HANDS ON Volunteering

HandsOn Volunteer Network of the Valley, formerly known as Volunteer Services Agency, 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. Hands On 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, call (330) 782-5877.

OPPORTUNITIES:

Non-Profit Board Development and Leadership Training Series: HOVN, as part of its Non-Profit Development series, will again offer Board Training and Leadership Development for Non-Profits beginning Saturday. The sessions will be at the Park Vista Gathering Room on Fifth Avenue, Youngstown, from 9 a.m. to noon on these Saturday dates: Jan. 10, Jan. 24, Feb. 7, Feb. 21, March 7 and March 21.

Nonprofit board members are responsible for their organization’s financial health. Because in the nonprofit sector people often join boards because they believe in the altruistic or artistic goals of the organization, this financial responsibility is easy to overlook. Through the Board Development and Leadership Training series, HOVN provides individuals interested in serving on nonprofit boards, or currently standing board members, with skills and strategies to ensure an organization’s success. Call HOVN for more information or to register. Participants complete the six-session training, and tuition is $100. Corporations, nonprofit organization boards, communities of faith and interested people are encouraged to recommend applicants and assume the cost for tuition.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Jan. 19: On Jan. 19, Americans across the country will celebrate the national holiday honoring the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As they have since 1994, thousands of Americans will remember the slain civil-rights activist by serving in their communities.

Locally, in reflection of Dr. King’s belief that “everybody can be great, because everybody can serve,” HandsOn Volunteer Network of the Valley, in conjunction with the Mahoning Valley Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Planning Committee, is planning an “Honor the Dream” food drive in the Mahoning Valley.

HOVN is coordinating the effort and is inviting the public to join the communitywide effort to make a difference in the lives of those in need in the local community and continue the efforts of Project Feed Our Valley.

Join us in helping Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley provide much-needed food supplies for the winter months. Donations of nonperishable food items may be dropped off at either First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave. between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., or at Warren Harding High School, 860 Elm Road N.E., Warren, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Jan. 19.

Communities of faith have been partners in service since the inception of the national holiday. They may participate by setting up collection sites in their buildings to collect donations from their congregations and deliver the items Jan. 19 to one of the two sites.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program Tax preparers: The VITA Program offers free tax help to low- to moderate-income (generally, $40,000 and below) people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Certified volunteers receive training to help prepare basic tax returns in communities across the country. VITA sites are generally located at community and neighborhood centers, libraries, schools, shopping malls and other convenient locations. Training will be this month for the start of the 2009 tax season. Call HOVN today if you’d like to become a VITA volunteer.

Mahoning and Trumbull Counties Ohio Citizen Corps Help in Disaster: HOVN is offering people the opportunity to learn the skills to help in a disaster and put them to use in a Volunteer Reception Center. A VRC is a command center established in times of disaster to receive, orient and dispatch volunteers to the places where they are needed the most. As a VRC volunteer, you will receive extensive training and hands-on experience through regularly scheduled exercises in the tri-county area. Additionally, VRC volunteers will be called upon to train and organize other volunteers. Those interested should contact HOVN at (330) 782-5877.

Art Outreach Gallery at the Eastwood Mall: The gallery operates through volunteer assistance. Volunteers open the gallery and welcome the customers. Hours of operation: 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 1 to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. All exhibits are free and open to the public.

Marian Living Center: Marian Living Center needs your skills, interests and desires to help residents have spectacular weekends. You can be creative and work with the center’s activity department in developing something you’d like to share.

American Red Cross Mahoning Chapter: Facilitator needed to implement American Red Cross disaster preparedness curriculum for pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade in public and nonpublic schools in the Mahoning County area to teach them how to prepare for and respond to disasters.

American Red Cross Blood Services: Volunteers needed to assist in registering potential blood donors and serving refreshments to donors after they have given blood.

Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning County: People needed to load/unload ReStore donations, (will assist the donation pickup driver), clean and sort donated merchandise, move items to the sales floor, place appropriate price tags on items, and assist customers in moving purchased items to their vehicles.

Looking for additional opportunities to explore? Visit our online database at http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/VSA.