Project promotes volunteerism

Staff report

Youngstown

Leadership Mahoning Valley Class of 2012 is participating in an initiative to increase volunteerism among Valley company employees.

The LMV class, which consists of 28 area professionals, has been working the past eight months to form the area’s first corporate volunteer council. The Corporate Volunteer Council of the Valley will engage the skills and talents found in the work force of local corporations and businesses to find sustained solutions to community needs, according to a press release.

There was a kickoff press conference Tuesday at ValleyCare Northside Medical Center to promote the council.

The project is a partnership with the HandsOn Volunteer Network of the Valley, which works to promote volunteering to help local agencies and benefit people in need.

The CVC will further the mission of HandsOn and Leadership Mahoning Valley to mobilize volunteers, promote leadership and transform communities, the press release says.

Employees benefit by using their talents to aid the community.

There also are benefits for the corporations and companies.

LMV and HOVN say corporate volunteering increases employee productivity, builds morale and can assist employees with team building, leadership development and expertise exchange.

“The class of 2012 wanted to make an impact with our project,” said Kristen Hawthorne, LMV class coordinator. “We chose to work on a corporate volunteer council because we felt that would leave a positive mark on the Valley and allow us to help businesses, nonprofits and residents in a meaningful way.”

Among the businesses or government entities that are interested in being on the CVC: AVI Food Systems, Cafaro Co., InfoCision, Mahoning Valley Scrappers, Sensource, Warren City Schools, Windsor House, Youngstown State University, ValleyCare Health Systems, Toys “R” Us and the city of Warren.

For information, contact Tina Parker at 330-730-8360, or go to www.leadershipmv.org, or www.hovn.org.