join service network
Breadcrumb
Service Bits
Service Bits provides our service community with "bits" of service inspiration, tips, resources and read-worthy features.
Page 3 of 13 pages < 1 2 3 4 5 > Last »
Friday, August 31, 2007
Making Memories to Last a Lifetime: Mountain Empire Community College
Posted by Gail Doyle,
All of us in the Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) AmeriCorps program have memories of our service that we hold dear to our hearts. We feel sure that AmeriCorps members in other programs are no different. Throughout the 2006-07 year of service, we had many great experiences and we are looking forward to more in 2007-08! Let us share some of our stories with you now.MECC AmeriCorps members serve as tutors for children (K-3) in 14 schools. There are so many children we have as "tutees," who touch our hearts. It is such a satisfying feeling to see the smile on a child's face after he or she overcomes an obstacle to literacy. Each child has different obstacles that he or she has to overcome. Helping them do this and helping them improving their reading skills is a great feeling. It is a great feeling to know we have helped many children on their paths to becoming good readers. We hope that they will carry a love of reading with them as they go forward. As part of our service, we help various community groups on projects:
- We helped enroll children in the Dollywood Foundation's Imagination Library. Each child in this program received one new book each month until graduating out of the program at age 5. The children are always ecstatic to receive their books.
- During National AmeriCorps Week, we collaborated with the RADA to help renovate two homes. One of the elderly homeowners became so overjoyed and touched by what we did to help her that she cried tears of joy.
- Also for National AmeriCorps Week, we helped paint the new dorm and cafeteria at faith-based summer camp.
- We helped the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity build two houses. Out in the community later, while we were helping with the Imagination Library project, the mother of one of the families that received a Habitat house came up to us very excited and saying, "I know who you are! You helped build my house!"
- This spring we were able to clear four tons of garbage out of a beautiful meandering stream that was victim to several generations of trash dumping. Members of the Scott Co. Soil and Conservation group told us that without our help, they could not have cleaned the stream.
These are just a few of the many projects on which we have worked. Each project had a different effect among each of us. As a group, we love working to better our communities and to help make the public aware of the value of volunteerism. We are looking forward to continuing to make a positive difference.
Sue Graham, Program Director, MECC
Friday, July 27, 2007
Weekly Food Distribution Brings Church and Community Closer
Posted by Gail Doyle,
Article appearing in the Central Virginia Foodbank's newsletter, "Foodbank Focus, Spring 2007"
For a small but growing church, setting up a regular food distribution can be a big challenge, but not for the members of Unity of Faith Fellowship International Church (UFF). Once they started a monthly food distribution out of the renovated house they call home, they saw room for growth right away. "I wanted it to be a ministry," notes First Lady Melody Davis, who started the church twelve years ago with her husband, Pastor Myron Davis. "Once a month was not enough so we started doing it every week. Clients were amazed that they could come every week."
The word is spreading-on a beautiful Saturday in April, almost 30 families came for help. One of them was Mama Mickey Burnette, pictured above, who is "so blessed" by the care and convern she receives. The church offers her and others a choice about which foods to take, and the hard-working church members make sure that the process is client-friendly. Each week, at least two church members offer to volunteer to help distribute the food. Everyone-from middle and high school youth group members to single mothers-pitches in. And some grateful clients do their part too. Asked one retired gentleman who came to UFF for food: "How can I help you," he asked, "because you all have helped my family." Now, he carries bags for clients and helps out where he can.
The UFF food distribution program serves families and individuals in Henrico, and when she takes the UFF after-school van to nearby Adams and Fair Oaks Elementary Schools, Ms. Davis often sees the faces of children who have received food through the church. (The UFF after-school program serves twelve children each weekday and throughout the summer, and that program also receives juices and healthy snacks from the Central Virginia Foodbank.)
Sometimes, the hunger relief community tends to focus on data-number of clients served, for example, or total pounds distributed. Certainly, these numbers are important, but at this church, the work goes way beyond the numbers. After nearly five years of providing hunger relief, they continue to look for ways to improve its service. "We interviewed clients to find out how we could change to help them even more, but the clients didn't want change," says Ms. Davis with a bit of astonishment in her voice. One client told her "we feel like human beings when we come to Unity."
Through their work, Pastor Myron Davis, Melody Davis and others at UFF are a wonderful example to those who are deeply committeed to hunger relief. And just as they do at this church in Henrico, the Foodbank and all of our network partners know that the work is about more than numbers. It's about helping others.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Remember the Three R’s
Posted by Kimberly Brown,
If you are asking yourself, "now what is this that I have to remember", remembering the three R's represent abilities that we already have.Richard Carlson, Ph.D., author of the Don't Sweat the Small Stuff series of national bestselling books, expresses the three R's to remember: Responsive, Receptive, and Reasonable.
The Three R's is one of my personal favorites and is from the series, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work." In it, Dr. Carlson explains to readers how purposeful remembering the three R's can be if we choose to practice using them. Wherever we spend most of our time, and in the company of others, we are bound to encounter an array of personalities and behaviors. It is a challenge to us all when we are confronted by some form of resistance from a situation or an individual.
In this three R's strategy the author provides us with alternative ways to deal with difficult situations, conflict, and stress. Carlson's thoughts are that we all have the ability to control the outcome by changing the way we think and handle situations.
Many would think that they are already using the three R's. But practicing the art of Responsiveness, Receptiveness, and Reasonableness, may tempt you to try a bit harder.
• Responsive individuals maintain perspective and in unique situations take the best course of action. They admit to their mistakes and are willing to change direction if necessary.
• Receptive individuals are willing to receive whatever is needed at that moment. They consider other points of view, are fun to work with, and are great team players. They normally think "outside the box."
• Reasonable individuals tend to listen and learn from other points of view. Any conflicts are often kept to a minimum. They see things fairly and place themselves in the shoes of others.
Try incorporating these three ingredients into work or any of your daily routines and reflect on the outcomes.
The Three-R's of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work, Richard Carlson, PhD.,
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Financial House Cleaning Tips
Posted by Kimberly Brown,
It may be June; however, summers not quite here yet. We still have spring to get over. Aside from routine spring-cleaning, financial expert Suze Orman offers tips to financial freedom and saving as part of your spring-clean up
You know you need to reach for the mop if:
- You don't pay off your credit card balance every month
- Your credit card balance exceeds your monthly paycheck.
- You pay your bills late, incurring costly fees.
- You spend $10 a day on coffee, snacks, and cabs, yet you do not invest in a retirement fund.
- You eat at expensive restaurants that are so out of your price range that you lose your appetite.
- You have clothes that have never been worn and still have their tags.
- Your closets are jammed with impulse purchases-grills, dehumidifiers, toys for the kids-that have never been used.
- You buy things you can't afford.
The article goes on to suggest, doing whatever you need to commit yourself. "Make bill paying a monthly ritual - with your partner, if you live with someone", says Orman.
Here's what you can do now:
- Always pay your bills on time and never go over your credit limit, which can save you $25 a month or more. By paying on time and paying in full, you'll save yourself a lot of money and stress.
- Find an extra $50 or $100 a month so you can pay more than the monthly minimum on your credit card balance. Come on, give up one trip to the movies and one dinner out a month and you'll save about $50. Do you realize how much more money you'll have if you stop paying the credit card company 18 percent interest?
- Once your balance is paid off, keep making those extra payments-to yourself. That's your retirement fund, the money to pay off your student loan, or the down payment on your first home.
- Clear your closets of every unused and unwanted item, and donate it all to charity. The tax deduction is a great financial move.
- If you haven't been balancing your checkbook, it's time to start over. Open a new checking account. Pay off your outstanding bills from your old account and close it. From now on, do all your banking from this new account. Balance it every month and track those ATM transactions. By closely following your spending, you will never live beyond your means.
From Suze Orman's Spring Cleanup (2004, March), O, The Oprah Magazine, OPRAH.com
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Staff/Volunteer Turnover in Your Organization
Posted by Kimberly Brown,
This effective practice provides ways to ensure the transition is smooth for your program or organization during staff or volunteer turnover. All organizations experience turnover whether it is an employee or volunteer position. It can especially cause challenges if the transitioning individual is the primary or lead on a specific job or project. Is it possible to find another to fill their shoes and get a handle on the task quickly? How fast can they be trained?
In our busy schedules, one may find there is not enough time to dedicate in training that individual.
To prevent your organization from experiencing these issues, this effective practice provides you with ways to maintain these challenges during any transition:
What is recommended?
Key: Be sure to make certain that proper staff and volunteers are trained, and policies and procedures are in place. It establishes assurance for a smooth transition during turnover.
Here are a few negative outcomes that can happen when a program does not properly train key staff or volunteers or have written policies and procedures in place:
- programs tend to run inefficiently and ineffectively; specifically when the individual who departed was the only one who knew how to run the organization or project
- the loss of volunteers
- the loss of program credibility
- the collapse of the entire program
What can be done?
Campaign Consultation suggests two useful practices in preventing these occurrences.
1. Be sure your program has:
- written policies and procedures
- volunteer and staff job descriptions
- orientation and training materials
- program/service descriptions and application
- timesheets and other needed forms
(Any written materials should be concise and user-friendly. Individuals should be able to obtain a general understanding of the program and how to run it by reviewing these materials.)
Essential program documents include:
- Program mission & purpose
- Program services description
- Application process
- Orientation agenda & materials
- Training agenda & materials
- Volunteer job descriptions
- Probationary period policy
- Supervision & accountability
- Standards of conduct
- Attendance & absenteeism policies
- Grievance procedures
- Liability coverage for volunteers
- Record keeping requirements
- Confidentiality requirements
- Use of agency equipment & facilities
- Staff responsibilities to program
- Reimbursement for expenses
- Suspension & termination
2. Also establish the following:
- Train at least one additional staff person and one or two lead volunteers on how to run the program. (Choose these individuals carefully.)
- Back-up staff and volunteers need to receive the training.
- Coaching time will be needed to ensure they truly understand what they would need to do and have the confidence to do it.
- The staff person especially will need the host organization's support.
- Volunteers need to know and have confidence in back-up staff and volunteers who can also take over if needed during temporary placement or vacations.
- Giving key volunteers additional administrative responsibilities will help them gain the confidence, credibility, and skills they need to assist with running the program.
Successful program staff members have adapted policies, procedures, and documents obtained from other programs similar to theirs rather than creating them from scratch. Staff or volunteer transition will not necessarily mean that the quality of service from the program will lessen, especially when national service volunteers leave. If you have trained key staff and volunteers, the skills they have obtained would increase their commitment and ownership of your program and build volunteer capacity. Training encourages the promotion and recruitment for your program and can offer role models for the community.
Campaign Consultation shared this effective practice during a volunteer development workshop at the 2001 National Conference on Community Volunteering and National Service in Minneapolis, Minnesota.