(Posted 2022 March)
“By helping others, volunteers also help themselves. They learn new skills, expand their professional networks, connect with neighbors, and experience the satisfaction that comes from serving a larger cause. Service can provide a pathway to employment, education, and other career-building opportunities …volunteerism can help the unemployed find work and make our communities more resilient and prepared.” – White House Proclamation on National Volunteer Week, 2021
What can we say! It’s been one crazy year after another and throughout it all, one thing remains the same…YOU!
April is National Volunteer Month, and Volunteer & Partner Services, would like to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated volunteers and donors who have continued to show up day in and day out! Here are some of the ways YOU have been making an impact for children in our community:
- Body Safety facilitators are teaching children in our schools amidst the ever-present threat of COVID that remains in one of the few age groups ineligible for the vaccine.
- Study Buddy tutors and Parenting Education Facilitators have taken their volunteer efforts completely virtual this past year.
- Befriend-A-Child mentors are constantly on the hunt to find fun, engaging activities to support their mentees both virtually and in person.
- VPS’ amazing donors have contributed to a variety of initiatives- Backpack giveaways, Adopt-A-Family gifts, and many more.
- Volunteers with our Administrative Assistant program work at our front desks greeting visitors and supporting the work of the Children, Youth and Families Division.
As a matter of fact, between all the programs supported by the VPS volunteers, we were the fortunate recipients of the support of 111 amazing volunteers who completed over 2,776 hours of service. This equated to an economic impact of $80,911 in 2021! In addition to the outpouring of support from our volunteers, our amazing donors contributed goods and services worth more than $475,000 to the families served by the Children, Youth and Families Division of the Department of Family Services!
In response to the continuous support provided to our families, we would be remiss if we did not forge ahead, in true Volunteer & Partner Services fashion and find the highest mountain from which to sing your highest praises! But, like everything else, we will have to settle on a virtual mountain this year!
And so that being said, VPS would like to invite our beloved volunteers, our donors, staff, and anyone else who may have been touched by the kind deeds of our amazing volunteers, to our Virtual Annual Volunteer Appreciation event on Tuesday, April 26, 6-8 p.m.!
We cannot wait for this year’s opportunity to express the immense gratitude, excitement, and honor that we have felt in working alongside of each of our volunteers.
Please join us in celebration of YOU! Our Amazing VPS Volunteers!