[FAC] Great article in today's Bee - Volunteers make us stronger every day

[Cynthia Cooper]

Today¹s paper ran a story by Cathy Caples, on the importance of
volunteering:

     In this holiday season, I can think of no better time to ref lect on
Gandhi¹s oft-repeated words from decades ago.

    Each day, headlines tell the sad story of our economy and how it is
impacting thousands of our neighbors. Government and nonprofit
organizations are overwhelmed with requests for support, and donations of
dollars are down.

    But underneath the headlines, something very exciting is happening.
There is a renewal of civic spirit, and an increasing interest in volunteer
service and, more important, civic engagement. As a society, we are changing
and at the core of this change are thousands of volunteers.

    Volunteers can be a powerful force, as demonstrated nationally in the
most recent presidential election. Barack Obama¹s campaign mobilized tens of
thousands of people in an impressive show of volunteer force ‹ they were
advocates for change.

    This campaign demonstrated what most nonprofits know ‹ volunteers
matter. And effectively engaged volunteers, volunteers who are connected to
a mission, make change happen every day.

    One my colleagues, Sue Carter of Volunteer San Diego, stated it this
way: ³Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. We vote in
elections once a year, but when we volunteer, we vote every day about the
kind of community we want to live in.²

    In his victory speech, our president-elect challenged us to not only
take responsibility for ourselves but also for each other. Those of us who
are baby boomers were reminded of President Kennedy¹s challenge to ³ask not
what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.²

    Our government will respond, I hope, by passage of the Serve America Act
introduced in September to dramatically increase support for national
service programs like Ameri-Corps and VISTA. It will build the capacity of
community volunteering.

    In California, the governor led the nation when he elevated volunteerism
to a cabinet level position. That act was well-deserved: In 2007, 6.5
million Californians contributed nearly 900 million hours of service valued
at $17 billion.

    But numbers never tell the whole story. Volunteers contribute to almost
every service we receive in our communities including disasters. They help
at the police and fire stations, schools, libraries, hospitals, airports and
even city hall. They tutor, mentor, drive, feed, play, read, clean, plant,
create and they care!

    The Volunteer Center of Fresno County board of directors voted to ³be
the change² by adopting a new name, mission and location. Now HandsOn
Central California, of which I¹m the executive director, has a new mission:
to inspire, equip and mobilize volunteers to take actions that change their
communities.

    HandsOn partners with others to offer service actions in three areas ‹
alleviating poverty, creating schools as the centers of neighborhood
revitalization and preserving the environment. Action days are planned with
partners such as California State University, Fresno, the city of Fresno,
AmeriCorps and with local businesses, providing sponsorship, people and
supplies.

    Our business community under- stands the importance of volunteerism to a
healthy community. The Fresno Business Council¹s Human Investment initiative
looks at how businesses can revitalize neighborhoods utilizing their skills
to empower people. The Fresno COMPACT has engaged businesses with schools.

    A survey by Deloitte and Touche found that nearly two-thirds of 18- to
26-year-olds want to work for companies that give them opportunities to
contribute their talents to nonprofits. To assist businesses in building
volunteer programs while advancing business goals, HandsOn will be creating
a Business Partnership Council.

It will take all types of volunteerism, advocacy, skilled and non-skilled,
faith based and leadership to tackle our community challenges.

Ready to be the change? Make a New Year¹s resolution: Volunteer the gift of
time ‹ you will receive far more than you give and studies say you will be
42% happier! Many opportunities are listed on the HandsOn Web site.

I want to leave you with this thought from children's rights activist Marian
Wright Edelman:

³It¹s time for greatness ‹ not for greed.

It¹s a time for idealism ‹ not ideology. It is a time not just for
compassionate words, but compassionate action.²


Great words and ideas.  Thanks Cathy,

Cynthia Cooper
Executive Director
Fresno Coalition for Arts, Science & History
1401 Fulton Street, S-904, Fresno, CA 93721
559 485 1100 
http://www.fcash.org



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