Tuesday, April 17, 2012

National Volunteer Week 2012

April 15-21 is National Volunteer Week when the nation recognizes volunteers for the many hours of service they give.

In the articles I've written over the past 7 years I've encouraged leaders in business, religion, health care, higher education, politics, sports and entertainment to support research and development teams who read research showing where and why tutor/mentor programs are most needed, learn the differences between different types of tutoring and/or mentoring programs, and develop marketing strategies that provide on-going operating support, talent and dollars to tutor/mentor programs in all parts of the Chicago region where kids need extra help.

The annual Volunteer Week is a great time for those teams to be sharing what they are learning and to be launching plans that increase their support of volunteer-based organizations over the next 12 months. When such teams are available in every industry and civic sector in every city there will be a more consistent flow of volunteers and needed resources to all of the neighborhoods where tutor/mentor programs are needed. When such teams are connected to each other in on-line learning and networking, and connected to teams in other cities, there will be a much richer sharing of ideas, much greater visibility for tutoring/mentoring and the benefits of such programs, and a we will have much greater changes of sustaining these programs and their connections with kids and volunteers for many years into the future.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Not many people recognize that is is National Volunteer Week . I have also created a blog post regarding this topic as well. http://in-home-help.blogspot.com/
Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community!