Posts Tagged ‘Salvation Army’

Volunteering & Books go Hand-in-Hand this Summer!

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

As many sports, school, and television series conclude at the beginning or midway through the summer, people often choose to partake in summer reading. I choose summer reading to relax, to be entertained, and to, most importantly, to learn. Because me and several other of the folks are participating in some summer reading, I’ve compiled a list of five ways you can volunteer with books!

  1. Read! Read about ways in which you can coordinate volunteers in your community. Books related to volunteerism include the training and recognition of volunteers, as well as Collaboration and Community Organizing. Additional books of volunteerism highlight disaster response, diversity, virtual volunteering, leadership, and recruitment. As you may have noticed, there is so much information out there that is focused on volunteerism. So get to reading and learning!
  2. Instead of throwing your books away, donate your books to local organizations! While shopping in thrift stores, I often find myself shopping for books and other This sign at an awesome bookshop. items, just to see if I can catch a deal! In addition to finding great deals, book donations allow for low-income families to secure summer reading! Thanks to the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Salvation Army, and several other organizations, you can donate your books or schedule your books to be picked up.
  3. Gather some friends and coordinate your own book drive in your neighborhood or community! Coordinating a book drive first begins, with marketing your book drive. Print flyers or mention the book drive in your facebook or twitter status to get the word out! This will allow you to do good, meet people in your community, all while hanging out with your friends.
  4. Participate in Books for Africa! With books for Africa, you can either contribute a monetary donation or book donation for a great cause. Additionally, Books For Africa accepts: 15 years old or newer popular fiction and nonfiction reading books (soft and hard cover); 1996 or newer publish date primary, secondary, and college textbooks (soft and hard cover); 1996 or newer reference books such as encyclopedias and dictionaries; 1996 or newer publish date medical, nursing, IT, and law books. Books for Africa also accepts school/office supplies including, paper, pencils, pens, wall charts, maps, etc.
  5. Recycle your books! Books wear out. They get water damage. They break down. You get tired of them or you’ve simply already read them. When your books have passed their time in your life, there are lots of things you can do with them including recycling them. Books cannot usually be recycled along with your other paper products, like newspaper, because of the binding glue. Book Destruction, a Grossman Group company, recycles whole books. They grind the books down and process them by repulping the paper to make new paper. Green Earth Book Recyclers works with Book Destruction to collect used textbooks from college students for recycling.

There are plenty of ways you can participate in book volunteerism this summer! We’d love to hear in the comments how you plan to volunteer with books or volunteer in general this summer!

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Posted in Volunteer Recognition, Volunteer Recruitment, Volunteerism | No Comments »

The Long Haul

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

by Melissa Grober, Director of Partnerships, HandsOn Network

I thought it was pretty cool that hair and pantyhose could be combined to absorb oil in the Gulf (called a “hair boom”).

Apparently, so did a lot of other people, as suddenly I saw people in the online community running off to donate their hair to the oil spill clean-up efforts.

How disappointing, then, that the hair boom is a bust.

According to Unified Command, commercial sorbent boom is much more effective at absorbing oil and has the added advantage of not sinking the way hair boom does.

Another case of good intentions gone wrong.

This happens a lot in the disaster world.

The past several weeks have been challenging for many of our affiliates, particularly in the southeastern part of the country.

Between major flooding, tornadoes, storms, and the oil spill, we’ve had more disasters to respond to in 30 days than we had in all of last year!

(Perhaps an exaggeration, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true…)

The oil spill in the Gulf presents a special kind of challenge to volunteers.

Many people want to help the wildlife and help to clear oil from the shore. But volunteers sometimes end up doing more harm than good, both to themselves and to the wildlife they want to help.

This is why Unified Command has decided to use only highly trained paid workers to handle the clean-up efforts.

Our affiliates, however, are working hard to find appropriate ways for volunteers to address critical needs in the Gulf.

Most disasters are not like the oil spill, however.

Communities affected by disaster often need a lot of volunteer support.

Since the flood disaster in early May, Hands On Nashville has signed up 15,000 volunteers.  They have coordinated 830 projects, and  their volunteers have contributed an amazing 63,000 hours of service since the flooding began.

Photo by Nathan Johnson, Hands On Nashville Volunteer

Hands On Nashville has done such a good job coordinating volunteer efforts that it was highlighted by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate for their exemplary work.

The remarkable efforts of the many volunteers in Nashville and HandsOn Nashville got a huge shoutout from NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams last night!

While our affiliates have done a great job in coordinating the work of people who want to help so far, much of the work is still to come.

Our strength as a network in responding to disasters lies in our efforts to promote not just immediate response but also long-term recovery.

Organizations like the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army are great at serving the immediate needs of people affected by disaster, like shelter, food, and urgent care.

We often work side-by-side with these organizations, providing food and water to emergency workers and handing out supplies. And when the immediate needs have been handled and the media attention subsides, our local affiliates and volunteers continue the long, hard work of recovery.

We coordinate volunteers to help with mold abatement in flood-damaged houses.

We help to rebuild damaged schools and community centers. And we provide job training and skill-building resources to people who have lost their jobs.

We’re connected to the needs of communities and we meet those needs through our greatest asset—people who care.

We drive people with good intentions to good volunteer opportunities, and we’re in it for the long haul.

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Posted in Disaster Relief, Environment, Impact, Mobilize, News & Links, Service, Volunteer Management, Volunteering, Volunteerism | No Comments »

Top 5 Things I’ve Learned as a Volunteer Manager

Friday, May 21st, 2010

by Marcie Gothard

Development Director, Volunteer and Special Events Coordinator, Red Kettle and Bell Ringing Coordinator at the Salvation Army in Battle Creek, Michigan.

1. DETAILS

When writing a volunteer job description, be detailed.

Volunteers are never happy to get to a volunteer location only to find out what they’ll be doing is completely different than what was listed in the volunteer opportunity.

This also includes informing volunteers of the type of information you’re required to gather about them.

Most organizations like The Salvation Army have specific requirements depending on the type of volunteer opportunity.

Being up front about your expectations will save you and the volunteer from any confusion later on.

2. LOCATION

Make sure you explain exactly where the volunteer opportunity will be taking place.

Include the street address and detailed directions including cross streets.

A number of volunteer opportunity websites include a link to a map.

You may have volunteers who aren’t familiar with your location or your city.

Giving them detailed directions helps take the guess work out of where they will be volunteering.

3. TIME

If you tell volunteers to meet you at a certain time, be there.

If you’re unable to be there make sure that someone from your organization is available and knowledgeable about what your volunteer’s will be doing.

Everyone’s time is precious and the fact that they’ve chosen your organization to volunteer for should mean something.

It’s also important to make sure that their time is used wisely.

I realize sometimes it’s hard to know ahead of time how an event or opportunity will flow.

Take the time to explain this to your volunteers.

The more information you share, the better they’ll feel about how they’re contributing to your organization.

4. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the nonprofit world there isn’t a lot we can do for our volunteers.

However, the one thing we can do is thank them.

We may not be able to throw a fancy dinner or give away an award plaque but we can say thank you.

It’s hard during the middle of an event to focus on saying thank you, but that is the best time to do it.

Walk around, check on your volunteers, ask them how things are going and tell them thank you.

In my community our local newspaper runs a Roses and Raspberries section.

Anytime I have an event or group volunteer for The Salvation Army, I submit their names to the paper in the form of a Roses and thank them for their generous service to our community.

5. FOLLOW UP

At the end of an event ask your volunteer’s how they felt about volunteering for your organization.

You can even go so far as to give them a short survey to fill out.

Get their feedback.

You’re the manager and you can’t be everywhere at once.

Find out what your volunteer’s have experienced and use that information to improve your event or program.

If your event isn’t adaptable to the completion of a survey at the time of the opportunity, send one to them in the mail with a self addressed stamped envelope.

Volunteer feedback is vital in achieving continued growth and success of your volunteer program.

The truth is not every volunteer opportunity is fun.

You may need envelopes stuffed or weeds pulled.

Letting your volunteer know what their service means and how it impacts your organization is key.

In the end you want them to enjoy themselves and think of your organization the next time they want to volunteer.

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Posted in Equip, Get HandsOn, Service, Tools You Can Use, Volunteer Leader, Volunteer Management, Volunteer Project Development, Volunteer Recognition, Volunteering | 3 Comments »