Volunteer Connections

Great day for hard work

Hundreds work on 39 sites for I Volunteer! Day
By Brian Malnes, For the Camera, April 20, 2008

Wearing their Cub Scouts uniforms, 8-year-old step-brothers Raymond Troch and Jarod Bednarz scoured the banks of Boulder Creek in search of trash Saturday.

"There are a million cigarette butts here," Raymond said. "People must just smoke one right after the other here."

The boys were among dozens of volunteers cleaning up the creek as part of Boulder County's fifth annual I Volunteer! Day. Although they were volunteering partly to get their Scouts badges, both said they're looking forward to fishing in the creek this summer, and would like the water to be clean for the fish.

The creek project, headed by the Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative, was just one of 39 sites worked on by more than 500 volunteers Saturday morning, said Sue McCullough, event coordinator with the nonprofit Volunteer Connection. She estimated their labor was worth $40,000.

"It's been a great turnout," McCullough said. "We've really gotten a lot accomplished today."

Projects ranged for washing trucks for the Boulder Emergency Squad to weeding and raking the pastures at Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center in Longmont; from planting at Boulder's Growing Gardens to building a turtle pond at Longmont's Colorado Reptile Humane Society.

The biggest turnout was at Boulder's Calvary Bible Church, 3245 Kalmia Ave. There, more than 200 people worked on a variety of projects including making quilts for Project Linus, whose mission is to comfort ill and traumatized children, and decorating meal bags for Project Angel Heart, which brings food to people living with HIV/AIDS.

The University of Colorado's Volunteer Clearinghouse brought more than 300 students to the event and supported 21 of the sites, organizer Naveen Rajan said.

"It's been a lot of fun," Rajan said. "More people should volunteer."

Back at the Boulder Creek project, CU biology major Julia Hayes volunteered for her second year.

"I'm working in Boulder Creek because it is the center of everything in town, and I want it to look nice," she said.

Mike Trevey, the Volunteer Connection's "ambassador" for the site said there were about 35 people picking up trash.

"Without this work, the creek just wouldn't stay clean," he said.

City officials pitch in, help Habitat build local home

By Scott Rochat, Longmont Times-Call, April 20, 2008

Who says you can’t get honest work out of the government?

City, county and town officials helped swell the ranks of Habitat For Humanity on Saturday, designated “Colorado Builds Day.” The event also got a boost from a coincidence in the calendar — Saturday was also The Volunteer Connection’s “I Volunteer! Day.”

The result: About 50 volunteers gathered to work on a house at 1614 Moonlight Drive, many of them officials who were more used to leading boards than pounding them.

“It’s a nice little bit of frustration relief,” said Gabe Santos of the Longmont City Council as he took a break from raising I-beams and putting up drywall. “I have a lot of respect for these folks — this is a lot of work!”

“You’re really going to feel it tomorrow!” a passing worker called out to Santos. He grinned back.

There was even a little bit of state support. Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Boulder, showed up Saturday morning to lend a hand for a little while.

This is the second year for Colorado Builds, an event held to bring attention to housing needs and give Colorado’s public officials a stake in addressing them. And for the St. Vrain chapter of Habitat, it’s a chance to get some extra help in a busy year — the group plans to build six houses this year, the first of which is due to be dedicated today in the Quail Ridge development.

“Our goal is, by 2012, to have the capacity to build up to nine houses each year,” said local Habitat board president Ken Schuetz. “After that, we’d have to shift gears from a staffing standpoint to build any more.”

Habitat For Humanity helps build homes for low-income families. The families are expected to put in 500 hours of “sweat equity” and will be paying off a zero-interest mortgage after moving in.

As with any work site, there was plenty to do Saturday. Mayor Kris Hicar of Lyons grabbed a paintbrush and began working on the outside walls — a job that allowed her to enjoy the beautiful spring day.

“There’s so many people here helping, so I’m staying outside,” she laughed. “This is what I do at home. I’m the paint slob.”

Meanwhile, newly elected Firestone trustee Paul Sorensen was lending a hand with interior work, including the drywall.

“Two weeks ago, I was in New Mexico building a house there, but they were probably about the size of that trailer there,” said Sorensen, who was a Habitat first-timer. “I’ve been doing volunteer work for so long, I’d do this even if I wasn’t an elected official.”

Schuetz said he was impressed with the work everyone had put in.

“There was not a drop of paint on this house when we started,” he said. “It’s painted. There was not a bit of drywall. They’ve done the entire ceiling and most of the walls in one day.”

Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley hopes to have the house at 1614 Moonlight done in June, making it the second house of the year to be finished. The next four homes also will be built in the Moonlight neighborhood.

The dedication of the Quail Ridge house will take place at 1 p.m. today at 502 Ridge Ave.

“I get to be involved on the two greatest days,” Schuetz said. “The day we break ground on a house ... and the day we get to give them their keys. It is very, very exciting.”

I came. I saw. I volunteered.

Boulder's best-loved rite of spring, brings the community together

By Debra Goldyn, Colorado Daily, April 14, 2008

It's sixty degrees one day and snowing the next, which means spring has come to the Front Range. It's time to clean out the storage shed, break out the gardening tools and take part in the 5th annual I Volunteer! Day on April 19.

Organized by Volunteer Connection of Boulder County to coincide with National Volunteer Week, Earth Day, Habitat Builds Colorado Day and CU Volunteer Clearing House's Better Boulder Better World, the event has 39 projects on tap -- everything from building a box turtle pen to raking, painting and quilting.

"We like to think of it as a feast of volunteering," says Laura Kinder, executive director for Volunteer Connection. The projects are designed to be completed in four hours, making I Volunteer! Day a popular choice for those who don't have time for a longer commitment, or just wish to test the waters with a particular charity.

"This particular kind of volunteering is fairly easy for people because it's just four hours and they don't have to commit to a long-term relationship, although we would love to see that happen," Kinder says. "This is something they can do with their friends or family members, it's pretty exciting."

Last year almost 600 residents came together to support the community, demonstrating that civic action and engagement are alive and well in Boulder County. Aside from the obvious benefits, volunteering can be an unexpected source of personal enrichment.

"Whatever people like and love in life, whether that's reading or bicycling or art, music, of any kind, they can get more of that into their life through volunteering," Kinder observes. "So I just really encourage people to think of volunteering as not necessarily giving up time to do something else, but adding more of what they enjoy to their life through volunteering."

Even if you don't have four hours to spare, you can still participate. Calvary Bible Church at 3245 Kalmia Avenue will host a drop-in site, where the projects include decorating meal bags for Project Angel Heart, making bookmarks for Balanced Choice Health Care or assembling white ribbons for Longmont Ending Violence Initiative (LEVI). The drop-in site is designated family-friendly, as are several of the I Volunteer! Day projects, and is also appropriate for those with special abilities. There's also a bilingual site, the Sister Carmen Community Center, at 701 West Baseline Road.

Although the drop-in site doesn't require it, registration is necessary for all other projects. Kinder recommends signing up by April 16, however, early registration is suggested, as many projects fill up quickly. Visit the Volunteer Connection's Web site at www.volunteerconnection.net to check on project availability.

There will be bottled water and snacks available for volunteers, and each will receive a T-shirt designed for the event by local artist Harriet Peck Taylor.

"I believe, in a city as big as Boulder, it's really good that we have an umbrella organization like the Volunteer Connection to make everybody aware of the opportunities out there, since Boulder is really a very caring town," she says.

"I think that volunteering shows that a community has heart. But I think a volunteer gets as much from volunteering, they get as much for their own soul, [as they give]."

Peck Taylor's design for 2008, her fourth I Volunteer! Day creation, features her signature vibrant colors along with symbols related to the various causes Volunteer Connection is involved with this year.

"The general symbolic theme in the artwork I was trying to express was connections," she says. "Connections between us and the environment, connections between us and animals, connections between people. That we're all part of a greater [whole], all those connections that work toward the greater good."

Connections within the community and connections between family members can all be strengthened by volunteer participation. For kindergarten teacher Laurie Rhoads, who has donated her time for the last three years and will serve as a program ambassador for the Acorn School this year, the seeds of volunteerism were sown in her youth.

"Volunteering has always been an important part of my life since I was a little kid, with my parents," she says. "I think it's important to be involved with the community and give back when we can."

Those seeds can take root and bloom with long-lasting results. Heather Osborne is chapter coordinator for the Boulder County chapter of Project Linus, which provides blankets to children who've been affected by illness or trauma. For I Volunteer! Day, Project Linus partners with the Kempe Center in Denver to make memory quilts for children enrolled in their Fostering Healthy Futures program.

"Every year we get a really nice letter back from all of the mentors that have worked with the kids, saying the kids have really loved the blankets," says Osborne. "They'll get in touch with kids from previous years who still talk about their blankets. It's really a nice keepsake for them."

That sense of connection resonates with the volunteers as well, especially when it comes to projects with tangible results.

"They can definitely feel ownership," Kinder says. "There have been instances where, after a person has moved away and had their own family, they come back and they drive by and they say, 'Look, that's the tree I planted,' or, 'This is the house I helped build.' People can really see the impact of what they did on this particular day, even years and years from now."

Volunteers needed for projects
By Melanie M. Sidwell, Longmont Times-Call, April 6, 2008

Projects are filling up quickly for the Fifth Annual I Volunteer! Day on April 19.

Volunteer Connection hosts I Volunteer! Day in Boulder County each April in recognition of Earth Day and National Volunteer Week. More than 500 volunteers help each year.

The rain-or-shine event will help more than 35 service agencies with an estimated 2,000 hours of service, said Laura Kinder, executive director of Volunteer Connection.

Volunteer opportunities exist for all types: Individuals, families, groups, businesses and corporations. Projects include prairie restoration and creek cleanup, box turtle pen construction, helping at a thrift shop, making white ribbons for a domestic violence awareness campaign and assembling auction baskets.

Families with young children, people with disabilities and others who can’t meet the entire four-hour commitment can help with service projects by visiting Calvary Bible Church, 3245 Kalmia Ave. in Boulder, on April 19.

Kinder said a Sunday project is available for those unable to attend Saturday’s events and a bilingual site is planned “so that the Spanish-speaking community may participate.”

Kinder said the estimated dollar value of volunteer time is $18.77 an hour.

“If we were able to engage 600 volunteers that day ... a full day could bring in as high as $45,000 in contributions,” she said. “The local impact is that many projects are getting done that otherwise may not have, as well as we are introducing people into volunteering. If they have a good time on that Saturday, they may want to come back to that agency or to another agency and continue to volunteer throughout the year.”

Nova awards recognize nonprofits
Community Foundation hosts 10th annual ceremony
By Laura-Claire Corson, Daily Camera, September 7, 2007

[Volunteer Connection serves as the fiscal agency for MentorsMatter and FOCUS,
a program of Restoring the Soul.]

From mentoring former inmates to reducing waste at schools, the contributions of Boulder County's nonprofits took center stage Thursday at the Community Foundation's 10th annual Nova award ceremony.

The awards were presented at Boulder Theater in the categories of arts, education, civic, environment, and health and human services, plus two individual nods to people who dedicated extraordinary time and effort.

"Democracy is community. It's a culture of giving," said Josie Heath, president of the Community Foundation, which gave $5.2 million to Boulder County nonprofits last year.

The arts award went to the Boulder County Arts Alliance, a nonprofit advocating the arts since 1966. The alliance's Tom Brock dedicated the award to former executive director Alison Moore, who moved to Canada last week.

The education award went to Mentors Matter, a program that since 2001 has referred more than 300 mentors to its eight partner agencies, including the I Have A Dream Foundation and the YWCA of Boulder County.

The civic award went to Focus, a group that pairs mentors with inmates, helping connect offenders with housing, child care, education and other basic needs once they are released.

The health and human services award went to Moving to End Sexual Assault, formerly the Boulder County Rape Crisis Team.

The environment award went to Eco-Cycle, for its Green Star Schools program, which helps teach 5,100 students at 14 Boulder County schools how to reduce waste. So far, a 66 percent waste reduction has occurred.

Retired orthodontist Dr. Rodney Tuenge won an individual award for helping build a program that sends local dentists to Boulder's sister city Mante, Mexico, to provide dental care and other services.

Carlos Rodriguez, a recent immigrant and full-time student who spends his free time translating printed materials into Spanish for the Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley, took home the final individual award.

Instead of giving a speech, Rodriguez simply told the crowd: "Thanks for this."

Today's Teen An Ace Volunteer
By Kevin Simpson, Denver Post, September 2, 2007

A national survey found the top motivator behind the hefty surge in youth service was simple: The kids were asked.

Can you believe these kids today, with their loud music and baggy clothes, their newfangled text messaging and their MySpace and their YouTube, they're just so ... dang ... Helpful?

Take the Crazy Laughing Monkey Heads of Doom. Behind the off-the- wall moniker, they're five metro-area high schoolers with a passion for music and charitable causes. Last weekend, they pounded out their own brand of progressive rock with six other bands at a Boulder benefit to purchase clean water for impoverished areas.

"We all loved the idea of kind of a purpose to our music," says Kyra Brisson, 16, who plays saxophone with the group. "I feel good about it, like we've done something with our time." Now, it seems as if everyone's joining the band. No one's anointing them the "greatest generation," but young people have been reaching out in remarkable numbers.

Youths ages 16 to 19 volunteered in 2005 at more than twice the rate teens did at the close of the "greed is good" 1980s. Participation by 20- to 24-year-olds also jumped by more than half over the same period, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which advocates civic engagement through programs like AmeriCorps.

Although the surge has leveled off since 2000, the generational leap has prompted much analysis of its causes. Turns out it's more than just hip to help. Experts point to cultural and institutional milestones that have ingrained volunteerism and general civic-mindedness into young people since the early '90s, following a period of what some saw as alarming self-absorption.

"By the late '80s, you heard various terms associated with youth - like greedy, self-indulgent," says Jim Youniss, a psychology professor who has studied the trend at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. "One freshman college survey showed that students placed self-gain over the common good. People began to ask: 'What happened to them?"' In short order, the nation witnessed a seismic shift along several cultural fault lines.

Backlash to the "Me Generation" of the '70s and '80s. New expectations from colleges seeking more than good GPAs and SATs. Research that showed community service enhanced health and happiness. Parents channeling the activism of the '60s into their kids.

"Taken at face value, it's a renaissance of the moral idealism lost in the '80s," says Stephen Post, co-author of "Why Good Things Happen to Good People." A push doesn't hurt. Not that all these kids are inherently more altruistic. Sometimes they get a bit of a push - like high school graduation

standards that demand volunteer hours as well as academic achievement. Churches have taken on a broader service role that has filtered to young members. Organizations like school honor societies press kids to round out their academic excellence with civic involvement.

But - news flash! - teens generally don't like being told what to do. High school-age kids rejected a community service requirement for graduation by a 2-1 margin in one national survey. Among schools that do require service, some have suggested tougher standards to make it more meaningful - no more helping coach roll up the wrestling mats to burn mandatory volunteer hours. And yes, college admissions folks allow, the right record of community service can be a "tip factor" in favor of a borderline applicant.

Institutional expectations add fuel to the surge of community-mindedness, but they're hardly universal. Some school districts shy away from volunteer requirements - Denver and Jefferson County, the state's two biggest districts, don't demand service hours.

Some even note that the very term "community service" has an almost punitive ring from its association with criminal justice and that volunteerism should come from the heart. Others figure that forcing kids to get a taste of service can't hurt - and exposure to doing good works can blossom into something significant and lasting.

But is self-interest powering the trend toward selflessness? "Raised expectations might have something to do with it," says Ben Barron, the guitarist for the Crazy Laughing Monkey Heads. "But it's just part of this generation's culture." Last year, in a survey about attitudes toward volunteering, a group at the University of Maryland zeroed in on the top motivator for youth service:

They were asked.

Nebraska ranked first in the nation last year for volunteering among high school students. Not surprisingly, service is a statewide graduation requirement.

"If someone volunteers because they're moved by the plight of some constituency, that's ideal," notes author Post. "But in the absence of that ideal, making this a school requirement is forcing people to stumble onto joy."

"Worthwhile" work
As a freshman at ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, Shayna Starita winced at the Douglas County School District's 20-hour community service requirement over four years. Then she happened onto the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, which became the roots for further service. Now, in her senior year, Starita helps coach a special-education soccer team.

She's a staunch supporter of a service requirement in a district where a survey showed students roughly split on its value. As a member of the district's Student Advisory Group, she'll help make recommendations this fall on how to make the 20 hours more relevant. "We're going to be focusing on studying guidelines on how to get those hours so they're not pointless, but actually worthwhile," she says.

Last year, Brisson - the saxophonist for the Crazy Laughing Monkey Heads - also served as community service coordinator for the sophomore class at the private Alexander Dawson School in Lafayette, where such work holds a high priority.

Sophomores have been required to do 10 hours of documented service - a number that was bumped to 20 hours this year - with the idea of making it a habit that continues during their junior and senior years. The school's 180 high schoolers participated in about 90 service projects last year.

At Green Mountain High School in Jefferson County, an organization called the BIONIC team - "Believe It or Not, I Care" - pinpoints its efforts through smaller groups that address specific needs, whether it's making new students feel welcome or taking pies and condolences to families of students who have lost a loved one. Already this school year, 17-year-old Tara Hennig twice has stood on the doorstep of homes that suffered such losses.

"When they opened the door, you could see in their faces everything they'd been going through," Hennig says. "You don't find yourself in that situation often - it was a different kind of outreach. I felt humbled afterward."

Individual focus
Many schools also have built stronger connections between coursework and volunteerism - a concept known as "service learning," which injects relevance to academia by applying study to real-life community needs. Some say opportunities for such targeted service mark a change from the '60s, when students mobilized over big-picture social and political issues.

"I think there has been a shift, where students don't work on political campaigns as much as they used to, or boycotts or marches," says Karen Partridge, spokeswoman for Campus Compact, a consortium of 1,100 schools that encourages service at the college level. "They want to see the impact. Students now say the '60s were a lot of sound and fury that didn't end up doing much."

Kayla Peterson approached the Longmont Humane Society a few years ago - not so much to make a real difference, but to kill idle time. "Then," she says, "it became a passion."

Now a high school senior, Peterson has put in more than 500 volunteer hours. On a weekday after school, she and kindred spirits Amber Rosenberg and Sonya Baker, both 16, walk the dogs, brush them and lavish attention on the grateful pooches.

Why do they do it? "Joy," says Rosenberg. "It's like my second home." For Peterson, it's an experience that has taught responsibility and reinforced a volunteer habit she plans to continue. "Working with animals, at a local hospital - I'll do something," she says. "It's one of those feel-good kinds of things."

Sarah Clusman started coordinating volunteers at the Longmont Humane Society five years ago and quickly found that students' offers to help out had surpassed the available programs. So she expanded the opportunities, identified duties that even younger kids could fulfill and watched the programs flourish. Five years ago, about 35 kids volunteered each week. In the just-completed summer session, more than 100 kids put in hours on a weekly basis.

Laura Kinder, executive director of Volunteer Connection in Boulder, says her organization gets about 11,000 hits a month on its website. "We're working with a group of individuals who feel like yes, they can change the world and they will change the world," she says.

On stage in Boulder, Ben Barron and the rest of the Crazy Laughing Monkey Heads - they played under the less- wacky name of Sound Circus for this show - cranked it up for an appreciative audience. Before this show, the band raised $8,000 for an orphanage in Kenya where Barron's aunt has volunteered. Before that, some of the members jammed cool jazz to an older audience - as volunteers at a retirement home.

The group has had a couple of paying gigs but basically exists to do bigger and better benefit concerts - including a second one for the Kenyan orphanage later this year. "We're not trying to land a record deal or hit it big," says Barron. "We just want to have a good time and help some people while we're doing it. There's no better feeling."

The Power of One
By Jan Hittelman, Daily Camera, July 30, 2007

In the counseling field there are numerous schools of thought regarding the most effective therapy techniques. While the specific strategies utilized are of great importance, the success of any therapeutic approach is primarily a function of the underlying relationship between client and therapist. More specifically, the client knowing that the therapist genuinely cares.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with the dedicated and talented staff of September High School. I asked them about their core beliefs regarding their work. They all agreed that the most important ingredient to success was the quality of the relationship with their students.

All human beings have an instinctual need for warmth, nurturance and support from at least one other human being. This begins on a tactile level at birth. Infants (and young children) who are persistently denied caretaker attention invariably develop emotional difficulties and abnormal behavior patterns. These children often display a lack of social responsiveness. They often apathetically stare into space, lacking social interest, curiosity and spontaneity. In severe cases, these children also fail to thrive in terms of weight gain and motor development.

As a parent it's easy to get consumed by the myriad tasks and issues that come with the responsibilities of raising a child and lose sight of the importance of the underlying relationship. It often involves the simplest things, like conveying a sense of love and caring, as well as simply having fun together.

It is not widely known, but one of the most effective interventions for young children and adolescents is something that you don't need any graduate training to provide. It should be no surprise, with what we know about the importance of relationship, that this powerful experience is the gift of mentoring. Studies reveal that youth who are provided with an effective mentor often demonstrate significantly improved academic, social and emotional functioning and are at a reduced risk for substance abuse, criminal and violent behavior. Mentoring is a unique way for one person volunteering a limited amount of time to have a powerful impact on the life of a child. Research has shown that it is specifically the quality of the relationship between mentor and child that dictates its success and why mentor training is such an important component of any mentoring program.

There are many agencies in our community that match at-risk youth with mentors. Several of these mentoring programs have formed a collaboration called MentorsMatter. This service helps to match potential mentors with programs based upon their interests and time availability. Typically time commitments vary from a few hours a week, to a few hours a month. Too often we feel helpless in the face of challenges in our society. Mentoring is an opportunity for individuals to make a real impact.

For more information, call The Volunteer Connection at 303-444-4904 or e-mail them at mentors@volunteerconnection.net.

I Volunteer Day
By Paula Pant, Colorado Daily, April 23, 2007

It's almost lunchtime on Saturday in north Boulder when Eva, age four and a half, grabs her brother Danny's hand and presses it onto a brown paper bag. Danny, age one and half, peers out from under his mop of curly dark blond hair, as an older child traces his handprint onto the bag with washable marker.

A blond toddler sits on the floor nearby, chewing on a keychain. The roast beef on a nearby picnic table remains untouched, but the peanut-butter-and-jelly had been devoured. The children are decorating bags a local nonprofit, Project Angel Heart, will soon fill with goods and distribute to terminally ill patients.

"Whose bag will they like best?" Eva asks her mom. She's gotten bored of holding her brothers' hand; her attention has now turned to a can of Minute Maid lemonade, which she's dangerously close to spilling all over her bright blue dress.

Their mother, a 38-year-old former attorney turned stay-at-home mom, looks up from the Crayola rainbow she's scribbling onto a bag. "I think they'll be happy to see all of them," Nicole Benjamin told her daughter.

The family was among 500 local residents taking part in I Volunteer! Day, Boulder's largest annual service day, held Saturday as a grand finale to National Volunteer Week.

The Benjamins spent the morning at a volunteer drop-in site at Calvary Baptist Church, where mostly mothers with young children - who couldn't commit to a four-hour project with a fixed start and end time - could volunteer at leisure.

Six nonprofits offered projects at the drop-in site, ranging from sewing blankets for sick children to decorating thank-you cards.

More than 40 Boulder County agencies hosted I Volunteer! Day projects for the 500-plus volunteers. The day's events were coordinated by the Volunteer Connection, a nonprofit clearinghouse that essentially serves as a matchmaker between prospective volunteers and their ideal organization.

At first glance, Anna Lieb, 18, looks like an average outdoor enthusiast wading through Boulder Creek, armed with a Nike running bag, a Nalgene bottle with a leave-no-trace sticker, and a pair of Chacos on her feet. Peer a little closer, and you'll notice the thick latex gloves on her hands and a trash bag not far from the rock she's crouched upon.

Lieb was one of 20-25 people who spent I Volunteer! Day cleaning trash out of the creek. "I go running on Boulder Creek a lot and I love it," Lieb said, "so I feel like it's a good thing to give back to the community... and it's a really nice day to be outside."

Gabe Turek, 31, has been playing in Boulder Creek for 22 years. Saturday was his first day cleaning it. He found a full canister of lighter fluid and a neatly tied bag of dog poop floating downstream, he said.

No one beat Christian Militeau's discovery: the 40-year-old unearthed a grocery cart in the middle of the creek.

Paul Hempel, Executive Director of Boulder Creek Watershed Initiative, hosts creak clean-ups three times a year. But he said he's never collected as many volunteers as he did on I Volunteer! Day. "This is our first time working with the Volunteer Connection, and it really helped," Hempel said. "We tripled our turnout, which makes for a shorter day."

Back at the drop-in site, Danny studied his "surf wagon" t-shirt while Eva insisted her mom's rainbow needed a layer of pink. "I've volunteered my whole lifeŠ and I wanted to make sure it was an important value [my kids] shared with me," Benjamin said.

The family volunteers through their synagogue, she said, but wanted to take part in a greater community event as well. The children had lasted at the drop-in site for two hours, Benjamin said. They were beginning to get antsy.

Eva complained the Elmer's glue wasn't strong enough to make mini-pom-poms stick to the bags. But she said she liked the cartoon stamps. "For every stamp that went on her," Benjamin said, "we got some on the bags, too."

Volunteers celebrate Earth Day: Hundreds flock to local nonprofits to give support
By Daniel McIntosh, Boulder Camera , Sunday, April 22, 2007

There's more to Earth Day than trees.

A holistic approach to helping the planet was the emphasis behind Boulder County's fourth annual "I Volunteer Day," which mobilized hundreds of people Saturday to work on 40 different projects for local nonprofit groups. They painted buildings, planted gardens and created care packages, to name just a few.

"We like to think that Earth Day is for everyone on Planet Earth — people, animals and plants," said Laura Kinder, executive director of the Volunteer Connection, which organized the event in conjunction with Earth Day and National Volunteer Week. "You don't always have to go out and plant a tree or clean up a watershed; Just visiting people really helps."

Kinder oversaw a drop-in site at Boulder's Calvary Bible Church, where volunteers sewed blankets for sick children; decorated grocery bags for use delivering meals to the elderly; and made thank-you notes for people who had already donated money to nonprofits involved.

Because most projects required a four-hour time commitment and manual labor, the drop-in site was geared toward families with young children and people with disabilities.

Steven Heinen, 13, came to the drop-in site for the second year in a row, saying he had a lot of fun volunteering last year. He sat at a table with four other young people, making thank-you cards for donors to Attention Homes, which provides residential treatment, counseling and shelter to at-risk youth.

"We write thank you for your donation right here," Steven said, pointing to the inside of his construction-paper card that featured a peace sign on the front. "Making cards is kind of my thing."

At Boulder's Carriage House, a day resource center for the homeless, about 25 volunteers, staff and clients helped paint the interior of the house. It was the first time the nonprofit participated in "I Volunteer Day," and the building really needed a new coat of paint, said Mary Katherine Jones, volunteer coordinator for the Carriage House.

"For the past two years since I've been here, the walls have had crusty food and dirt all over it," she said. "We wanted to paint it a darker color so it would be more stain-resistant, and we also used semi-gloss paint." The job was complete within four hours, and Jones said she couldn't believe she was standing in the same building.
Mother Nature wasn't neglected by Saturday's volunteer efforts.

At Boulder Pride, about 20 volunteers planted flowering shrubs, spring perennials and herbs. "We're trying to spread joy and celebrate Earth Day by putting all these new beautiful plants in the ground," said Kirsten Spielmann, director of programs.

5 Questions with Laura Kinder and Amber Gerding, Holly volunteers
By Sue Deans, Boulder Camera, April 16, 2007

Laura Kinder, right, director of Volunteer Connection,
and Amber Gerding, with AmeriCorps VISTA

Residents of tiny Holly, in southeastern Colorado four miles from Kansas, needed help after a killer tornado hit there March 28. Two Boulder women were there for them.

Laura Kinder, director of Volunteer Connection of Boulder County, and Amber Gerding from AmeriCorps VISTA, who works with Kinder's agency, spent April 5-8 in Holly as representatives of the Colorado Volunteer Center Network.

The tornado killed one woman and injured 11, many of whom remain hospitalized, including Holly's mayor. Thirty-five homes were destroyed and 32 were damaged.

1. Why were you asked to go to Holly?
Laura Kinder: When the disaster happened — I can't believe it was only two weeks ago — they needed assistance with a lot of things. We went as part of the Colorado Volunteer Center Network, which includes five different volunteer centers in Colorado. Many other agencies were in Holly, too — the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, FEMA.

2. What were your duties there?
LK: Our role was to manage. The first group to go put together some systems to track people calling in or coming by and wanting to volunteer.

Amber Gerding: People came from their vacations, to camp and stay to help as long as they could.

LK: And the faith-based communities sent their people, too, through connections with the churches in Holly.

We wanted to track all the volunteers, how many there were and what kind of work they were doing. That helps Holly to estimate a true cost for the town by knowing what kinds of services were donated.

3. What kind of situation did you find there?
LK: Holly is a tiny, tiny little place. The phone lines were down. The power was out. They were trying to make connections to get help, with the Red Cross, FEMA. There were briefings every morning, and we used that information to figure out where to place volunteers.

AG: We'd notice things that needed to be done, too. We went from door to door and asked about the impact on the family — it ranged from none to total devastation.

LK: We compiled that information and it was sent to the governor's office. They can use it to do a better assessment of monetary needs and mental health.

AG: We tried to find out what the amount of damage was and how much insurance there was.

4. What were some of the stories you saw and heard from people?
AG: Something we noticed, where houses had been demolished, was that animals, household pets had come back. Sometimes the owners were in the hospital or staying with other people. We would see a dog or cat hanging out with no food or water, shaking and upset.

LK: We talked to a shelter in Lamar but they could only operate locally. They gave us the names of two rescue groups. A nursing center also had taken in some of the animals. And Code 3, a national animal rescue group, got permits to take portable kennels in.

AG: The church signs said positive things, like, "We will survive," "We are Holly and we will be OK." This will be an opportunity to build a better Holly.

LK: The Saturday before Easter they were all talking about their blessings. They had a combined service and an egg hunt at the high school.

AG: They called the tornado "The Peacemaker," because it brought people together.

LK: They were hearing from people 200 miles away, in Nebraska, who had found things the tornado had carried there — Christmas ornaments, a checkbook, receipts, pages out of a photo album, a soccer trophy.

5. How can we help? What do people need there?
AG: This week they are putting together a reception center where they can coordinate donations, volunteers and financial support. Then they can coordinate and match up somebody with a pickup truck and somebody who has a microwave or furniture to bring it down there.

LK: They need places to store and organize the donations. They don't need clothing, but they do need appliances, beds, furnishings for kitchens and bathrooms. They want to organize the storage site so it looks like a store, to honor the people.

AG: The phone for the reception center is 719-537-6047. Volunteers should call before going to Holly.

Spring into service
By Paula Pant, Colorado Daily, April 15, 2007

The bike shops are busy. Eldora Ski Resort is closed for the season. All signs point to spring. Which means its time to clear out the cobwebs. Close up the fireplace. Get outside and play ball. And add some volunteering to your life.

Springtime is most popular time of year for "show-up-and-serve" volunteer projects, those hands-on, tangible projects that can be done in a single afternoon (as opposed to long-term endeavors like planning a fundraiser or mentoring a child).

The seasonality of volunteering happens for a number of reasons, said I Volunteer! Day Coordinator Christine Berg: Warmer weather inspires people to leave the house and get involved. New Years' resolution-setters finally get their act together. Family reunions and other annual gatherings - which tend to happen in the springtime - search for a one-day activity. And once it begins, it becomes an annual tradition.

That's why so many schools and youth groups plan service days in the spring; that's why National Volunteer Week is always held in April (this years' is the 15th through the 21st), that's why Earth Day (April 22) jostles for attention with an abundance of fairs, festivals and farmers markets.

Of course, when the demand-side (willing volunteers) rises, the supply-side (stuff for them to do) must step up to the plate. That's a tall order for some nonprofits, who want to attract and retain volunteers but may not have projects geared toward a single-day activity.

This puts the organizations in a recruiting bind: many long-term volunteers - who can do effective things like plan a fundraiser or mentor a child - begin by engaging in a single-day activity. It's like a first date, of sorts, before jumping into the relationship full-force.

Scroll through the list of 46 projects available on I Volunteer! Day (Boulder's biggest annual day-of-service, which this April 21 is expected to draw a crowd of 500 to 700 volunteers), and you'll notice a pattern: most groups, regardless of their overarching mission, are looking for volunteers to clean, landscape or paint.

The Boulder County AIDS Projects wants 15 volunteers to landscape. Homeless-advocacy group Carriage House is searching for people who can paint. A group that helps at-risk youth, Attention Homes, needs 10 volunteers to dig a small trench for drainage purposes and then prime a fence. A battered women's shelter needs cleaning, painting and yard work.

There are a few exceptions, of course: RSVP of Boulder County, a senior citizen advocacy group, needs volunteers for nursing home visits. Global Response, which protests environmental destruction through letter-writing campaigns, is searching for letter writers. But for the most part, service day activities support a nonprofits' mission rather than addresses that mission directly. After all, it takes more than a single day to learn how to work directly with battered women, to make a safer-sex presentation, or to provide end-of-life hospice support.

Which is why, Berg said, she's glad for all the people who come out to serve for a single day. But she hopes they springboard that day into an ongoing relationship with a nonprofit.

Nonprofit Spotlight: Volunteer Connection
By Sue Deans, Boulder Camera, April 13, 2007

Our mission:
Volunteer Connection engages people as volunteers and strengthens volunteer-based programs, improving the quality of life in Boulder County. Our vision: Volunteerism thrives in Boulder County so that everyone can thrive.

We serve:
We serve two client bases: One is people from all walks of life, of all ages, and with a multitude of abilities, talents, interests, and time availability. The second includes 330-plus nonprofit, school, and government volunteer programs.

Brief history:
Volunteer Connection was founded in 1969, when volunteerism was on the rise, addressing basic needs issues such as hunger and homelessness, literacy, access to education, civil rights, women's rights and animal rights, and restoring and preserving the environment. Concerned people in Boulder County realized there was a need to bring together people who wanted to volunteer.

Established as a division of the United Way in 1969, the Volunteer and Information Center of Boulder County became one of the first agencies in the nation to act as a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities and community resource information. In 1983 the two functions were divided into separate programs and the following year Volunteer Boulder County incorporated as an independent not-for-profit agency. The name was changed to the Volunteer Connection in 1991.

Proudest accomplishment:
For nearly four decades Volunteer Connection has been able to establish networks and sustain lasting relationships on behalf of people who want to make a difference in the community and agencies that allow people, through volunteer programs, to engage in activities that do make a difference.

Our networks include newspapers and magazines that provide weekly column space to promote volunteerism, online newsletters and announcements, an interactive online database of more than 450 volunteer opportunities that receives 12,000 hits a month, and an annual youth connection guide for middle and high school students.

Greatest need:
Volunteer Connection needs a strong, dedicated board to assist with establishing policies, fundraising, strategic planning, marketing and program/staff development. The organization also needs continued financial and in-kind support from Boulder County communities. Responding to requests to help with volunteer/donation management after the tornado in Holly, Volunteer Connection incurred expenses over its 2007 budget.

Future plans:
Volunteer Connection is seeking new venues to best serve all of Boulder County. "I Volunteer!" Day, takes place this year on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22. With 40 projects countywide, everyone should be able to find a fun and rewarding activity, regardless of age and abilities.

Homeless - You can help in a tangible way
Daily Camera, Letters to the Editor, January 24, 2007

Compassion is at the heart of Kathy Kramer's letter (Open Forum, Jan. 23) regarding the homeless man who died exposed to freezing temperatures, and her question of who is accountable for his death begs for answers to a very complex issue.

In understanding homelessness in the United States, in Colorado, and in Boulder County, we individuals with the desire to help can participate in the "point in time" homelessness survey on Jan. 29 and 30. This is a companion survey to the ones completed in August 2005 and January 2004. I will never forget the people I interviewed for these two surveys, because of their willingness to talk with me and their openness with their answers. To volunteer and receive training, contact Penny Hannegan at (303) 499-3684, phhannegan@comcast.net. To volunteer on an on-going basis at one of Boulder County's homeless shelters, contact Volunteer Connection at (303) 444-4904 or visit www.volunteerconnection.net.

Just as the people who witnessed a devastating avalanche lost no time in grabbing poles to search for buried cars and their passengers, those of us with the desire to search for ways to help those who are buried in the cycle of homelessness, we need to lose no time with our response. I urge you to volunteer for the point in time survey and to participate in the homelessness discussion.

Laura Kinder, Executive Director, Volunteer Connection

Business Philanthropy

Not long ago, I left my post-college career of five years to launch my own business in real estate. I found myself with an abundance of freedom to make various decisions regarding my business, and most importantly, how to build it. I made the decision early on to create a business with a focus and foundation built on giving.

There are over 360 non-profits in Boulder County and more than 1.5 million in the U.S. that depend on volunteerism and donations from individuals and businesses to both exist and fulfill their missions. Boulder County is one of the top areas in the country for volunteerism, meaning our community is donating more time than most other communities in the country. A dichotomy, however, exists between personal levels of volunteerism and local monetary contributions to non-profits: Boulder County citizens donate far less than other areas in the U.S. with comparable wealth levels. According to The Chronicle's Analysis . . . more . . .

Laura Kinder - Executive Director of Volunteer Connection

As a little girl, Laura Kinder made trick-or-treating her own personal get-out-the-vote campaign.

Because Halloween is just two weeks before Election Day, we would always trick-or-treat and say 'don't forget to vote'," Kinder said, reflecting on one of her many experiences as a child activist. more . . .

A day on, not a day off - theme for King Day is making a difference
Daily Camera, January 15, 2007

Usually we consider a holiday a welcome respite from the daily grind — loafing, relaxing, curled up in front of the tube. But organizers of the Martin Luther King Jr. annual celebration remind us that public service is part of the deal that gives us the day off today.

The holiday's theme is "Remember! Celebrate! Act! A Day On, Not a Day Off!" Organizations such as the Corporation for National and Community Service, mlkday@cns.gov, and the King Center in Atlanta, thekingcenter.org, even provide lists online of possible volunteer activities in every state.

The King holiday, approved by Congress in 1983 in memory of the slain civil rights leader, was first celebrated Jan. 20, 1986. In 1994, Congress designated the holiday, the third Monday of January, as a national day of volunteer service. Many don't even realize that Dr. King is memorialized by a day of service, let alone devote their own time to the cause.

Organized events in our area today in honor of Dr. King include the following (more details can be found elsewhere in today's Daily Camera): Youth Opportunities Program rally with the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, 11 a.m. to noon in front of the Boulder County Courthouse, in downtown Boulder on the Pearl Street Mall. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at Boulder High School Auditorium beginning at noon, including a Human Rights Fair and entertainment by Wendy Woo. Peace march and rally in Lafayette from 11:30 to 1:30 beginning at City Hall and marching to Pioneer Elementary School.

In Denver, the Martin Luther King Day 'Marade,' beginning at 8:30 a.m. in City Park.
In addition, there's plenty of opportunity for individuals to help improve our community in other ways. Many organizations need the skills and abilities you may have.
Every Saturday, the Daily Camera publishes a list of volunteer opportunities in the Balance section. Or call Volunteer Connection at (303) 444-4904 or check its Web site at www.volunteerconnection.net to search for more.

Make this a day that makes a difference. Get off the couch and help get us closer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream. Words from his "I've been to the mountaintop" speech on April 3, 1968, the day before he was shot and killed in Memphis, Tenn., still ring true:
"Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge,
to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation."

Giving Goes Downhill

Snowboarding can be a fun, rewarding experience, but it's also an expensive pastime. That goes double for underprivileged children who not only lack the resources to enjoy the sport, but also the proper clothing.

And that's where Snowboard Outreach Society (SOS) Development Director Seth Ehrlich steps in: supporting at-risk youth by providing them with the proper attire as part of this year's annual SOS equipment and clothing drive. more . . .

Join Me and the First Lady in Helping Youth
Editorial by Amber Gerding, Colorado Daily, November 1st, 2006

Like most Americans, I was eating dinner in front of the television last night as I watched Monday Night Football on ESPN. Tired of the constant airing political commercials aimed at destroying reputations, I was pleasantly surprised to see Laura Bush in a light-hearted advertisement encouraging adult volunteers to sign up as mentors to the millions of underprivileged youth in America.

How easy it is for all of us to get caught up in the madness of our everyday lives, especially as the holidays approach, and we get busier with every second. If you are like me, plopping down on the couch at the end of a workday to watch football is the perfect way to zone out and relax (that is, besides the ever so often jumping-up-and-down and screaming after a touchdown).

Although our hometown Broncos were not involved in this particular Monday Night showdown, the advertisement regarding mentoring, rings close to home. And, we can’t forget about the hundreds of low-income, at-risk children living right here in our own backyard, that are in need of a positive adult mentor.

If Laura Bush’s commercial touched you, as it did me, and you feel a calling to get involved, or if you are just interested in learning more about local mentoring programs, please visit www.volunteerconnection.net/mentorsmatter, or call
303-444-4904.

In the words of Mrs. Bush: “Help America’s Youth. Be a friend. Be a Mentor. Just be there.” How about starting right here in Colorado, the place we are all proud to call our home.

Volunteer Connection to Host Fundraiser
By Melanie M. Sidwell, The Daily Times-Call

Volunteer Connection, an organization that matches volunteers with more than 450 agencies in Boulder County, is throwing its first fundraiser, A Purple Affair, on Oct. 17.

The organization usually collects its financial support through grants and individual donations, event co-chairwoman Katy Chapman said. This year, the committee wanted to develop a signature event, which is focused on Volunteer Connection’s signature color.

The event, with The Johnny O. Band as headliner, will feature hors d’oeuvres, a large silent auction and a balloon drawing for prizes at Nissi’s in Lafayette. Purple attire is encouraged, and purple beverages and purple velvet cheesecake will be served, Chapman said. “There might even be a contest for the best purple attire,” she said.

Committee member Kim Plumridge said she wanted to help the organization, which has helped so many other local individuals and agencies. “It’s a way to celebrate what they’re doing,” she said. “It’s an organization that tries to place people who want to volunteer with the needs in the community.”

Plumridge said she has used Volunteer Connection as a member of the Rotary Club of Boulder Flatirons and Meals on Wheels groups to find volunteer opportunities. Volunteer Connection “is integral in the community,” she said. “That’s why this is really important ... because they help so many people.”

Volunteer Connection
By Marj Hellebust for Frazier Meadows, The Mirror

To continue spotlighting residents who volunteer beyond the Frazier campus, today we point to Herb Harris. Herb is pleased when he can use his computer skills for volunteering. He worked for IBM in Boulder as an in-house computer programmer for more then 24 years.

Now he edits and formats volunteer profiles for the Volunteer Connection of Boulder County, a clearing house for volunteers and jobs. Herb has been spending about 15 hours a month for the past three or four years on this. Each week he gets information and a photo for two people, one who volunteers in Boulder and one in Longmont. He formats and processes these items and places them on the Volunteer Connection Website.

Previously Herb volunteered for 10+ years with Community Food Share. Here at Frazier he maintains the monthly birthday lists for The Mirror and the Activities Department. It, with help from other volunteers, distributes a card and flower to each FMRC resident on his/her birthday. Herb also does signage for the Surplus Store and the Clothes Closet, and he and his wife, Jean, help out with Trinkets & treasures. He also published The Mirror for a few years.

Jobs, purchases, extra time spent helping others
By Paula Pant, Colorado Daily, August 27, 2006

A new revolution is taking place across the nation. No, it's not as scintillating as the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Nor is it as headline-dominating as the democratic revolutions infusing nations across the globe, from Iran to China. But it is - some say - equally important.

The woes of the 21st century have created a sharp resurgence in volunteerism and civic engagement across the United States.

“The events of the past five years, starting on September 11 in 2001, (triggered) the immediate responsiveness of people,” said Laura Kinder, executive director of Volunteer Connection, a Boulder-based volunteer placement agency that works with more than 450 area nonprofits.

“Then there was a series of natural disasters,” said Kinder. “One year it was like the whole west was on fire. Another year, (Hurricane) Katrina was that piece.”

Major grassroots political campaigns to feed the hungry or shelter the cold are few and far between. But people across the U.S. are increasingly looking to all aspects of their lives - employment, consumer habits, and extracurricular volunteerism - to better the world.

Others look to for-profit companies who practice “social responsibility,” an increasingly-popular buzzword that in the past 5 years has fueled the rise of major distributors such as Whole Foods and Wild Oats, and the products on its shelves - Seventh Generation, Annie's Naturals, Sambazon, Clif Bar.

Even toilet-paper is recycled.

Cars are fueled with French-fry grease-and not just Volkswagen Buses driven by hippies headed to Rainbow Gatherings, but mainstream vehicles such as the University of Colorado's Buff Buses, which shuttle athletes to away games and freshmen to dormitories.

“I think there's something very unique with the young people,” said Kinder. “Part of that's the events of the past five years, and then also in the corporate world, things like Enron and other businesses that aren't necessarily showing the best practices.”

Locally, the dedication of young adults to civic engagement is undoubtedly evident in schools across Boulder. This past spring, Naropa University held two “Compassion in Action Days,” while the University of Colorado at Boulder hosted a “Better-Boulder, Better-World” day of service. Local high schools, from New Vista High School in Boulder to Alexander Dawson School in Lafayette, held service programs lasting from one to four full days.

The events coincided with National and Global Youth Service Day, though “day” is a misnomer - the enthusiasm was so enormous that the “day” was actually spread out over three: April 21-23.

Volunteer-tracking agencies like the National Corporation for Community Service report a steady rise in volunteer trends.

The resurgence in volunteerism isn't just limited to youth. Americans 50 and over are giving both time and money in record numbers. The public's recent attention has been captured less by Paris Hilton than by Warren Buffet, the investor who lives in a $31,500 Nebraska home but gave $30.7 billion to charity.

Donors are increasingly opening up not only their checkbooks but their day planners, said Josie Heath, president of the Community Foundation, which advises Boulder residents planning philanthropic giving.

“Americans have always liked the idea of hands-on philanthropy,” said Heath.

The resurgence is taking place everywhere - in churches and faith communities, in Spanish-speaking and English-speaking agencies, in secular schools and among groups of friends.

“A lot of people are attracted to finding meaning in the work that they do,” said Kinder.

City of Longmont Hosts Volunteer Fair

Organizations seeking volunteers are invited to participate in a Volunteer Fair Tuesday, June 20 at Roosevelt Park, 4-8 pm. This new event offers the opportunity for organizations to increase their visibility and share information with residents about volunteer opportunities in their community.

The fair will take place in conjunction with the Outdoor Air Market and the summer concert featuring the Longmont Concert Band and Longmont Barbershoppers (concert starts at 6:30 pm).

The volunteer fair is being sponsored by Longmont Parks and Open Space, Longmont Senior Services, and Volunteer Connection.

A $5 booth fee will be collected from each organization and tents are available to rent for an additional $25. Deadline for submitting an application is June 13. For more information and an application, call Kari Grotting at 303-651-8495 or Deborah Price, 303-774-4692.

Service In Bloom
By Paula Pant, Colorado Daily, April 30, 2006

Local nonprofit organizers celebrate the hundreds of people who lent a hand to community projects throughout this week in recognition off National Volunteer Week.

"National Volunteer Week is definitely a time when we honor all of the people who donate their time and talent. . . to help make their community a better place," said Laura Kinder, executive director of Volunteer Connection, a agency which connects aspiring volunteers to local nonprofits which suit their interests. "It's a really important piece of being a citizen."

Sponsored by the national volunteer-promotion agency points of Light Foundation, National Volunteer Week (NVW) came into effect in 1974 through am executive order signed by President Nixon.

This year, NVW ran from April 23 to 29, and was preempted by National and Global Youth Service Day, April 21-23.

The week continues to be recognized at the national level - President Bush spent part of NVW in Louisiana and Mississippi promoting service projects, and 21 NVW events were attended by cabinet secretaries and other high-ranking government officials. The president's Council on Service and Civic Participation released a public service announcement promoting a web site, www.volunteer.gov, which lists local agencies in need of volunteers.

"During National Volunteer Week, and throughout the year, we appreciate the millions of volunteers across America and strive to be a more compassionate and decent society," said Bush according to a press release.

"A lot of us made resolutions on January first that may have included helping our community, and spring is a good time to begin that," said Kinder. "It's a good time to set the pace for the rest of the year."

The month of April has seen schools and agencies across Boulder sponsor one-day service projects in droves. Naropa University held it's "Compassion in Action Days," two days of service projects, earlier in the month, while CU-Boulder held it's "Better Boulder - Better World" service day in mid-April.

April is also Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Earth Day is April 22.

"My philosophy is that spring is a time of renewal, it's a time of coming out and celebrating rebirth and the good things that come with this season," said Kinder,

"There was a group working with pre-school students who had never worked with pre-schoolers before, who liked it so much they're interested in doing it this summer," said Doyen Mitchell, Community Service Coordinator for Alexander Dawson School, whose students kicked off NVW with a day of service.

She noted that service not only benefits the outside community, but also creates a sense of community between volunteers.

"It seems like the faculty and students enjoy working together. . . working together provided camaraderie," said Mitchell. "Probably the organizers of NVW realize they're not the only ones doing it."

NVW is not just a time for hosting service days and encouraging new volunteers - it's also a time to thank volunteers who are already volunteering regularly. The Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross "sent out thank-you letters and e-mails to all of our volunteers," said Nicole Adair, marketing manager.

Mitz and Millie Kurth have volunteered with the Red Cross' transportation unit for two decades. They, too, notice the sense of community that stems from volunteerism.

"They're all friends. If they ride with you they become friends," said Mitz Kurth. "One of my clients, who has been blind since birth, got an eye infection a year ago and had to have both eyes removed. She's waiting for her glass eyes and said she doesn't know whether to get the green or blue eyes. That's her sense of humor. She has the kind of personality that after you've met her a few times you never forget her," says Kurth.

Every year the Kurths also create almost 500 music books in Braille, which they distribute to the blind.

Ray Stockham, a retired public school teacher who has volunteered with the Red Cross in Denver for 23 years, echoed the same sentiment.

"It's something rewarding to do because I get a lot of 'thank yous'. There are clients that we have over and over so I get to know them," Stockham said. His work with the Red Cross has also taken him to aid victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at Ground Zero and victims of Hurricane katrina.

Being thanked, say many, is the best form of payment for a volunteer.

Several volunteers went to Lafayette at the start of NVW to tend the yards of ill or elderly people who couldn't do the work themselves.

"At one site, a woman came out to say thank you, thank you, thank you to the volunteers," said Kinder.

Satisfaction also stems from seeing the difference that volunteer work creates. A group of volunteers who recently cleaned up the area around Coal Creek, in the south of Boulder County, reported seeing a major before-and-after impact.

"The creek, from what they told us, was in awful condition," said Kinder. "When they left that area it was clean and beautiful. They could visually see that they were making a difference."

Broadway building faces change
By Alicia Wallace, Boulder Daily Camera, January 13, 2006

A makeshift "closed" sign has hung in the front window of Alexander's & Levorio's Creekside Cafe for a couple of weeks — but it's not what it looks like.

Not only is the restaurant expected to reopen, but discussions have gone on behind those closed doors that could lead to a mix of uses at the building, 1718 Broadway.

On Wednesday, John Haertling, the building's owner, met with a handful of members from Boulder County nonprofits to brainstorm possible uses of some of the additional space in the building. Past tenants include the Library Pub, La Estrellita and the Yocom photography studio.

The building could be used to help showcase nonprofit organizations, Haertling said. "I don't want to disengage with the restaurant. That's in place," he said.

At the Wednesday meeting, Haertling and other members of nonprofit groups brought up various ideas — from office and meeting space for organizations to a nonprofit-themed cyber cafe.

Laura Kinder, executive director of the Volunteer Connection of Boulder County, said the building could become a "known place for good works being done in Boulder County."

"I think, no matter how it goes, there are many different creative ways to make it happen," she said.

One idea she proposed was utilizing the table top space to give information about local nonprofits, and to have a "fun menu" of volunteer activities. Community Food Share Chief Executive Officer Jim Baldwin suggested the idea of an Internet cafe where people can find information about nonprofits.

Haertling said he has discussed his ideas with Alex Cordova, the restaurant's owner.

"He is totally open to the idea of what it would take to become a more vital business in the area," Haertling said. "He has been successful in the summer and has had his challenges in this winter with staffing and various things that just added up to a point where something had to slow down and he had to reconnect."

Cordova, who also operates Alexander's Mexican Restaurant across the street, said he temporarily closed the small restaurant last fall to generate traffic to the larger Alexander's at 1718 Broadway.

"The reason I did that was I was trying to get people to get used to it, which we did," Cordova said. "But then at the same time I got a lot of complaints of when I was going to reopen the little one."

The smaller one, which Cordova has run for about 18 years, is open again.

Along with a slower winter season, the primary manager of Alexander's and Levorio's had a sudden severe illness. So Cordova decided to temporarily close that restaurant with plans to reopen by February. By then, he said, he hopes to have a chef from New York in place and continue his plans to offer Mexican food, including some organic and vegan entrees, and a coffee and juice bar as well.

Haertling said he hopes to move forward with a proposal by March 15.

Filling family gaps - Mentors provide support, education to kids
By Melanie M. Sidwell, The Daily Times-Call, January 6, 2006

What do the following pairs of well-known people have in common?

Lance Armstrong and Eddy Merckx. Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore. Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou.

The answer: The first person listed was mentored by the second one.

“Who mentored you?” is a question the nonprofit Volunteer Connection has asked prominent community members, as January is National Mentoring Month and Thank Your Mentor Day is Jan. 25.

MentorsMatter, a collaborative project among four area organizations, hopes to promote mentoring and its recruitment.

Boulder County Partners, I Have a Dream Foundation of Boulder County, Hope Project of Boulder County Department of Social Services and the YWCA of Boulder are partners in MentorsMatter.

“What (the agencies) have in common is that they’re looking for mentors for at-risk youth,” said Volunteer Connection executive director Laura Kinder.

The collaboration began four years ago when the agencies all struggled to find mentors for an estimated 250 local youths.

“The beauty of (the mentoring agencies) coming together for a recruitment effort is they can offer a menu for people if they would like to mentor and how they would go about it,” Kinder said.

Agencies like I Have a Dream provide more academic opportunities between a mentor and child, while Boulder County Partners and the YWCA offer recreational activities.

Mentors are matched with youths of the same gender who share interests.

“It’s a real struggle to recruit mentors,” Kinder said. “One of the reasons, which follows a national trend, is that a lot of people prefer one-time, episodic opportunities rather than a long-
term commitment, which mentorship really does require.”

Half of the 25 children waiting for mentors through Boulder County Partners are from Longmont, and only five of the 51 students through the IHAD Longmont project see mentors regularly.

These are “at-risk” children, a term placed on youngsters who live in an unstable environment, Kinder said.

They might be in foster care or homeless; they might be affected by drug or alcohol abuse; or their parents work multiple jobs.

Sue Cable, a Boulder real estate professional, said she tested the waters of mentorship by first tutoring a child in Longmont through the I Have a Dream Foundation.

“At first, it was pretty intimidating,” Cable said. “I just didn’t know where to start, where to go and I didn’t know how the relationship would be.”

She is now in her third year as a mentor to fourth-grader Alexis. Cable said she and Alexis have taken swimming lessons, worked on reading homework, attended “The Nutcracker” ballet and climbed on a jungle gym.

“It took (Alexis) a little while to trust me, but six months into it we had a bond that was really amazing,” Cable said. “It’s a great way for me to be involved in a child’s life without having a child.”

Research suggests mentoring benefits both the adult and the child involved.

In 1995, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America — the largest mentoring organization in the world — conducted a study that showed mentored children ages 10 to 16 were 46 percent less likely to start using drugs than unmentored kids.

Also, The Commonwealth Fund, a private nonpartisan foundation that supports independent research on health-care issues, surveyed 1,500 mentors, three-quarters of whom said their experiences provided a break from their busy professions and gave hem a chance to give back.

But “not all mentorships work out,” said Tamara Wendt, the IHAD Longmont project coordinator.

Wendt said she has seen mentorships fail because the volunteer, the child or the child’s family was not committed to the relationship or a mentor wasn’t flexible enough.

“But when it works, it is really fun and gratifying,” she said. “These kids come to count on these adults. It’s kind of magical how it works. There are no rules for how that happens.”

Mentors “come to volunteer because either they were an at-risk child and they say ‘nobody helped me’ or somebody did and they want to repay that,” said Susi Keith, executive director of Boulder County Partners, a Longmont agency dedicated to mentoring area youth.

“Mentoring today is what families did by nature two or three generations ago,” Keith said.

Kinder said mentors can be any caring adult: a teacher, a parent or even an employer.

“These agencies have come together and recognized they need the community to step forward to help our children, and because of their concern for all children in Boulder County, they’re on a mission to recruit mentors and provide mentors with the best support possible,” Kinder said.

Potential mentors endure a rigorous screening process, which includes a criminal background check, personal references, proof of driver’s license and an interview, as well as training to ensure a safe environment for the children.

Mentors and children can participate in individual or group activities through the mentoring agency.

For more information about local mentoring opportunities, call Volunteer Connection at 303-444-4904.

Make your list, check it twice
By Enid Ablowitz, Boulder Daily Camera, December 5, 2005

The holidays are here and you're in the giving spirit.

You understand the Community Foundation's "Culture of Giving" campaign; you've volunteered — or will — for one of the many opportunities through the Volunteer Connection; you've collected envelopes from the direct-mail solicitations; and you are ready to make your year-end gifts.

Here's a checklist to make this year's charitable donations prudent, strategic and meaningful.

Conscious giving: Do you automatically toss a coin when you see the kettle and hear the bell? Have you written the same check to the same organization for the same amount 10 years in a row? This year, don't just be reactive. Be aware of all the ways you give and think about each gift as if it is your only gift. Is it the right amount to the right organization using the right method at the right time? Don't just give out of habit. Stop feeling like you're paying bills.

Select the right gift: You can give "things" like clothes, toys and household items. You can give cash. You can give securities like stocks, bonds and mutual funds. You can give assets from an IRA or retirement fund, real estate, a life insurance policy or even a portion of your estate when you die. You can give assets and get income, or you can give income and only lend the asset. Each type of gift has potential tax implications related to income tax charitable deductions, possible avoidance of capital gains tax and potential estate tax relief. Check with your advisors to be sure your gift is personally and financially optimized.

Timing is everything: If you want your charitable deduction in 2005, you must follow certain rules, like assuring that the gift is "delivered" on or before Dec. 31. That means the mail date or hand-delivery date, not the date a check was written. In the case of a credit-card payment, delivery is the charge date, not the date you pay the bill. Verify the actual charge date if you make gifts via Web sites. Even though you provide the information by Dec. 31, the charge may not actually be processed for days.

Leverage: Find ways to make your gift multiply. Check with your employer about a matching gift program. By meeting a donor's fundraising challenge you could double your gift. Or create your own challenge grant to stimulate giving by other donors for your charitable purpose. Make the federal government your partner by redirecting dollars you would pay in taxes to your favorite nonprofit. Then increase the size of your gift by the amount of the tax you will save through charitable deductions and avoidance.

Document: Receipts, and sometimes appraisals, are necessary to claim tax deductions. Be sure you understand the receipts you are given. Some could be for less than you thought you gave because you may have received a benefit that diminishes the deductibility, such as the cost of a dinner at a fundraising gala. Be sure you are properly acknowledged — and thanked — by the charitable recipient. If you are making a large gift, ask for a gift agreement that spells out how your gift is to be used.

Think longer term: Consider making a multi-year pledge. You may be able to make a larger gift than you thought you could. Your gift might be set aside to support the establishment of a new program or it might allow the organization to rely on cash flow to make important commitments. If you have a significant financial event coming up, like the sale of a business or property or an inheritance, think about this year's philanthropy as the precursor to what will follow. Perhaps you can provide the equivalent of an endowment distribution now and build the actual endowment when the additional funds become available. By planning ahead, tax strategies can be optimized. The same is true of legacy giving. Estate planning can include a charitable component making your philanthropic potential much larger than you might think.

Give joyfully: Feel the joy of giving. Experience the satisfaction of making a difference. Philanthropy celebrates the human spirit and enhances our lives.

Seniors put skills to work by volunteering
By Jennifer Quinn, Boulder County Business Report, Novermber 25th-December 8th

Seniors are repositories of history, schooled from years of experience in work and life. But retired from the job market, they often lack an outlet for their skills.

The retired and Senior Volunteer program, known as RSVP, is a program that places seniors in volunteer positions throughout the community. RSVP has three offices - in Boulder, Longmont and lafayette - and currently has 1,000 active volunteers ages 55-years and up from Boulder and Broomfield counties.

According to Maureen Ewing, executive director for RSVP, volunteers worked 170,000 hours last year at more than 200 nonprofit origanizations including the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, in area hospitals and police stations.

In addition, RSVP provides free safety-net programs in which seniors provide help for other seniors. "The goal is to keep seniors and adults with disabilities independent for as long as possible," Ewing said.

Carry-Out Caravan is one of these programs. Volunteers take grocery orders, shop and deliver groceries for people who are unable.The program partners with Albertson's Inc., and is offered to people in Longmont, Boulder, Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, Superior and Lyons. Each week 90 volunteers help more than 300 with grocery shopping. From 2003 to 2004, Ewing said the program had an 84 percent increase in orders.

RSVP volunteer Dorothy Field, age 78, works Monday through Thursday each week. She volunteers for Carry-Out Caravan, the Humane Society Thrift Shop and at the help desk of both Emergency Family Assistance Association