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Volunteers are backbone of nonprofits
By SonnyLong in Helping Hands
April 16, 2010

When I was assigned to the nonprofit beat a year or so ago, I thought I knew what I'd fine. After all, I was familiar with the larger organizations we all know about -- the Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Salvation Army, and of course the United Way, among others. Little did I know how many groups are out there helping others that truly need help every day. There are hundreds. And while funding and donations are the lifeblood of any nonprofit group, I have learned that volunteers are the backbone. Volunteers are the worker bees. Volunteers cheerfully serve up meals to the hungry at Christ's Kitchen day after day after day for 20 years now. Volunteers scour the streets of Victoria seeking out the homeless to be counted so funds can come in to provide services for them. Volunteers swing hammers, carry boards or do whatever else it takes to build another home for a Habitat for Humanity client. Volunteers walk for 24 hours to honor those who have battled cancer and raise funds to fight the disease during Relay for Life. Volunteers spend countless hours behind the scenes doing thankless tasks to make sure a nonprofit achieves the goals it has set. I could go on and on. And they do it with smiles and for the satisfaction of helping others. Not only do they do the work, but volunteers free up funds that might have been spent paying a staff member to perform those same tasks. These funds can then be put into services for that agency's clients. April 18 - 24 is National Volunteer Week and all nonprofit groups can always use more volunteers. If you have ever considered giving of your time to a good cause, take the plunge. If you already volunteer, thank you. If you know a volunteer, thank them. As Jo Janssen, Director of Development at Mid-Coast Family Services, said in an e-mail to me last week, "Our volunteers are precious." So, be precious. Not only to a nonprofit organization, but to those they serve. Volunteer today.

HELPING HANDS If your organization would like to be spotlighted in our Saturday Helping Hands feature, the forms are simple to complete and available electronically. Contact me at slong@vicad.com or call 361-580-6585.