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Emerging from pandemic, nonprofit agencies restock volunteer corps

Hope Coalition volunteer Rob Keener gets bicycles ready to ride for at-risk kids. [CONTRIBUTED]

By Bill Moss, Published: November 23, 2022

For our annual survey of nonprofit leaders we wanted to return to a topic that is central to dozens of charitable organizations that serve our community — the recruitment, training, management and support of volunteers.

Two years ago, when the pandemic decimated in-person volunteerism, the Lightning asked nonprofit leaders how they were managing to continue to provide services. Many agencies saw their corps of volunteers — made up of dozens or even hundreds of people — plunged to zero. The good news is that in 2022, for the first time since March 2020, volunteers have returned, with several agencies reporting they’re back to a full complement of workers.
Nonprofit leaders were insightful and appreciative in describing how crucial volunteers are to their agency’s mission. They told us how they recruit and train volunteers and things they do to keep them engaged and rewarded.
“Without tour guides, the farm’s sole staff member would have to give up other duties in order to give tours,” said Mandy Gibson, Historic Johnson Farm’s executive director. “And it goes without saying that without the volunteers that work on the grounds, the grass would be tall and the gardens wouldn’t exist!”
A crucial volunteer job at Thrive helps homeless people get shelter.
“Our furniture movers” are most critical, said Tracey Gruver, Thrive’s development and communications director. “Thrive helps people experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing and we provide basic furniture and housing supplies to get households stabilized. Thrive has a small group of very devoted volunteers who move furniture 1-2 times weekly. These volunteers save Thrive thousands of dollars every year; we couldn’t provide this service without them.”

Nonprofit leaders know, too, that care and feeding and communication goes a long way to keeping volunteers happy.
At Interfaith Assistance Ministry, “volunteers are encouraged to attend Volunteer Recharge half days each year,” said Elizabeth Willson Moss, the agency’s executive director. “These provide fellowship and team-building time as well as updates on new procedures and policies.”
Peggy Marshall, the new executive director of the Henderson County Education Foundation, was happy to report that volunteers have returned to her agency.
“HCEF has been fortunate to see the number of volunteers increase as more and more people want to be directly involved with making an impact on the students of Henderson County,” she said.
The United Way of Henderson County also reported that the community’s volunteer spirit soared post-pandemic during two big work days. When the United Way resumed these “two signature, community-wide volunteer events — Days of Caring in May to support of our local nonprofits and Day of Action in August for our local public schools — our community showed their eagerness to get back out to volunteer in person,” said Bird Bartlett, the agency’s marketing and events manager. “In 2022, we had nearly 400 volunteers participate in Days of Caring, and over 550 residents help out at Day of Action.”
Although the number of volunteers at Blue Ridge Humane Society has grown closer to pre-pandemic levels, the agency’s Thrift Store is “in desperate need of more assistance.”
The animal rescue agency badly needs help as well to bridge dogs and cats from the shelter to their forever home.

“We are in desperate need of dog and puppy fosters,” said Angela Prodrick, the agency’s executive director. “We are always in need of foster homes to alleviate space constraints on your Adoption Center and give the animals in our care a reprieve from time in the shelter. More space means more lives saved.”

 

Season of Giving survey responses

 

Is the number of volunteers at your agency still down from 2019?

Pardee UNC Health: Yes. Some volunteers have retired, some have moved out of the area, and others are not comfortable returning yet.

IAM: Yes, but it is climbing back up. IAM now has 225 volunteers.

Johnson Farm: No, we actually have a few more volunteers than we did in 2019.

Thrive: Yes and no. Our overall number is higher, but most of the current volunteers are helping with one-time projects like yard work or deep cleaning at our Clubhouse. Prior to the pandemic, we had several volunteers who came to the Clubhouse Day Program regularly to provide tutoring, wellness activities, and crafting activities for Clubhouse members. This stopped at the height of the pandemic to prevent viral spread. Unfortunately, even when precautionary measures ended, in-person volunteers have not returned to the Clubhouse.

Education Foundation: HCEF has been fortunate to see the number of volunteers increase as more and more people want to be directly involved with making an impact on the students of Henderson County.

United Way: We are thrilled to report that our volunteer numbers are back up to pre-pandemic levels! In 2022, we had nearly 400 volunteers participate in Days of Caring, and over 550 residents help out at Day of Action.
Blue Ridge Literacy Council: Yes

Blue Ridge Humane Society: The number of volunteers is near pre-pandemic levels but has yet to be quite there. Since many of our programs shifted drastically in the last few years, we revamped our volunteer program to respond to the growing needs of pets and their owners in our community. In addition, some of our focus areas, such as our Thrift Store, are in desperate need of more assistance.

Safelight: No, our number of volunteers has steadily increased.

Manna Food Bank: Our volunteers showed up, time and time again, to meet the unfortunate and ever-growing need that continues throughout our mountain region. In total, over 2,900 volunteers donated over 52,000 hours to addressing hunger last fiscal year. Because of our volunteers, our neighbors had food on their plates and in their bellies, and were provided a feeling of hope. Volunteers are the heartbeat of MANNA’s daily work and are vital in moving our mission forward.
What have you done to recruit volunteers?
Manna Food Bank: Our volunteer community does a great job of sharing more about MANNA and our mission with their family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors — and for that we are very fortunate. Additionally, our media partners are gracious to share volunteer opportunities with the greater communit. We attend communitywide events throughout WNC and post regularly on social media as well.

Safelight: We recruit volunteers through community talks at churches, businesses, schools and events. We also utilize our social media accounts and keep our website current with the most up-to-date information for volunteer openings.

Blue Ridge Humane Society: We typically gather new volunteers through tabling at local fairs and events. Social media is one of the volunteer marketing tools we use most often. However, what we depend on most is word of mouth.

Blue Ridge Literacy Council: We used social media, volunteer match-up websites, an ad in the paper, a guest spot on the radio, presentations and referrals from volunteers.

United Way: We have spread the word through our newsletter, social media and local print publications about our major volunteer opportunities.

Education Foundation: HCEF reaches out to its board, previous board members, donors, sponsors, community organizations and community members with “direct asks” to help with specific events and campaigns.

Thrive: Thrive has tried to recruit volunteers by reaching out to our supporters in our quarterly newsletter, on social media and in many of the presentations we give to community groups. We hope to bring volunteers back to the Clubhouse, because members benefit greatly from interacting with new people from the community and they miss these volunteers.

Johnson Farm: I believe the majority of our new volunteers have arrived via word of mouth from current volunteers. In the past, we have tried volunteer interest meetings and trainings and not gotten much response.

IAM: Publicize the need for volunteers in our newsletters, on Facebook, in the Lightning, on WTZQ and by word of mouth.

Pardee: I have attended some community events and some specific meetings to talk about volunteering. Word of mouth still generates great volunteer referrals. We also have a number of volunteers who were former patients. The Pardee website, and social media also generate interest in volunteering.

What kind of training can volunteers expect at your agency?

Education Foundation: The training is specific to the event and typically on the day of the event. For school volunteer opportunities, school administrators provide the training specific to the tasks they are assisting with.

Thrive: The type of training varies based on the volunteer job you are doing. We would love volunteers who could lead activities like yoga or hikes at the Clubhouse. Volunteers who interact with Thrive clients receive more extensive training, whereas volunteers who do not have client contact will need less training.

Johnson Farm: It really depends on the area in which they are volunteering. The garden and grounds volunteers really just jump in; it is more learn as you work. For volunteers helping with field trips and giving tours, they have information to read and study while also observing as many programs as they want until they feel comfortable.

IAM: We provide on-the-job training for our Food Pantry, Drive-Thru Tuesday food distribution, IAM’s Mobile Pantry and Clothing Assistance Department volunteers. Our intake volunteers — those who interview our neighbors in need who are asking for financial assistance with rent, utilities, gasoline vouchers, bus tickets and prescriptions — receive six hours of training. Our truck and van drivers also undergo training from our food assistance manager. IAM Thrift Store volunteers receive hands-on training at the store as they volunteer. At Volunteer Recharge half days they get to hear from IAM’s executive director about the latest developments designed to help our neighbors more efficiently and effectively.

Pardee: We have a general hospital orientation that lasts approximately four hours. After that, the volunteers get orientation that is specific to the department where they’re volunteering.
Manna Food Bank: All individuals complete an orientation prior to volunteering at MANNA FoodBank’s facility, as we are a full-scale warehouse operation. They watch a few videos, read through our handbook and join a 30-minute virtual call. Should folks wish to join our Helpline or Driving Team, additional training is happily provided.

Safelight: Each volunteer is given area-specific training for their roles.

Blue Ridge Humane Society: All volunteers will begin by attending a general information session to orient themselves to Blue Ridge Humane Society. From there, we have various opportunities ranging from the front desk at the Adoption Center, cashiering at the Thrift Store, Virtual Pet Detectives, walking dogs, cleaning cats, spay/neuter transports and fostering an animal. Depending on the position someone is interested in, the training is tailored to that experience.

Blue Ridge Literacy Council: Extensive training offered virtually or in person

United Way: Our two major volunteer events do not require volunteer training. Anyone in our community can form a team or volunteer as an individual to participate in a wide variety of projects. We see corporate groups, neighborhood and church teams and families come out to make an impact.

What are the most critical jobs you have that are carried out by volunteers?

United Way: Aside from our two major service days, United Way uses volunteers to guide our community investment processand to spread the word about the importance of giving back to our community through United Way.

Blue Ridge Literacy Council: Tutoring.
Blue Ridge Humane Society: Blue Ridge Humane Society partners with local food banks to deliver pet food to them. Our Kibble Krew volunteers bag over 40,000 pounds of food each year. We are always in need of foster homes to alleviate space constraints on your Adoption Center and give the animals in our care a reprieve from time in the shelter. More space means more lives saved. We are in desperate need of dog and puppy fosters. Finally, our Thrift Store is our most significant source of revenue. Thrift Store volunteers help us ensure we have consistent funds to save the lives of animals in our community.
Safelight: All of our volunteers are essential to our daily operations. Hospital Companion Volunteers, Family Advocacy Center Intake Support and Child Advocacy Center volunteers are the most crucial as those volunteers are needed on an on-call basis for emergency cases.
Manna Food Bank: 1. Warehouse volunteer: Our projects change daily based on priority and need and could include things such as sorting and packing food donations, packing housewares and hygiene products, culling produce or assembling MANNA Packs. 2. MANNA Express Driver: Work in pairs driving a small box truck to pick up and deliver food items throughout our 16-county region. 3. Helpline Volunteer: Field incoming calls, make referrals to food resources and provide potentially eligible neighbors application support for food assistance.

Education Foundation: The most critical job of our volunteers is to communicate the importance of public education as they serve in various capacities at numerous events throughout the year that support the students and staff of Henderson County public schools.

Thrive: Our furniture movers! Thrive helps people experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing and we provide basic furniture and housing supplies to get households stabilized. Thrive relies on community donations to obtain these items, and someone has to pick up those donations and deliver them to the client household. Thrive has a small group of very devoted volunteers who move furniture 1-2 times weekly. These volunteers save Thrive thousands of dollars every year; we couldn’t provide this service without them.

Johnson Farm: Every single volunteer helps fulfill a critical need. Without field trip volunteers, fewer students would be able to visit the farm. Without tour guides, the farm’s sole staff member would have to give up other duties in order to give tours. And it goes without saying that without the volunteers that work on the grounds, the grass would be tall and the gardens wouldn’t exist!

IAM: Every one of our volunteer jobs is essential. IAM is able to provide more than 40,000 crisis services touches a year because of the service from our volunteers.
Pardee: Transporting patients to destinations is an important role. We would also like to have more Pet Therapy Teams. We have available roles in various departments as well.

If someone wants to volunteer, what should they do?

Pardee: Contact Karla Reese, Volunteer Services Manager at karla.reese@unchealth.unc.edu or 828-696-4240, or visit pardeehospital.org/about us/volunteer and click on the Adult Volunteer Application Form.

 

Manna Food Bank: Visit mannafoodbank.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/ or contact Manna’s volunteer manager at volunteering@mannafoodbank.org or 828-299-3663.

IAM: Contact Volunteer Manager Amy Lewis at amy@iam-hc.org or 828-697-7029.

Safelight: Contact Volunteer & Marketing Coordinator Kira Isaksen at kira@safelightfamily.org 828-693-3840.

Johnson Farm: Call the farm at 828-891-6585 or email jfarm@hcpsnc.org.
Blue Ridge Humane Society: Fill out a volunteer application at blueridgehumane.org/volunteer or reach out to Baylee at volunteer@blueridgehumane.org. Those interested in fostering may contact Katie at foster@blueridgehumane.org.

 

Thrive: Download our volunteer application at www.thrive4health.org/about-us/volunteering/ or contact Thrive Executive Director Kristen Martin at kmartin@thrive4health.org. Anyone who is planning to work directly with clients will need to agree to a background check.

Blue Ridge Literacy Council: Email admin@litcouncil.org or call 828.696.3811.

Education Foundation: Contact Executive Director Peggy Marshall at 828-697-5551.

 

United Way: Sign up for our enewsletter at liveunitedhc.org or check out the “events” section of the website.