New Community Program Aims to Match Volunteers to Needs

Editor’s Note: The following guest column comes from Mike Bolin with hopkinsvolunteers.org, a newly started website that brings volunteers and those who need them together.

 

Most people would agree that volunteers play an important role in our community. After all, most of our charitable, educational, healthcare, and civic organizations depend on volunteers, to one extent or another, to carry out their vital work. So if that’s true, how are we doing here in Hopkins?  Do the organizations that provide services in our community have enough volunteers? Or do they need more help?  With questions like those in mind, one local congregation started doing a little research to get some answers. Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church interviewed the directors and volunteer coordinators of 25 of the organizations that provide services in the Hopkins area. Starting with our schools, they also covered healthcare, charitable, and civic organizations. The answers they got left little room for doubt. Many more volunteers are needed by virtually every organization.

Two examples: One area hospital maintains a volunteer list of about 700 people out of which roughly 400 are active at any one time which is terrific! But….the hospital needs to recruit an additional 250 volunteers each year just to maintain those levels. In another case, the Hopkins Schools Community Ed Department had 70 – 80 students participating in after school programs this past school year that needed volunteers as mentors and to help with homework. Some were recruited, but many more were needed.

 

So what can we do?

First of all, it’s good to know that people here want to help. Minnesota has the 3^rd highest volunteer rate in the nation. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area has the number one volunteer rate of any large metro area in the nation. But often times people may be interested in volunteering, but don’t know where the needs are or have trouble finding a job that most appeals to them. One common desire though, is to serve somewhere close to home, if possible. So working in partnership with Hopkins Public Schools and other community organizations, the folks at Shepherd have created a new community resource that makes information on volunteer opportunities and needs, specifically in the Hopkins area, easily accessible via the internet. The new web site, hopkinsvolunteers.org, contains a listing of area organizations needing help, along with job descriptions and application forms that can be submitted right online.  The goal is to help make it easy for people to find the volunteer job that’s best for them.

In addition, all Hopkins area residents are asked to consider registering on the site to receive email updates on volunteer needs in their community. “Everyone can help just by becoming more aware and by spreading the word to friends and neighbors who may be interested,” says Scott Searl, Senior Pastor at Shepherd of the Hills. “By working together we can strengthen the vital network of services on which we all depend.”

Hopkinsvolunteers.org ^SM is a program of The Center for Service, 500 Blake Road South. For more information visit us online or call Mike Bolin, Director of hopkinsvolunteers.org at 952-935-2371.

 

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