Fall 2004

Mission Statement
To actively promote volunteerism, connect volunteers with opportunities, and to help organizations effectively engage volunteers to meet our community's needs.

Celebrating 35 years of connecting the community

"I Volunteer!" Day
Saturday, September 11
Join us on "I Volunteer!" Day. This is our first-ever, county-wide, community building event. We've made it easy and fun to participate by making this event:
Meaningful - on a special day
Short - only four hours
Community-wide - 750 other people will be a part of it
Full of choices - 38 projects to choose from
Projects range from painting walls, blazing trails, fixing fences and repairing grounds for agencies like Boulder Parks and Open Space, Association for Community Living, Medicine Horse, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program and St. Vrain Historical Society. One site accommodates the youngest of children and people with special needs with projects that be done in an hour or less so that they can contribute on this day. A voter registration table will also be available so individuals can be engaged this November in their civic duties - don't forget to bring identification.

"I Volunteer!" Day is sponsored by ValleyLab, The Janus Foundation, Boulder Rotary Club Foundation, Kingsbery-Baris-Vogel-Nuttall, Daily Camera, Community Shares of Colorado, Eldorado Artesian Springs, Wild Oats, U of C Federal Credit Union, Highland Solutions, Goodbye Blue Monday, and Whole Foods.

Join 750 other Boulder County volunteers making a difference on Saturday, September 11. For more information on how you, your family and friends can be a part of this day, call the Volunteer Connection at (303) 444-4904, visit our Web Site www.volunteerconnection.net or email your questions to [email protected].

Laura's Voice
The conception of a local volunteer center for Boulder County came out of a 1966 community meeting sponsored by local agencies and a citizen group called Bridges, Not Walls. Their task was to explore the dilemma of volunteers being willing to help, but not knowing were they were needed, and agencies needing help, but not knowing where to find volunteers. A subgroup of agency professionals led by Charlotte Michner and Ivan Scheier was formed and for the next nine months they labored over how to solve this problem. Marlene Wilson took a leadership role in working with this group and the birth of the Volunteer Connection resulted - then called the Volunteer and Information Center.
In its first year, the new center found a County annex office to work in, but not until it was renovated by volunteers. "When we moved in we had a lamp, a plant and lots of dreams," recalls Marlene. "IBM couldn't donate typewriters to us but they gave us all their furniture from an office they closed. We were in business!" Marlene continues, "Early on we decided that we would be the connector of needs and resources."

In that first year, on a $4,400 budget, the Volunteer and Information Center assisted 35 agencies that needed volunteers. As you can see from the Key Highlights of 2003 in the center of this newsletter, last year we assisted 500 partner agencies seeking volunteers and reached 14,554 people with our services and message volunteerism - all on a budget of approximately $200,000.

In October of last year, our board, staff, volunteers, friends and community partners met to decide the best way to celebrate our 35th anniversary. The overwhelming consensus was to do what we do and do it on a grand scale, hence the birth of our "I Volunteer!" Day. Knowing that it still is confusing for people to find where their time and talents can be best put to use, we asked our partner agencies to submit much needed projects that can be completed within four hours. The result is that on Saturday, September 11, a special day to all of us, we can offer 38 community projects, county-wide. As it was decided 35 years ago, Volunteer Connection is the connector of needs and resources. Help us celebrate our 35th Birthday by becoming a volunteer on September 11.

Restoring the Soul: Faith and Community Partnerships
Serving Boulder County
By Tania Leontov, Project Director

The power of a selfless act is hard to measure. We know that people volunteer for many reasons: to give back to the community, to express compassion for the less fortunate, to fill empty hours with rewarding work, to learn new skills, to test out possible new occupations and so on. For members of faith communities there is a deep intrinsic connection between their spiritual path and serving those in need.

Restoring The Soul: Faith and Community Partnerships began in 2001 as the inspiration of Terry Benjamin, long time Executive Director of Emergency Family Assistance Association. Its Board of Advisors is made up of directors of social service agencies and leaders and representatives of faith communities who approve this vision of engagement and are dedicated to fostering it.

Historically, many of Boulder County's early social service agencies, for instance, Emergency Family Assistance Association and the Peoples Clinic, were started by congregations, some of whom are still quietly active in this way. In 2001, Restoring The Soul commissioned a survey of church social engagement activities, which was sent to 200 diverse Boulder County faith groups. The results of the survey revealed that a few congregations were actively involved with the community beyond their own congregants; some were struggling to become so; some had the intention; and some were totally occupied with internal affairs.

Restoring The Soul's vision is of a highly engaged citizenry, with faith groups providing much of the committed volunteers necessary for social service agencies to fulfill their mandates. The vision became a reality with the formation of the organization, the creation of an impressive advisory board and the hire of a paid director.

Restoring The Soul's commitment is to help create a community that acts to enrich and sustain the lives of all who live in Boulder County. Its mission is to promote and supports effective sustainable partnerships between faith communities and human service agencies; to network and broker partnerships; and to act as a clearing house for information, training and resources to respond efficiently to community needs

Restoring The Soul is now formally engaged in fostering and supporting collaborations of all kinds, in holding brown bag lunch discussions on core social issues, and in hosting an annual conference on these partnerships: how to create and support them. The next conference will be this November 19th at Lifebridge Christian Church, Longmont. Father Thomas Keating, OSC, renowned author, founder of Centering Prayer, and advocate for peace and faith community social engagement, will be the keynote speaker.

Although Restoring The Soul is not always directly involved, it has taken great inspiration from the dedicated social engagement of some of the Boulder County faith groups and hope to assist those who want to become more active. Who could not be delighted by the recent activities of Cavalry Bible Church which roused 700 members (plus 25 or so teachers, parents, and students from outside Cavalry,) to volunteer in a three day marathon of addressing the physical needs of local schools, unable to finance further maintenance? Church members cleaned, painted, landscaped and repaired, so that Boulder County's children could learn in an uplifted environment. To quote Adrian Boykin, Director of Community Outreach, "We had a blast serving together…for approximately 6000 hours. We found as a church, the truth of the New Testament teaching that, 'It is more blessed to give then to receive.' Service on this wide scale allowed us to apply 'our spiritual teachings' in practical ways, while also giving us a community celebration and excitement that we have rarely experienced."

Restoring The Soul has instituted several innovative approaches as the result of its experience in this work for the past three years. The first is, working with the Volunteer Connection, we have defined a new volunteer arena for this project. Human service agencies have said that volunteerism is crucial to their operations but often, in terms of bottom line, the time it takes to put short-term projects in place, train and oversee them, is very costly. Restoring the Soul has undertaken to ask faith communities to commit to longer term support of a project. In this way, even if individuals only commit to serve for shorter periods of time, the faith community itself has committed to man the project for a period of time, enrolling additional volunteers from its congregation as necessary. This allows the human service agency to actually build a long-term program on the basis of the faith community's commitment. This is an exciting paradigm for collaboration.

The second innovative approach is in response to faith communities' desire to build their own community while serving others. Often a volunteer project, such as mentoring, is based on a one-to-one relationship. The faith community cannot act as a group in the project. The model that we are encouraging, and which has drawn significant interest, is the creation of a study group within the congregation made up of its volunteers. The study group explores the meaning of service within the particular spiritual path, both historically in scripture and commentary, and in the personal experience of service. The procedure enriches the volunteers and reinforces internal community.

The third approach was inspired by the results of our initial survey. The information from congregations suggested that social engagement and volunteerism could be ranked from 1 (no interest in or plans for participation) to 5 (heavily engaged in social projects, strong numbers of volunteers). We have asked several faith communities who rank as a 5, if they would be willing to mentor those that rank as a 3 (want to increase social engagement, obstacles). We already have commitments to this mentoring program.

If you are interested either individually or as a member of a faith community, you can contact Restoring the Soul: Faith and Community Partnerships through the Volunteer Connection or by calling or emailing, Tania Leontov, Project Director, at 303.938.9916, email: [email protected].

Restoring The Soul Advisory Board members: Cheri Peper Gisi, First Presbyterian Church of Boulder, Tania Leontov, Project Director; Joyce Dickinson, Boulder Housing Partners; Bruce Swinehart, Mesa Consultants; Laura Kinder, Volunteer Connection; Rich Bledsoe, Tree of Life Presbyterian Church, Anne Tapp, Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence; Marlene Wilson, Volunteer Management Associates; Adrian Boykins, Calvary Bible Church.

Four Days In May

Stepping out of the halls of academia, approximately 300 New Vista High School students with their entire faculty rolled up their sleeves and put their learning to work by through projects that served the local community for four days in May. The success of this service-learning adventure according to Learning Resources Coordinator Sophia Stoll, is attributed to the fact, "The students got involved with issues that they believed in. They registered hundreds of new young voters, they helped save a foal's life, they helped seniors with spring yard work, they worked to support cultural understanding in elementary schools, and much more." Not only did needed projects get completed, but also the action taken, Stoll says, "Helped build positive relationships between students and between students and faculty. We all took a risk trying this [project] and it worked! We made a difference for others and for ourselves." Because of the great success of this year's Four Days In May, it will be scheduled again for next year.

CALENDAR FOR 2004 WORKSHOPS

Date Title Facilitator Facility Times
9/15 Power Point Basics/ Will Murray FRCC 11:30-12:30
Power Point Advanced 12:30-2:30

9/22 Charitable Choice and How to Implement Dafna Winter HSBV 11:30-1:30
the Federal Regulations

9/29 Delegation and Project Management Will Murray HSBV 11:30-2:30

10/13 How to Make the Most of a Special Event Laura Kinder HSBV 11:30-2:30

Coming This Fall!

Introducing the Volunteer Connection's first annual Youth Connection!

In response to numerous requests from youth, their parents, teachers and counselors regarding youth volunteer opportunities, we are pleased to announce the creation of our first annual Youth Connection. Volunteer Connection's Office Manager, Morgan Lipton, has worked this summer in collaboration with our partner agencies to compile information for the directory, which highlights 50 local agencies who have volunteer opportunities suitable for youth and teens throughout Boulder County. Whatever is of interest to kids, they will find an opportunity to match it. For instance, if they love animals, there are three agencies they can be a part of. If they care about our environment, they can choose from five different programs. With financial support from The Points of Light Foundation, Brett Family Foundation and The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County our Youth Directory will be available this fall. Youth Connection will be provided to teachers and counselors in our school districts, as well as to parents and others interested in promoting youth volunteerism. Should you wish additional information on the Youth Directory, please contact Volunteer Connection, 303-444-4904 or [email protected].

Be sure to check out our current Volunteer Connection Website
at www.volunteerconnection.net, which contains the following features:

Profiles of our Partner Agencies
Profiles of our Partner Agencies' Volunteers
Opportunity Search - approximately 2,000 volunteer positions listed with 500 partner agencies
Information about Volunteer Connection and its services
The Volunteer Connection 2004 Workshop Series
Calendar of Events listing fundraisers, open houses, trainings and other events of our partner agencies - be sure to list your event with us by emailing [email protected]! We also try to point through a URL to your organization's website calendar. We hope this will be beneficial for all of our organizations.
Partner Agency Links
To make sure your volunteer opportunities get posted on our Web site, please contact us at 303-444-4904 or email [email protected].

Sun Microsystem - Another Successful Back to School Drive

When most of us were still basking in the lazy, sunny days of July, employees at Sun Microsystems were gearing up for their annual Back To School Drive. With the help of Sun's Community Action Volunteers (CAV) Joni Clark, Amy Spielvogel, Colin Melville and Clif Harald, the hundreds of school supplies that were collected by employees were sorted and placed into134 age-appropriate backpacks. These well-filled backpacks were then delivered to five local school districts. With the help of Sun employees, 134 young students now have the tools they need to successfully begin their school year.

Should your business want information on how it can contribute to local communities through similar projects like Sun's Back To School Drive and other employee-volunteer programs, contact Laura Kinder at Volunteer Connection, 303-444-4904 or [email protected].

With Great Appreciation, our 2003 - 2004 Donors!

The Volunteer Connection extends its gratitude to the individuals, businesses, foundations and governments who recently gave us gifts. These gifts allow us to follow our vision, mission and goals.

Individuals
Anonymous IBM Employee
Karl and Barbara Anuta
Jennie Arbogash
Kenneth and Jacquelyn Bauer
Chris Bitner
Zsusza Blom
Virginia Boucher
Deborah and Shane Castle
Fred Dunlap
Sue Ericson
Dary-Anne Aoki Fan
John Farmer
Jill Ertl
Catherine Graca
Jill Gelbspan
Karen Gerrity
Deborah Havas
Lisa Hillesland
Bob Hofland
Mark Jennings
Barbara Johnson
Norma Johnson
N. Peter Knoll
Martha Larson
The Logans
Diane Knudsen
Van Priscilla McCutcheon
Glennys McPhilimy
Will Murray
Brian Nuttall
Jane P. Olson
Frank Orem
Janet Parry
Elizabeth and David Phillips
Bryan Peiper
Kim Plumridge
Andrea Poniers
Nathalie Pratt
Henry Rasof
Jennifer and Rick Reynolds
Nancy Root
Peter Schwartz
Kathryn and Alan Shapley
Heather and Charles Southwick
Jane and Fred Studer
Carol Thieme
Karen Utley
Eli Vega
Stephen Westra
Diane Wetterstrom
Hayden and Jonathan Williamson
Eileen and John Winans
Jeanine Zeman

Businesses and NonProfit Agencies
Boulder Public Library - Boulder Reads!
Circle of Life Center
First Main Street Bank
Voices For Children
Wild Oats

Foundations
Boulder Rotary Club Foundation
Brett Family Foundation
Community Foundation Serving Boulder County
Adolph Coors Foundation
The Janus Foundation
Longmont Community Foundation
Millennium Trust
Points of Light Foundation

Government
Boulder County
City of Longmont

The Volunteer Connection would like to thank its wonderful in-kind supporters

Robert Trembly and Ernest Lowey from Senior MarketPlace News donates monthly space for a volunteer column and donated tickets to special events for our staff and volunteers.
Association For Community Living donates meeting space for our board meetings.
Barbara Jobin and Deborah Havas donate professional graphic design work throughout the year for us.
Wild Oats donated refreshments for several of our workshops.
Humane Society of Boulder Valley donates space for our workshops and other meeting needs.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church donates space for our workshops.
Boulder Shelter for the Homeless donated space for one of our workshops.
The Daily Camera donates space for our weekly volunteer columns, was a major sponsor of our 2004 Volunteer-A-Thon and is a major sponsor of "I Volunteer!" Day.
The Longmont Times-Call donates space for our weekly volunteer columns.

Won't you help us celebrate our 35th Anniversary by supporting us with a financial contribution? Your gift will be magnified and multiplied many times over through the direct action of the volunteers who become engage in community service through our many efforts.
Happy Anniversary Volunteer Connection! I want to help celebrate:
Name_____________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________
City_________________________State__________Zip_____________
Phone (home)______________________________________________
(office)_______________________________________________
Email____________________________________________________

___$1,000 Patron
___$500 Benefactor
___$100 Sponsor
___$50 Supporter
___$35 Anniversary Gift
___Other (Specify)__________________

___My company will match my gift up to the amount of $____________
(Enclose a copy of your matching gift form.)

__ My check is enclosed. (make check payable to: Volunteer Connection of Boulder County.)

__Bill my: __Visa __ MaterCard
Account #______________________________________________________________
Expiration date___________________________________________________________

VC "Wish List"

LCD projector
Scanner
Executive desk
2-drawer lateral file cabinet
Magazine holders
Halogen replacement lights
Cross cut shredding machine
New or gently used Lap top computers
Starplus 61612 telephone
Books and magazines, new and gently used, on volunteer management, nonprofit organizations, fundraising, grant writing and board of directors
Water cooler stand with/without temperature controls
Office evaporative cooler
Office supplies including copy paper, pens, paper clips, trash bags, paper plates
Sponsors for volunteer management networking events
Gift certificates for volunteer recognition/door prizes from local book stores, movie or dinner theaters, massage & hair salons, restaurants, video stores, coffee juice & ice cream stores, recreation activities
Sponsors for advertising space in local newspapers
Agency partners for advertising space in local newspapers
Sponsors for educational events on volunteer management for nonprofits

Shining Lights

Making a Difference Through Volunteerism
This tribute section is a special way to honor people who have touched your life and our communities by volunteering. Your tribute can be given to a living or decreased person or animal who has made a difference by their volunteering efforts. Please send your tribute and donation of any size to: Volunteer Connection of Boulder County, 2885 E. Aurora Ave., Suite 32, Boulder, CO 80303.

In Remembrance of People Who Made A Difference in their Lifetime
Alvin Hayman
Donor: Deborah Havas

In Remembrance of Animals Who Made A Difference in Their Lifetime
Spirit Donors: Sunny Apke, Laura Kinder and Nica

Board of Directors 2004 - 2005

Brian Nuttall, President
Eli Vega, Vice-President
Andrea Poniers, Secretary
Bryan Pieper, Treasurer
Jennie Arbogash
Sue Ericson
John Farmer
Norma Johnson
Christain Milliteau
Bryan Pieper
Andrea Poniers
Peter Schwartz

Friends

Mary Kay Gondrezick
Deborah Havas
Glennys McPhilimy
Nancy Raymond
Jennifer and Rick Reynolds
Heather Southwick
Natalie St. John
Marilyn Tiedtke
Daniel Zantzinger
Jeanine Zeman

VC Staff/ Employee & Volunteers

Executive Director: Laura F. Kinder
Director of Service, Longmont Office: Penny Dougherty
Sun Microsystems Community Action Volunteer Coordinator: Liz Griswold
Office Manager: Morgan Lipton
Office Administrator: Barbara Wright
Volunteer Management Administrator: Sarah Jane Snyder
Referral Counselors: Jean Barker & Jill Ertl
Webmaster: Bob Hofland
Website Content Assistant: Herb Harris
Office Assistants: Jacquelyn Bauer, Barbralu Cohen, Nancy Dadisman, Kitty Keaton, Shirley O'Brien, Jessie Smith
Writers: Emily Bosland, Stephanie Butler, Lorraine Cope, Nancy Lecocq, Jacqueline Molenaar, Barbara Paris, Donald Warsavage, Erika Weber, Cindy Zimmerman
Graphic Design Artists: Deborah Havas & Barbara Jobin
Computer Assistant: Sarah Jane Snyder
Data Entry: Matt Marquardt
Accountant: Rich Yoder

Volunteer Voice Newsletter Staff

Laura F. Kinder, Writer
Deborah Havas, Ladysmith Graphics, Editor, Design, Production

Web Address

www.volunteerconnection.net

Office Hours

Boulder: 2885 Aurora Ave., Suite 32
9 am-4:30 pm, Monday thru Friday
303-444-4904

Longmont: 2919 17th Ave., Suite 205
8 am-1 pm, Monday thru Friday
303-772-5772