Nevada Volunteers strongly stands behind the AmeriCorps program and the way that it can impact a member's life. Members are impacting our Nevada communities through helping high school students graduate and pursue higher education, mentoring at-risk youth, recruiting volunteers for…
During AmeriCorps Week 2013, it is Nevada Volunteers’ privilege to share the stories of AmeriCorps members throughout Nevada. We hope that you’ll enjoy them and get a glimpse into why AmeriCorps members continue to serve multiple terms, how AmeriCorps helped them determine their pathway, and what an impact they are making in our Nevada communities!
Thank you to Ken Tran at AmeriCorps Alums and Brandon Greene (Janet’s son) for sharing the story of Janet Hughes, an AmeriCorps member serving her fourth term through the United Way of Southern Nevada.
I worked for the Clark County School District for 34 years as a classroom teacher, ESL instructor, Reading Specialist, after school tutor, and Speech Pathologist. After my first year of retirement, my son Brandon Greene, called me excited about starting his year of service of as an AmeriCorps member and encouraged me to also serve as an AmeriCorps member. I went online to the AmeriCorps website, and applied after discovering that there was a position available at Desert Rose Adult High School with Dr. Sandra Ransel. (more…)
Governor Brian Sandoval revealed this year’s recipients on Friday, January 18th, during the Governor’s Points of Light Awards luncheon, which was held in conjunction with the Volunteer and Corporate Engagement Summit. Nevada Volunteers is proud to be able to recognize some of the inspiring and incredible volunteer efforts that are happening in the Silver State!
Southern Nevada Individual: Raquel O’Neill
Though she has no sight, she certainly has a vision. There seem to be no barriers to Raquel O’Neill’s mission to make a difference in her community. She is a new mother, she works fulltime with university students with disabilities, she mentors blind youth, and she works tirelessly to empower Nevadans with vision loss. Raquel identified a gap in services for blind and visually impaired youth. She set out to fill the unmet needs for training by enlisting volunteers to help. She developed and implemented a 60-hour blindness skills training program for youth ages 15-20. The program provides intensive training in daily living skills, cane travel, communication, Braille, and advocacy, and is the only one like it in Nevada. By utilizing skilled volunteers and those who live with vision loss, she is able to provide this program at no charge to the participants. (more…)
Each year, Nevada Volunteers is overwhelmed by the amount of nominations and the inspiring stories submitted for the Governor’s Points of Light Awards. Our distinguished panel of judges selected the following three finalists for this year. These three individuals will be honored at the awards luncheon on January 18, 2013, and the recipient of the category will be announced. Congratulations to the finalists and thank you for your service to our communities!
2013 Governor’s Points of Light Awards
Nonprofit/Community Organizations Finalists
CASA Foundation (Las Vegas)
The CASA Foundation, established in 1983, supports the mission of the CASA Program, which recruits, screens, trains and supports volunteers who serve as Court Appointed Special Advocates for abused and neglected children in foster care. The CASA Foundation provides financial assistance to meet a myriad of unmet needs of foster children, such as funding school trips, extra-curricular activities, supplies, clothing for special events, tutoring, eye glasses, braces, sports, camp, music, etc. Each year, $1500 scholarships are provided to a former foster youth enrolled in a college and/or vocational trade school. Additionally, one $5000 scholarship is provided each year to a foster child who, despite the challenges of foster care, has excelled academically and plans to enroll in college. The CASA Foundation also sponsors an annual Recognition Gala to recognize and show appreciation to the incredible heroes, the CASA volunteers, as well as, other community child advocates. The CASA Foundation continues to meet the needs of thousands of children. (more…)
Nevada Volunteers, along with NV Energy and MGM Resorts International, bring a variety of national and regional speakers to Las Vegas that will inspire and connect corporate and nonprofit sectors. Among these speakers, Greg Baldwin, President of VolunteerMatch, will share his thoughts on where the future of volunteering is headed during one of the afternoon sessions.
Rethinking the Possibilities: Trends Shaping the Future of Volunteering
From science to social media, CSR to social impact the future of volunteering is emerging today. Take a closer look at key research, trends and insights informing successful volunteer engagement.
Greg Baldwin, President, VolunteerMatch
Greg Baldwin is the President of the award-winning VolunteerMatch service — the Web’s largest volunteer engagement network. Greg joined the founding team in 1998 as its Chief Imagination Officer to build a nonprofit website to make it easier for good people and good causes to connect. Today, as President, Greg oversees the expansion of a network that is already serving 85,000+ nonprofits, 150 business clients, and a quarter of a million interested volunteers a week. Since 1998 VolunteerMatch has helped the nonprofit sector engage more that $2 billion worth of volunteer services. Greg completed his undergraduate studies at Brown University in 1990 with a degree in Public Policy. He lives in Berkeley, CA with his wife Kathryn and kids Ellie and Matt. (more…)
Each year, Nevada Volunteers is overwhelmed by the amount of nominations and the inspiring stories submitted for the Governor’s Points of Light Awards. Our distinguished panel of judges selected the following three finalists for this year. These three individuals will be honored at the awards luncheon on January 18, 2013, and the recipient of the category will be announced. Congratulations to the finalists and thank you for your service to our communities!
Volunteer Manager Finalists for the
2013 Governor’s Points of Light Awards
Sharon Harding (Las Vegas)
Sharon Harding, Volunteer Program Coordinator, oversees the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s Metro Volunteer Program (MVP), which currently has over 450 volunteers. During the last fiscal year MVP volunteers contributed 157,000 hours of service. A large portion of their successful is due to Sharon’s follow up with volunteers to make sure that they are well trained and happy in the areas that they are serving. (more…)
Each year, Nevada Volunteers is overwhelmed by the amount of nominations and the inspiring stories submitted for the Governor’s Points of Light Awards. Our distinguished panel of judges selected the following three finalists for this year. These three individuals will be honored at the awards luncheon on January 18, 2013, and the recipient of the category will be announced. Congratulations to the finalists and thank you for your service to our communities!
Rural Nevada Individual Finalists for the
2013 Governor’s Points of Light Awards
Nancy Barrett (Incline Village)
Nancy Barrett has served with the Northern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross for two years, and it constantly working to make the community safer. During the Caughlin and Washoe Drive fires, she helped manage the shelters and ensured that hundreds of evacuees had a safe place to go. Along with the rest of the mass care team, Nancy helped to conduct shelter surveys in all of Washoe County, Douglas County, and Carson City. She became the DSAC (Disaster Services Advisory Committee) Co-Chair, where she leads the Red Cross chapter’s disaster services and advises volunteers on how we can be better prepared. Nancy is also the Mass Care Co-Lead, which is responsible for our sheltering, feeding, and reunification services during a disaster. Nancy recently traveled to New Jersey to help Red Cross respond to Super Storm Sandy. She was also recently recognized as one of Glamour’s women of the year in New York City. Nancy works tirelessly every day to ensure to safety of everyone around her, whether she is home in Nevada or on disaster assignment in New Jersey. Her passion for the mission of the Red Cross motivates everyone around her. (more…)
Nevada Volunteers, along with NV Energy and MGM Resorts International, bring a variety of national and regional speakers to Las Vegas that will inspire and connect corporate and nonprofit sectors. Among these speakers, Kaira Esgate, a renown speaker and cultivator of corporate-volunteer programs, opens the day with an inspiring and exciting session.
“The Intersection of Impact – Leveraging Multi-Sector Resources”
The volunteer ecosystem is more effective when all sectors participate in its evolution. Volunteerism doesn’t exist in a single sector and the responsibility of successful volunteer engagement resides beyond nonprofits alone. We are interdependent when it comes to this work and together we can increase the impact of volunteerism by working to improve the system across all sectors (i.e., nonprofit, private, faith-based, education, government). Learn the key principles of the Reimagining Service effort from Kaira Esgate at the Volunteer and Corporate Engagement Summit!
Kaira Esgate
Kaira Esgate serves as the Executive Director of Reimagining Service, a national multi-sector coalition dedicated to converting good intentions into greater impact through increased volunteer engagement capacity nationwide. As Executive Director, Kaira works with the Reimagining Service Council and other stakeholders to increase effective practice, gather new insights via research, and encourage investment to effectively leverage volunteer talent to address true community needs. (more…)
Each year, Nevada Volunteers is overwhelmed by the amount of nominations and the inspiring stories submitted for the Governor’s Points of Light Awards. Our distinguished panel of judges selected the following three finalists for this year. These three individuals will be honored at the awards luncheon on January 18, 2013, and the recipient of the category will be announced. Congratulations to the finalists and thank you for your service to our communities!
Southern Nevada Individual Finalists for the
2013 Governor’s Points of Light Awards
Brendon Dillman During the past two years as President of the Teen Explorer Volunteer Program at Valley Hospital, Brendon Dillman has scheduled weekly presentations, volunteer assignments and education speakers for 50 teenage volunteers that are interested in future medical careers. Because of Brendon’s leadership, the volunteer program has grown enough to include an Emergency Department training for the teens to achieve access to volunteer in the Emergency Department without the need of constant supervision by the hospital staff. This has allowed the hospital staff additional time to spend with patients while the teen volunteers stock supplies, transport, deliver lab work, escort patient family members, and offer patients pillows, blankets, ice chips, etc. From 2011-2012 the Teen Explorer Program had 84 participants that contributed 6,117 hours. Brendon himself has contributed 1,021 hours from October 2009 to present through the Emergency Department Explorer Program and summer volunteering. (more…)
We spelled AmeriCorps thanks to our generous donors! Can we spell it again?
When I started my freshman year at the University of Nevada Reno as an honors student, I was lucky enough to come across Alex Ellison, the AmeriCorps VISTA that had just been placed in the Honors Program. During her term of service, she had created a service club that I participated in, and told me about the opportunity to be a VISTA with Nevada Volunteers that coming summer. I jumped at the chance because I knew this was an amazing opportunity for me to gain new skills, to explore the nonprofit sector, and most importantly, to make a difference.
During my term, I was placed with Nevada Volunteers, where I worked on a number of different projects, but the main project that I worked on was creating a resource for the University of Nevada, Reno that housed volunteer opportunities that were specifically for college students, and were organized by major, interest, and skill set. I also worked on developing the alternative break program at the University. (more…)