a wonderful idea!  The organization got its biggest problems solved, and the volunteers got to use their most honed skills to serve a great cause - what

Don't get stuck in the idea that you can only find volunteers to do simple, straight-forward tasks or projects.  The potential for volunteers to help an organization is endless - including restructuring and reorganizing the entire organization to serve even better!