HELPING HANDS |Volunteering

Volunteer Services Agency, Inc., a United Way Agency, is the local resource for volunteer recruitment, placement and management for people of all ages and abilities in the Mahoning Valley. Helping Hands is a monthly column that serves to communicate the impact that volunteering can have on our community. To express interest in one of the opportunities below, contact VSA at (330) 782-5877, or visit www.volunteerservicesagency.org. and click on the blue button for 1-800-Volunteer.org.

OPPORTUNITIES:

September is National Preparedness Month: National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort held each September to encourage Americans to take simple steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, businesses and schools. The goal of the month is to increase public awareness about the importance of preparing for emergencies and to encourage individuals to take action through voluntary efforts such as Ohio Citizen Corps. Throughout September, Homeland Security will work with a wide variety of organizations, including local, state and federal government agencies and the private sector, to highlight the importance of family emergency preparedness and promote individual involvement through events and activities across the nation. If you would like to become more involved as a volunteer in Ohio Citizen Corps, please call VSA today.

Someplace Safe: Assist Someplace Safe with their Night at The Races fundraiser supporting domestic violence victims in Trumbull County. Volunteers are needed to ask for and pick up donations, set up and tear down the day of the event (Nov. 1), and work the event.

Salvation Army: Get your hands and hearts ready to help the Salvation Army Kettle Drive beginning in mid-November. Kettles need volunteers to spend two to four hours helping to raise needed funds to support increased demand for food and emergency assistance. This is a great opportunity for families, groups and organizations.

Make a Difference Day: Start planning for Make a Difference Day, which is the nation’s largest day of citizens volunteering to make communities stronger, a day to lend a helping hand. In 2007, 3 million people volunteered in their communities. Ohio led the nation in the total number of projects planned for the 8th consecutive year! This year, Make a Difference Day will be Saturday, October 25. Call VSA for details or log onto serveohio.org to register your project, get ideas or get connected with a project in your area. Let’s keep Ohio first again in 2008.

Service Nation: On Sept. 27 thousands of communities around the nation will mobilize to demonstrate the impact service has, and could have, upon our country and the power of citizens to create large scale change.

Service is the great equalizer. It builds community among people, regardless of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status. It allows us to participate in something bigger than ourselves.

Service demonstrates our commonalities as a people are greater than our individual differences. In the act of transforming our communities for the better, we end up transforming ourselves.

Now, more than ever, we need to expand opportunities for people to serve. Because we have serious issues to address:

Our education system is failing a significant percentage of our children; hunger and homelessness run rampant in our communities; our parks, rivers and open spaces need protection; college has ceased to become affordable to most of us

Service can be a vehicle to simultaneously address our most pressing unmet societal needs in a real way, for continuing our quest for the American Dream. Call Corrie Adams at VSA for more information at (330) 782-5877.

Youth Mentors: Volunteer Services Agency, Inc. invites high school students to serve up to one year as a youth tutor and mentor with the Youngstown STARS After School Program. Youth Mentors will serve an hour or two between 3:30 and 6 p.m. on their chosen day(s) to assist children at Taft or Williamson Elementary with reading and enrichment activities. In addition, youth mentors will assist elementary students with developing and carrying out service projects. Youth Mentors will go through an orientation and receive ongoing training and support throughout the year. An application, signed parent waiver and references are required. Make a positive difference in a child’s life. Call Corrie Adams at (330) 782-5877.

Support our Schools: VSA is seeking dedicated individuals who have a genuine concern for children, strong organizational and communication skills, and a positive attitude to serve as Mentor Liaisons at Taft, Harding, and Williamson elementary schools during the 2008-09 school year. Mentor Liaisons will manage volunteer scheduling and orientation, collect and report data, and serve as a liaison between school personnel, teachers and volunteer sponsor organizations. Mentor Liaisons serve from 9 a.m. to noon on the day(s) they choose. For additional information on this and other mentoring opportunities, contact Corrie Adams at (330) 782-5877.

Ursuline Center: The Ursuline Center in Canfield has an opportunity for an individual with outstanding communication and people skills. A volunteer is needed to answer the phone, greet center visitors and provide assistance to Walsh University students from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Volunteers will have the opportunity to meet new people, assist the Ursuline Sisters and gain some new skills. Contact VSA for additional details.

TimeBank of the Mahoning Watershed: The TimeBank of the Mahoning Watershed is a service exchange program based on Time Dollars, the currency of equality that empowers individuals to utilize their assets and to enhance their lives, neighborhood and community. The TimeBank of the Mahoning Watershed has many opportunities for leadership and program management.

Help Hotline: Are you a compassionate listener? Do you have the skills to assist people in crisis or with information and referral? You may be interested in becoming a volunteer for Help Hotline. Volunteer Training is mandated for all volunteer positions available in the agency. The basic training for volunteers who are interested in working on the Hotline phones consists of 36 classroom hours followed by 32 hours (four-hour weekly shifts) of on-line training under supervision. After the 68 training hours, a new volunteer is evaluated on knowledge, skills and job performance on the Hotline phones. Volunteers are expected to work a minimum of four hours and a maximum of eight hours weekly for a commitment of one year after the training. Training begins at the end of September. Call (330) 746-2696 or in Mahoning County, dial 211.