Friday Roundup: AmeriCorps Week edition

AmeriCorps Week is coming to an end here at Hands On Charlotte. Janelle, Marcel, Sarah, Shari and I have bounced around town, chatting with people about AmeriCorps.

Here are the main points: AmeriCorps provides opportunities for people of all backgrounds to roll up their sleeves for one year to work in the trenches on some of our country’s most dire environmental, economic, educational and social issues. No matter what issue area you care about, there is likely an AmeriCorps assignment somewhere in the country to foster your interests and skills. AmeriCorps is urban, and it’s rural. Members are on the east coast, the west coast and everywhere between. To learn more, visit AmeriCorps website.

While not everyone has an entire year to commit to public service, almost everyone can spare a few hours on a Saturday once a month. This weekend, we have 14 projects that still need volunteers. Here are some highlights:

• Saturday – Mountain Bike Riding with Kids – Join Trips for Kids on a short bike ride with teenagers. We can even supply you with a bike!
• Saturday – Adaptive Baseball – Come out and play baseball with kids and teens with disabilities. Adaptive Baseball is part of the Therapeutic Recreation Division of Mecklenburg County Parks and Rec.
• Saturday – Animal Care & Control – Love animals? Come help the staff at Animal Care & Control play with and take care of some cats and dogs.
• Sunday – Pet Therapy at Summit Place – Bring your dog or cat to Summit Place and spend an hour visiting with residents at this retirement community.

Everyone’s availabilities and desires to serve are different, but everyone can serve to some degree. Hands On Charlotte and AmeriCorps help you find opportunities that meet your interests. We hope to see you at projects soon!

Back in Charlotte and fired up!

Whew! That was a very busy week. We left Sunday for Atlanta and put in 56 hours in four days. Then I flew to Chicago for a wedding then to Raleigh then home to Charlotte. It feels great to be back.

The trip to Chicago gave me a few days to digest the Hands On Network’s AmeriCorps member conference. If there was an overriding idea to the training, it was that we – as individual citizens – are connected to the people in our communities in important ways. As AmeriCorps at Hands On Charlotte, we have the opportunity to foster those community connections. Here is how we think we can reach that end:

1. Organize volunteer events: A.M., Bryan, Janelle and Shari are part of Hands On Charlotte’s frontline in designing service projects for Charlotte-area volunteers.
2. Recruit volunteers: Marcel, Sarah and I help out here. Whether it’s in person, on the phone, through email, blog, Twitter or Facebook, we are always trying to find ways to bring new Charlotteans onto the volunteering seen.
3. Support volunteers: Once we have volunteers at our events, it’s our job to support them. We have to let them see the impact their making and equip them to continue their work.

So here’s my question to you, our most dedicated supporters: How can you help on these fronts? With which of these three bullets can you bolster our efforts? Do you know an area non-profit that needs some help in the coming months? Organize an event! Do you know someone who wants to volunteer but doesn’t know where to start? Recruit someone to join you at an HOC project! Do you have ideas about how HOC can better support its volunteers? Send me an email, and I’ll read it aloud at our next staff meeting!

What I learned at the conference is this: AmeriCorps members can organize, recruit and retain volunteers until we’re blue in the face. Unless we convince the community to join these endeavors in significant ways, our impact will lack the breadth and depth to answer sufficiently our community’s needs.


Tanner


PS – The wedding was great! And if you haven’t been to Chicago, I suggest you make it a priority…in the summer.

Friday Roundup 9.24.10

This was a great week! We had all hands on deck preparing for this year’s “Hands On Charlotte Day,” which will be on October 16. We’re still looking for individual and team volunteers, so let us know if you’re interested!

In the media, Patricia Smith Michaels called Hands On Charlotte “one of the top five environment-related volunteer opportunities in Charlotte.” And the Observer’s David Perimutt recommended us as place to come if you want to start volunteering in Charlotte.

Looking for an opportunity to volunteer in Charlotte this weekend?

• Saturday - BIG Project at Collinswood Language Academy: Spruce up the grounds and help paint a new soccer field. You don’t have to go through orientation to attend this project. Sign up on the Web site.
• Saturday – Challenger Football: Play therapeutic football with young people with special needs. Sign up on the Web site.
• Sunday – Recycling Program during Panthers Home Games: Hand out Bojangles’ recycling bags to fans around Bank of America Stadium. You must be at least 18 years old. You don’t have to go through orientation. Sign up on the Web site.
• Visit our calendar for many more Charlotte volunteer opportunities this weekend!
  

Next week on the blog: Meet the AmeriCorps! Hands On Charlotte relies heavily on AmeriCorps volunteers who each commit a year of service. Check back next week, and we’ll tell you all about the program and introduce you to A.M., Bryan, Janelle, Shari and Tanner!