Volunteer Activities

In a previous post I referred to my volunteering activities, but gave no details. For those who asked about it, I will try to explain. When I worked as a social worker with seniors over 60, I , together with other service providers, noticed that there were many needs of seniors in our county that were not being met. Among them were transportation to medical appointments and to buy groceries. People needed just a friendly visitor, light housekeeping or small repairs to their home. Together we formed a committee, did a lot of brain storming and research. We learned of a national organization that financially helped start such organizations. So we started this not for profit project. In short, we now have about 200 volunteers who give about 10,000 hours of assistance to about 200 people over 60 years of age. The organization recruits and trains the volunteers, sends the request to them when we receive it. I have been on the Board of Directors for 6 of the 7 years.

Our challenge now it to find a fund raising plan that will keep it viable and how to get the word out into the community that this service exists. There are many charitable organizations in the community and it seems with the declining economy (i.e. loss of jobs) it is a challenge. We started out with service type people on the board (social workers, pastors, nurses) but now have added several business people. So we have a talented and committed group to address this program.

Right now we are trying to put together numbers to show what we really get for each dollar. That seemed to be the best first step in even asking people for money. The whole thing has been a great education for me since I had never been involved in such a project before. So that is the overview. I probably will refer to this again, since it still is a part of my life.