Living United

Have you noticed a theme?

Perhaps, like me, you were watching The Biggest Loser last night and you saw the Blue Team contestants leave the gym and enter the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank to stuff backpacks for hungry children.  Perhaps you were wondering why they spent time volunteering when they should be working hard to drop those pounds. 

Well, The Biggest Loser is just one of 90 shows on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC that are promoting volunteerism during the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s iParticipate week, October 19-25.  You’ll probably notice the PSA’s, as well as the scripted programming that will appear during your favorite shows.

What’s this all about, you might be thinking?  Volunteer rates for Americans remain around 26%, as they have for over 40 years.  That means that only 1 in 4 of us give back to our community.  Imagine, if you will, that there are no volunteers.  Nobody to mentor children, nobody to deliver meals to the homebound, nobody to fundraise for organizations, nobody to respond to your car accident or house fire.  Volunteers make an enormous contribution to our community everyday, allowing our nonprofit organizations to do more, serve more people, and impact more lives.  Now imagine if everyone gave a little time to support the programs that serve children, aging adults, animals or the environment.

You can be part of that movement. Should you feel inspired by the volunteerism you witness on TV this week, the Volunteer Center is here to help you identify how you can get involved, whether you have one hour a month or an hour a day.  Visit our website or call me at 972-1705 to learn more.

Posted by Shaele Wood.

A Day of Emotions

Jim Carpenter’s recent post about the sensations he associates with the Day of Caring got me thinking about how I experience the day and the preparations that precede it.

First there’s a bit of anxiety. Will we find enough meaningful projects for the exponentially increasing number of volunteers? As the Day of Caring has grown, so have the logistical challenges. Fortunately, Shaele and the rest of United Way staff always rise to the occasion. Since I got involved 10 years ago, we have experienced surprisingly few crises, and the post-event surveys reflect a remarkably high level of satisfaction among volunteers and the non-profit agencies that host the projects.

As I drive to the breakfast rally, butterflies set in. I’m an introvert by nature, so I’m out of my comfort zone as I float through the sea of humanity at the rally. Even after 10 years, the media interviews still make me nervous. I hope it’s not too obvious. Nerves give way to goose bumps as I listen to the State Farm Gospel Choir. The soul-stirring music, great food, encouraging speeches, and strong coffee get the crowd pumped up, and then we’re off.

In my role as the event chairman, I visit a lot of the project sites to thank the volunteers and to do a bit of networking with the staff members of the schools and non-profit agencies. Sometimes I get a little choked up when I see the smiles on the faces of the school kids as they bond with a reading buddy or the sparkles in the eyes of the nursing home residents as they dance or play games with their new pals. It’s easy for me to tune into the great vibes at every project, even the ones that involve “mundane” tasks like painting, landscaping or file shredding. But it’s really hard to tell who’s getting the most out of the experience – the clients or the volunteers.

As the day winds to a close, I’m left with several strong feelings. When I think about enormous amount of good that gets done in one day, I’m filled with pride and joy for my community. Then there’s a huge helping of gratitude toward everyone who showed up to lend a hand or made a donation. At some point, there’s a bittersweet moment when I think about how pleased my dad Larry would have been, and I feel a phantom pat on the back. Finally, there’s relief, exhaustion and sweet dreams. It’s always easy to sleep after a day like this.

Posted by Jim Richardson, Day of Caring Chair and son of Larry Richardson.

In 1999, the Day of Caring was renamed the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring in honor of Larry Richardson, long-time volunteer of the United Way and the community, and past president of the Charlottesville Broadcasting Company.

Registration deadline is quickly approaching on Friday, July 31.  Please visit www.dayofcaring.info to register.

A Highlight of Our Year

The Agnor-Hurt Elementary School faculty encourages a continuous involvement in the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring. The first step is sending in our project requests.

It is hard to explain how wonderful this day has been for our school.  The Day of Caring continues to brighten the beginning of our school year.  At Agnor-Hurt it is one of our most rewarding days. It is a day where our caring businesses and organizations help model the importance and value of volunteerism. As adults, we realize the importance of working together with surrounding organizations to model civic responsibility.  

The students at Agnor-Hurt are given an opportunity to share their huge hearts. They love reaching out to thank the many volunteers who enter our doors. Over the years projects have included: painting the US and World Maps on our blacktop, planting flower bulbs for the spring, giving our school mascot, ALEX, a fresh coat of paint for the  paw prints that track in and around the school, planting  trees, reading to our students, working in the library, and adding educational art to our walls such as compass rose and our student of the month art window.  One of our greatest resources is to get involve and MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  Thank you to our many volunteers who do just that. Our staff cannot remember when we did not participate or would want to begin the year without sharing in this special event. It is a highlight of our year. 

Thank you Day of Caring for being like Hallmark Cards: you cared enough to send us your VERY BEST volunteers.

Posted by guest blogger, Gwen Hairston, Agnor-Hurt Elementary School

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

A Time-consuming Task Completed!

The Christian Aid Mission had a total of 14 Day of Caring volunteers doing projects ranging from shredding a fallen tree to filing in the accounting department.  Groups from State Farm, Crutchfield and First Systems & Resources came early on the United Way Day of Caring and stayed for a lunch lovingly prepared by our guest house hostess.  The detail of some of the work done has been highlighted below but even the areas not highlighted were a wonderful gift and we are very grateful to United Way for organizing this community event.

The Publications and Donor Relations Divisions were each given three volunteers to help create databases using the Excel program.  One information source was a stack of our publications called “Prayerline” which describes items needed by indigenous missionaries overseas.  For each day of the month, there is an item, its cost, and the area of the world needed.  The other data source was a pile of our quarterly magazine.  These magazines cover various aspects of missions work going on overseas.  Some of the topics covered are church planting, the care of widows and orphans, disaster relief, and recent accomplishments.  (There were 43 items to look for.)

These volunteers divided the information between them and arranged it for data input.  Each Prayerline item had to be read, then the above criteria entered into specific columns in Excel.  This very work-intensive job was accomplished in three days and is still updated each month.  The information can be sorted by item, date, area of the world, or specific ministry.  Various divisions of Christian Aid use this information for a variety reasons.  Many times donors will call and ask how much it would cost to give a missionary family a milking goat.  Since the cost of livestock varies from country to country, we are now able to provide a more accurate, up-to-date price. 

The magazine database required perusing the articles, looking for certain keywords.  Country names, topics, the ministry, and the gist of the story are some of the things they looked for.  These criteria were noted on a special form.  Once all of the magazines (and there were a lot of them) had been completed, this data was given to a staff person to input into another Excel database.  This information is used primarily by the Publications Department in order to determine what countries or topics need coverage.

Christian Aid is very grateful to these volunteers whose help was immeasurable.  This job just kept getting put on the back burner due to the enormous amount of time it would have taken one person to do it.  And having this kind of information compiled in databases makes research much easier and less time-consuming.  Thank you, and thank you! 

Posted by guest blogger, Lucinda Speers, Christian Aid Mission

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

Albemarle County Employees Volunteer

The United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring has been a great experience for the County of Albemarle.  We have been participating in the Day of Caring for the past 10 years or so. We started with only a few employees participating and last year we had several teams from the County with probably 100 employees.

I believe it is so popular because we get an opportunity to work together outside of the office environment. We have chosen projects from picking apples with pre-school students to painting a map of the United States on the playground at B.F. Yancey Elementary School. The Day of Caring allows County employees to have fun and show the community it cares. To me, that is what the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring is all about.

I encourage you and your company to participate. You will not regret it!!!!

Posted by guest blogger, Juandiego R. Wade, Albemarle County

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

Day of Caring Volunteers Impact Barrett

The Day of Caring has made a tremendous impact on our children and our facility. The children enjoy having the volunteers come and take them to the park. The volunteers have activities planned and prepared for the children. For example, games, exercise, arts and craft, and just plain old fun on the equipment.

Many groups joined Barrett Early Learning Center last year and performed a variety of duties. One group painted a mural on our storage building. It brightened up our playground. What a face lift when another group pulled our old chain linked fence up!

It is a delight to participate in the Day of Caring. I am ready for the 2009 event!!

 

Donna Jenkins, Director Barrett Early Learning Center

Fluvanna SPCA Benefits from Returning Volunteers

The 2008 Day Of Caring at the Fluvanna SPCA was 'Ladies Day' at the shelter.  The Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women employees who volunteered this year were all women this year as was the representative from the FSPCA.  The group went to work clearing out our storage trailer, sorting, repacking and transporting everything to a rented storage unit.  We also filled the dumpster to the brim with old and unusable items.  A very dusty and dirty day was turned into a fun day with many discoveries of hidden treasures and a great al fresco lunch.

The staff of the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women has been volunteering at the FSPCA shelter for several years now.  They have built an exercise area for the dogs, cleaned the dog runs from top to bottom and helped us get a good start on clearing out our trailers.  The FSPCA looks forward to seeing this group again in September and I'm sure we'll have another 'special' project for them.

Posted by guest blogger, Claire Waters, Fluvanna SPCA
Claire Waters

We'll be back!

SMG/John Paul Jones Arena Staff helped spruce up the courtyard at BF Yancey Elementary School in 2008. This was the first year we participated in the Day of Caring.  It was a great experience.  Everyone who helped had a wonderful time.  It was very rewarding for us to come together as a team and work outside our usual element. The reaction of the students and teachers was so positive.  And the cafeteria lunch brought back memories for us all.  We still have the thank you notes the children made for us.  I know we will participate again this year and certainly for many more.

Posted by Liz Flynn, Director of Marketing, SMG/John Paul Jones Arena

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

There’s a buzz in the air at U.Va.

Folks are starting to ask about the next United Way Day of Caring.  When is it?  How can I sign up? 

Employees here look forward to this day every year. It’s a chance to spend time with colleagues and to give back to the community.  With all this goodwill, it makes my job as the United Way Day of Caring Coordinator for U.Va. employees, easy and fun, because our volunteers really put their hearts into their projects. 

Last year, I heard about a team who was assigned to a project at a school. The school was lacking in necessary supplies for the task, but the team couldn’t walk away and see the project go unfinished.  The team acted swiftly and managed to get all of the supplies donated and completed the project that day. 

Another volunteer worked to restore a nature trail at an elementary school, and soon after began as a “Book Buddy” at the same school.  He says, “I loved establishing a relationship with a young reader and seeing them improve.  It was very rewarding and fulfilling, and it was fun.” 

Many volunteers say they wish they could do this more often.  But while the Day of Caring is just one day, relationships grow, and the community continues to benefit all year through.  The Day of Caring is an opportunity for so much more.

U.Va. Human Resources setting up for the a carnival at WorkSource Enterprises.

 

U.Va. Housing Division painting the exterior of The Paramount.

 

U.Va. Facilities Management spreading mulch at Camp Holiday Trails.

Posted by Careen Waterman, U.Va. Community Relations

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

A Sense of Love

I just received an email from Shaele Wood of the United Way asking me to photograph the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on Wednesday, September 23rd, and immediately all five of my senses kicked into gear.  I am, of course, delighted to offer my photographic skills to document this event; it is the event I most recall and look forward to covering each year.

Instantly, my first sense is awakened in seeing all 2,500 plus volunteers.  Some are in colorful “team” shirts, others are dressed in their “finest “work clothes ready for a hearty days’ work. This outpouring is typical of the Charlottesville community.  When a need arises, help from so many caring individuals from various walks of life, is on its way.

You can also feel their excitement.  Just like a “kid in a candy store”, they are ready and eager to help out their fellow neighbors. No matter what the upcoming task, from painting to shredding documents, their level of enthusiasm is always top notch! 
 
And, oh, you can hear joy emerge from the “pep rally” speakers all the way to the State Farm Gospel Choir.  Your heart is pounding with enthusiasm. The singers who have performed for the last several years from State Farm Insurance Company are ‘in tune’ with getting the “troops” fired up for their mission. 

I may have forgotten to talk about the taste of the rally! How could I forget something so amazing! A breakfast fit for a king, a queen, and all their subjects! There is nothing like starting the day off right with a hearty breakfast and a full tummy. It makes one want to work that extra little bit harder!

And speaking of working…There is nothing like the smell of fresh paint to wake up the senses!  The Day of Caring volunteers can be seen cleaning windows, clearing shrubs, digging holes, sawing lumber, and putting up dry wall. There are labors to be shared by one and all.  This, my friends, is a labor of love.

The United Way Day of Caring is a one-day festival that means so much for this community.  It always hits home for me for many reasons.   The first reason is that I was the paperboy many years ago for the United Way when it was called the Community Chest, right here in Charlottesville. Secondly, Mr. Laurence E. Richardson was a dear friend of mine who cared so much for the community and its neighbors.   Finally, I find that even though we have five senses,  the volunteers who participate in this day actually create a  “sixth sense” of which we should all be very proud -- love!  Love for our Central Virginia area and our fellow citizens! After all, aren’t we all our brothers’ keepers?!

Thank you for allowing me to share my perspective and insight into the Day of Caring.  I hope that maybe it inspired you to want to share your time and spread a little love.

Posted by Guest Blogger Jim Carpenter, Master Photographer, Gitchell’s Studio, Inc.

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

United Way’s 2008 Day of Caring a Success for Two AHIP Clients

  On the 2008 United Way Day of Caring, Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) partnered with volunteers from State Farm Insurance and the UVA School of Architecture to help make repairs at two homes in the City of Charlottesville.  The use of volunteers at AHIP jobs helps cut labor costs so that funds can be used to serve more people in the area.  Employees of State Farm Insurance were able to give a home a “face lift,” with a new roof and fresh coat of paint on the exterior.  Meanwhile, on the other side of town, employees of the UVA School of Architecture helped prep the interior of a home before AHIP would begin more extensive repairs at the residence.  At the end of the day, not only had crucial repairs been made, but the lives of many had been touched by the spirit of service.

Posted by Guest Blogger, Jenifer Klippel, Albemarle Housing Improvement Program

From the volunteer perspective:

A colleague at the U.Va. School of Architecture suggested that for our Day of Caring Project we consider helping a beloved member of the custodial staff who had inherited a house that needed both expensive cosmetic and structural repairs to become livable. I learned that in order to create an official Day of Caring Project we would need an organization to host and sponsor our efforts. All of us were thrilled when Shaele Wood at United Way facilitated AHIP’s partnering with us for this project. Though we were only able to spend half a day volunteering at the site due to our busy academic schedules, it was a fantastic morning in so many ways. AHIP provided the materials and know-how we needed to prep and paint the master bedroom and an upstairs hall closet, and one of our team members brought a lawn mower which he used to spruce up the yard. It was an opportunity for us to know one another as community members rather than simply co-workers, and it was a rare moment when we could give back to someone who is often invisible among us in our daily work. We were all so grateful for the experience and the extra effort put forward by The United Way, AHIP, and the University of Virginia School of Architecture to make our participation possible.

Posted by Guest Blogger, Derry Voysey Wade, U.Va. School of Architecture

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

UVA Health System Volunteers

In June 2008 I started working at UVA Health System.  As a new employee within my department, my first task was to coordinate the UVA HS Volunteers for the 2008 United Way Day of Caring. At first, the thought of volunteer coordination seemed overwhelming, especially as a new employee. I thought to myself "how am I going to succeed at this?" Trying to find my way around the hospital was hard enough, now I had been asked to coordinate over 500 volunteers for the United Way Day of Caring?

I can now say that coordinating United Way Day of Caring volunteers from UVA Health System was one my most rewarding experiences. Through this effort, I had the opportunity to meet and interact with many of my colleagues that I now consider friends. I also had the opportunity to work closely with great community organizations to coordinate volunteer teams with their projects.

From assisting with team leader registrations, project selections, and volunteer recruitment, I remained very busy throughout the summer and fall. After months of planning and coordination, I was incredibly excited to see how the United Way Day of Caring would turn out and prayed that the day went according to plans. It was amazing to see so many volunteers at the United Way Day of Caring Kick-off Breakfast Rally. Seeing so many local agencies and organizations come together to make a positive difference in the community was awesome! UVA Health System had 550 volunteers at 53 projects  all around the local community. Throughout the day, I visited projects and saw volunteers painting paw prints on school sidewalks, walking dogs at the local SPCA, landscaping around the buildings of local organizations, fence-building at local parks, and visiting with residents in a retirement community. These were but a few projects that occurred during the 2008 United Way Day of Caring. Over 2500 volunteers from local businesses participated in the United Way Day of Caring at hundreds of project sites. I was in awe of the dedication of volunteers to successfully complete their projects. The nonprofit agency staff were very thankful to the volunteers, their skills, and talents. So many new partnerships were formed throughout the community that day.

I am looking forward to the 2009 United Way Day of Caring. I invite you to join a team or register a project and get involved in this community-wide day of volunteering!

Posted by Guest Blogger Carrie Covey, Administrative Programs Coordinator | Community Relations, Outreach, and Service, University of Virginia Health System

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

Newsplex Volunteers

   I know the Charlottesville Newsplex is excited to participate again in The United Way Day of Caring this year!  Coming to the Newsplex from a nonprofit background, I think it is such an amazing chance for agencies to showcase their organization and based on that one day of episodic volunteerism, (The Junior League of Charlottesville refers to projects like these as PIADs or Projects in a Day) lots of great things can occur. 

One of our projects last year was bowling with The Arc of the Piedmont, I saw someone so moved by the project and the organization (and the people it helped) that she handed one of the employees a cash donation before she left that day!  Something about bowling and making friends with this group of people, seeing the tools used by the people in wheel chairs to bowl or how happy some of the people were just to have someone to talk to was amazingly moving.  The employees of the Arc were so kind and wonderful to their Adult Day Activity participants and it was such a unique chance to spend time with them. I understand why that lady felt the urge to help!  Without being a participant in Day of Caring, our team of volunteers and the group from the other business at that project would never have had that experience.  On another note, a friend of mine is a regular volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club and she learned about them through the Day of Caring.  I hope as many agencies as possible work with Shaele to come up with projects.  The opportunity for September 23 and beyond seems too good to miss!

Posted by Ali Rothschild, Nonprofit Marketing Partner at the Charlottesville Newsplex

With more than 3,000 volunteers expected to register this year, please consider all nonprofit agencies and schools (including child care centers) where you work, volunteer or support and encourage them to register projects.  A Project Development Toolkit is available to help organizations identify needed projects, and United Way staff is eager to help, as well.  Please visit our website or contact Shaele Wood for more information (434-972-1705).

We extend a big thank you to for their sponsorship of the Day of Caring.  Keep an eye out for a series of television PSA's dedicated to project development, promotion and recognition.

We did it!

Our Leadership Charlottesville team knew that we had done everything possible to make yesterday’s Mentor & Tutor Opportunity Fair a success,  but we still agonized over whether or not the public would show up to visit with the many wonderful organizations in need of volunteers.

Thanks in large part to the generous advertising support by NBC29 and all the Monticello Media radio stations (and we hope by our use of social media like this blog marathon) we had a steady stream of visitors from 3:00 to 6:00. The agency representative were very happy with the engaged, interested contacts they made, and that is what it is all about. If as a result of our efforts, a few more kids have mentors and tutors who take an interest in them, then every single minute spent on this project was worth it.

We had wonderful food donations by Chick-Fil-A, Big Jim’s Bar-B-Que, Harris Teeter and BreadWorks. We even had the Chick Fil A cow walking up and down the Downtown Mall carrying an “Eat Mor Chiken, Mentor Mor Kids” sign. The construction workers on the re-bricking project were particularly thrilled and asked to have a group shot taken with the cow. Thank you to those who were volunteered for cow duty.

We could not have asked for a better location for the fair than the Omni Hotel and cannot thank them enough for the use of their room and wonderful staff. Thank you, Melissa Soutter, for your wonderful event planning expertise.

Shaele Wood of the United Way Volunteer Center provided invaluable, centralized knowledge of our local nonprofit community and provided a lot of technical support to our team. As a Leadership Charlottesville (LC) alumnus, she (in her words) earned her Masters degree in LC as she was a full participant in this, her second LC team project.

We will be surveying our partner agencies in the near future for their feedback and suggestions, and hope to sustain this as an annual effort because there will always be kids in need of mentors and tutors who will pass it on.

We’d love to hear your comments about the fair itself, this blog marathon, or your own stories about mentors or tutors. Please leave your comments below and enjoy the pictures from our event! 

Posted by Kim Connolly.

Omni Hotel Today 3-6 pm. Be there!

Today is the day!  Come on down to the Omni Hotel between 3:00 and 6:00 for the Mentor/Tutor Recruitment Fair (in the Preston room behind the restaurant).  This is your chance to meet casually with representatives from mentoring and tutoring programs in our community to learn where you may want to volunteer.  No pressure to sign up today.  Just come and learn more about how you can make a difference in the life of a child.  Great door prizes and refreshments from Chick-Fil-A, Harris Teeter and Breadworks.

See the images below for more information.

Paying it Forward

Adrian Crawford (AC) is a staff member at Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries (CALM) as well as a student at PVCC.  He plans to attend Virginia State in the fall.  What is special about AC’s story is he grew in the Prospect neighborhood, the heart of the community where CALM exists to live and serve.

From a very young age AC was involved in the after school tutoring, evening mentoring programs, and anything else that was available to him through the ministry.  Through these programs he benefited greatly from the many different mentoring relationships along the way, but none like the relationship he had with Edgar.  Edgar met regularly with AC, often taking him and some of his friends on trips.  He challenged AC to become a man of responsibility and showed him the importance of giving back to the community. 

Through the ministry and the relationships it provided, AC is now in the position to give back to the community, as he did last summer for the middle school boys and currently does for the tutoring program at Johnson Elementary School.

Posted by Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries.

This blog is part of a Blog Marathon aimed to bring awareness to our community of the current needs for mentors and tutors.  Visit www.BeAVolunteer.info to learn about how YOU can make a difference in the life of a child.  Stop by the Omni on March 30 between 3:00-6:00 to meet representatives from all of the programs who are looking for more like you to be a mentor or a tutor. Email swood@unitedwaytja.org for more information. See you there!  Please RSVP here.

"We Make a Life By What We Give"

After graduating from college and beginning to learn about what making a life in the so called “real world” meant, I found that a life focused solely around working to make a living was something I have never been cut out for.  Searching for meaning and worth in my life, while struggling with how that should fit into my career took me about a year. One day, my father mentioned to me that a person’s job or way they make money, does not have to be what they are most passionate about in life. This statement struck me like an arrow straight to the heart. Being of the Y generation, I quickly did some Googling and discovered where my wise father found these inspirational words. He found them in Winston Churchill, who once said, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” Quickly, I remembered what once brought me more joy and feeling of worth and value than I had ever experienced…mentoring. The infinite beauty of mentoring is that you bring joy, worth and value to the life of another while they unknowingly give the same to.

Not to continually harp on Google (but, it is an amazing tool that helped me on this journey), but I hopped on there and searched “volunteer opportunities in Charlottesville, Virginia.”  (Editor’s note: visit www.BeAVolunteer.info) and that is how I found Walton Middle School.

In late August of last year, I applied to be part of their first mentoring program and I was blessed to be given the opportunity to mentor two incredible young girls. Once a week, I spend their lunch period with them and they light up my week! They help me to remember how tough it is to be a young teenager, which reminds me that I am getting older day by day! Yet, the most important things they have brought me beside showing me what I am most passionate about in life are their stories, knowledge, struggles, abilities to beat me in any game we play (basket ball is a big favorite), keeping me up to speed on what things like Twilight are, and most importantly…they have given me two lives that I care deeply about. Most days I am not sure if they are mentoring me or I am mentoring them, but it is those days that remind me what they give me of their lives is what gives me life.

Posted by guest blogger Elizabeth Puritz, Walton Middle School Mentor.

This blog is part of a Blog Marathon aimed to bring awareness to our community of the current needs for mentors and tutors.  Visit www.BeAVolunteer.info to learn about how YOU can make a difference in the life of a child.  Stop by the Omni on March 30 between 3:00-6:00 to meet representatives from all of the programs who are looking for more like you to be a mentor or a tutor. Email swood@unitedwaytja.org for more information. See you there!  Please RSVP here.

The Gift of Individual Attention

"Tutoring boys is rewarding. They like games and competition. Their smiles tell you they're glad you are helping them learn."

Bill Riesmeyer, Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries Tutor

At the beginning of tutoring when all the kids arrive at tutoring first grader Adam Cortez always asks who his tutor will be for that day (it’s always one of two people).  Once he is told who it will be he always exclaims, “YES!” as he pulls his raised fists down toward his waist in excitement.  He loves having the individual attention of a tutor.

Posted by Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries.

This blog is part of a Blog Marathon aimed to bring awareness to our community of the current needs for mentors and tutors.  Visit www.BeAVolunteer.info to learn about how YOU can make a difference in the life of a child.  Stop by the Omni on March 30 between 3:00-6:00 to meet representatives from all of the programs who are looking for more like you to be a mentor or a tutor. Email swood@unitedwaytja.org for more information. See you there!  Please RSVP here.

Host Homes – A Different Kind of Mentoring

Though 21 days seems like a short time, our Host Home families impact a child’s life for much longer than they are in the home.   Chaotic and tension filled homes can lead a child to struggle in school, have difficulty expressing emotions, and soon becomes what the youth views as a normal home life.  Our host home families are able to provide these youth with a supportive, safe, and welcoming environment where they are encouraged to express their emotions and succeed in life.   Our host home parents are warm and enthusiastic and provide a safe place where the youth won’t have to question the reliability of the parents’ presence.  

Youth are often excited to take lessons learned from these structured and supportive environments home with them when they leave.  Though a child might have more responsibilities while in a host home, (i.e. chores, 24-hour supervision, and limited phone usage) they often thrive within this lifestyle.  Youth can leave these host homes with more to teach their parents about a happy and healthy way of life.

Posted by guest blogger from Children, Youth & Family Services

This blog is part of a Blog Marathon aimed to bring awareness to our community of the current needs for mentors and tutors.  Visit www.BeAVolunteer.info to learn about how YOU can make a difference in the life of a child.  Stop by the Omni on March 30 between 3:00-6:00 to meet representatives from all of the programs who are looking for more like you to be a mentor or a tutor. Email swood@unitedwaytja.org for more information. See you there!  Please RSVP here.

Mentors DO. Tutors DO.

Looking back at all the wonderful mentoring- and tutoring-related posts on Living United from the past few weeks, it’s hard to know what more can be said! 

We’ve heard from adults who mentor or tutor about the positive experiences they’ve had with their “mentees” and “tutees.”  We’ve heard from children who have mentors or tutors on the many ways they’ve benefited from the time and attention of dedicated adult role models.   We’ve heard from mentoring and tutoring program coordinators about the invaluable work that they do in connecting caring adults with kids who need one-on-one help. 
 
I commend them all.  And I commend the United Way and the good folks behind the “Mentor.  Tutor.  Pass it on.” campaign for highlighting the many opportunities available to local residents who want to make a positive & direct impact on the lives of our youth.

One thing I might add to what’s already been said is that mentoring or tutoring does not just make a difference in the life of an individual child, it also makes a difference in the life of our City.  We talk a lot in this community about the need to reduce the achievement gap in our schools.  We talk a lot about the need to reduce youth violence in our neighborhoods.  We talk a lot about steering our kids away from drugs, or gangs, or teen pregnancy, or dropping out of school.   We talk a lot.

We talk, but mentors DO.  Tutors DO. 

Talking about ways to improve the lives of disadvantaged children is helpful;  establishing  an ongoing, personal relationship of trust and support with a child is actually giving them the tools they need to build a brighter future.   They, and our whole City, are the better for it.

Posted by guest blogger Dave Norris, Charlottesville Mayor

This blog is part of a Blog Marathon aimed to bring awareness to our community of the current needs for mentors and tutors.  Visit www.BeAVolunteer.info to learn about how YOU can make a difference in the life of a child.  Stop by the Omni on March 30 between 3:00-6:00 to meet representatives from all of the programs who are looking for more like you to be a mentor or a tutor. Email swood@unitedwaytja.org for more information. See you there!  Please RSVP here.