Volunteer groups needed for annual Day of Caring

Now is the time to sign up to help area non-profit agencies!

More than 35 area non-profit agencies and organizations have identified projects they need help with for the 14th annual United Way of NW MI. Day of Caring coming up Sept. 10, and dozens more are expected to submit requests.

Now it’s the community’s turn.

Groups representing businesses, schools, families, neighborhoods and others are being asked to come forward and adopt a project for this annual community-wide celebration of volunteerism. Last year, nearly 80 projects were adopted by community groups, making for participation by approximately 800 volunteers.

“Right now, we’re looking for volunteer teams from companies, schools, service organizations, families,” said Susan McQuaid, director of the Volunteer Center at United Way of Northwest Michigan. “The needs are bigger than ever with our non-profits – so big, I truly believe many haven’t submitted projects yet because they don’t have the funds to buy the supplies they need to get the jobs done. “I think there are many who would love to say, ‘Yes, we’d love to have our porch painted,’ but they can’t afford the paint.”

A sampling of projects needing volunteer support this year includes preparing meals for the homeless the Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, when regular staff is off; assembling gift baskets for military returning from deployment; collecting nonperishable food for 38 food pantries; a baby supply drive for the Doula teen parent program; a toothbrush and toothpaste drive for elementary students; cleaning carpets and other maintenance for the Women’s Resource Center and its Helen’s House shelter; and dozens more.

The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, which needs a team this year to work on trail building, maintenance, planting and other tasks, has participated in the Day of Caring in previous years. Volunteer Program Coordinator Rolf VonWalthausen said the organization relies on this annual boost of volunteer manpower. “We depend almost wholly on volunteers to help carry out the management plans on our preserves, and in many cases, there are projects that can’t be done by a single volunteer or even a couple,” he said. “We don’t have the capacity to do it without these large groups.” In the past, he said, Day of Caring volunteers have performed major trail maintenance, installed boardwalks, removed entire fields of invasive species, distributed gravel on parking lots and handled other infrastructure improvements. “The groups seem to have a really fun time,” VonWalthausen explained. “They’re enjoying being outdoors, working hard and helping each other accomplish a common goal. Usually by the end of the day they’re hugging each other, congratulating everybody on work well done. “It’s a real spirit of cooperation.”

Teams are asked to sign up soon so that they can be matched with the projects of their choice. There are also opportunities for individuals and organizations to adopt a project by providing funding for supplies and equipment for cleaning and repairs when agencies don’t have the funds themselves.

To view a list of available projects so far, visit http://unitedwaynwmi.org/DOCProjects.html. To find out more about the Day of Caring, sign up to volunteer, register a project or make donations to support a project, call McQuaid at 231-947-3200, Ext. 205, or email to susan@unitedwaynwmi.org.

Part-time Position Available

Position Title: Volunteer Development Specialist PART-TIME; NON-EXEMPT
Reports to: Senior Adult Development Manager
Location: Traverse City Area
Salary: $13.00 per hour; Average 20 hours per week

Position Summary:
The Volunteer Development Specialist is responsible for screening and tracking prospective volunteers. This includes ensuring volunteers have flexible adult learning opportunities to carry out their assignments; assessing volunteer developmental needs; recruitment and management of adult learning facilitators and coaches for assigned volunteer pathways.

Major Accountabilities:

Develop and direct a competent and motivated volunteer learning corps to ensure a quality volunteer experience and retention of facilitators and coaches. Facilitate the growth of a volunteer-driven learning development and delivery system.

Responsible for monitoring a strong adult education program in conformity with Council goals, policies and standards, and in accordance with standards established by GSUSA.

Implement council adult education curriculum and provide innovative learning opportunities for volunteers on a continuous basis, using a wide variety of methods and locations.

Increase resources and develop relationships with outside businesses and individuals to supplement the training program.

Ensure management of record keeping system for maintaining training records and volunteer participation.

Implement strategies to develop and retain a pluralistic adult membership, thereby ensuring the effective delivery of services to the community.

Other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements:

Bachelor's Degree in related field or equivalent experience

Demonstrated knowledge and experience in delivering adult learning strategies, adult education, and effective volunteer management systems

Experience in supervision and management of volunteers

Ability to plan, organize, and implement a multi-faceted workload, handle pressure and meet deadlines

Strong written, oral, and interpersonal communications skills

Ability to work a flexible schedule, including weekends and evenings, and travel throughout council jurisdiction

Proficiency of Microsoft Office Suite, email and internet applications and research

Demonstrated commitment and ability to interact with diverse populations
To apply for this position, submit a cover letter and resume or an Application for Employment to
Girl Scouts of Michigan Shore to Shore, Attn: Human Resources, via E-mail hr@gsmists.org, fax 616-784-8187, or mail 3275 Walker Avenue NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49544.
EOE Committed to Diversity and Equality

NMTA Recruits Drivers

The Northwest Michigan Transportation Alliance is being revived to provide safe and affordable transportation to a growing number of people in need.

NMTA was formed several years ago to serve low-income senior citizens in the five-county Grand Traverse region with transportation to non-emergency medical appointments. A collaboration of multiple human services agencies, NMTA was disbanded about a year ago due to lack of funding and staff support.

Now, through Americorps VISTA, a new manager has been hired and area agencies are once again laying the groundwork to revive the program serving Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Antrim and Kalkaska counties. Angela Carter of Traverse City will direct the program out of the Disability Network office at 333 E. Front St. in Traverse City.

“The idea is to deliver safe and affordable transportation to senior citizens in need, to help them maintain independence, community involvement and access to vital health services,” said Susan McQuaid, director of the Volunteer Center at the United Way of Northwest Michigan and NMTA advisory committee.

NMTA will rely on volunteer drivers who will receive a small stipend for mileage. Those using the service will pay a nominal fee to defray expenses. Volunteer drivers are needed, and recruitment is underway.

To find out about becoming a driver, to inquire about receiving services from NMTA or other information, call 947-3200, Ext. 205.

ShareCare

Volunteers pay it forward
Some eventually end up on receiving end

A movie made the concept of “paying it forward” a household word. In real life, it happens all the time – especially when it comes to volunteering. Older adult volunteers often find that the people they are serving were once volunteers helping other seniors just like themselves.

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program members, who are 55 and older, often donate their time to help senior citizens. RSVP’s Tuesday Toolmen do home repairs and install safety devices like ramps and shower grab bars for older adults who can’t afford to pay for the work to be done themselves. Sometimes, the toolmen find that the clients they serve were at one time RSVP volunteers.

ShareCare of Leelanau, which provides services to help the elderly remain in their own homes, has about 100 volunteers, most of them 55 and older. It’s common for those who once provided the assistance to eventually end up on the receiving end. “It isn’t unusual to have somebody who starts out volunteering and then end up needing help,” said Deb Wetherbee, ShareCare office manager. “They probably started with us when they were younger and have stayed with us into their older age.”

ShareCare was started 15 years ago by a group of Leelanau County couples who recognized that with their children scattered across the United States, they wouldn’t have family to depend on if it got to the point that they needed help to continue living independently. A 76-year-old woman named Jo who asked that only her first name be used here can identify with that, having relocated to Leelanau County with her husband 11 years ago from Indiana. “A lot of people up here have lived here all their lives for multiple generations and they have 47 nieces and nephews, and children,” Jo said. “Then there are the perma-fudgies, like us, who, while we have fantastic neighbors, they go south for the winter, have their own lives and their own problems.”

When Jo and her husband moved to northern Lower Michigan, she decided to volunteer as a driver for ShareCare, taking an older man who couldn’t drive in the winter to a couple of doctors’ appointments. Then Jo’s husband was seriously injured falling off a ladder five years ago. She had to stop volunteering to care for him through multiple surgeries. He now uses a walker and his mobility is limited.

Along the way, Jo had a meltdown -- she calls it her “sinking spell” -- trying to do it all. Enter ShareCare, the organization she had joined to help – now helping her and her husband. “While I didn’t need anything but basically bed rest, we both needed to continue eating and my husband needed to get to doctors’ appointments,” she said. “They came up with immediate help for seeing we had food, we had somebody to help clean, somebody to help my husband if I wasn’t up to doing that, seeing that somebody could take him to someplace that I ordinarily would have done. “It seemed so reassuring to know that yes, you don’t have to call your children that are six and seven hours away and have extremely busy lives, with their children, and work, and say, ‘We need your help.’ While, bless their bones, they both came up for a few days, they can’t stay. That’s where ShareCare is just so important.”

Jo is hoping that her husband will progress to the point that by this fall, she will be able to throw her name “back in the pot” to be a volunteer driver. She wants to be able to start helping others again, saying, “It’s sort of like that ‘It takes a village’ thing.”

Posting for the Film Festival

I already blogged this last week, but Jane sent out another email so I am re-posting again to help them out.

To All Volunteers,

We are still in need of several items, if you would like to donate any of these, please let me know. They can be dropped off at the TCFF Office.
Thank you, Jane Klegman Inkind Donations Manager.

15 Flashlights- both large and small, for use in the Open Space and at all the indoor Venues
Batteries for the flashlights- all sizes
10 First Aid Kits- w/ Bandaids ( all sizes), Triple Antibiotic ointment, Ace bandage, gauze, tape, cold pack
100 blank Mini DV tapes100 plus blank CD'sa Mini DV Tape Deck for playing and importing footage to a MAC/PC computer
200 plus Glow Sticks for Open Space - the short thick kind
Cargo Van ( borrowed)