Washoe County School District Archives

Nevada Volunteers certifies first department within a school district, WCSD Volunteer Services, as a Service Enterprise

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Janet Wright

janet@nevadavolunteers.org

(775) 825-1900

RENO, October 27 – Nevada Volunteers, the Governor’s commission on service, and Nevada’s only Service Enterprise Hub, is pleased to announce Washoe County School District (WCSD) Volunteer Services Department has achieved recognition as the first department within a school district to achieve Service Enterprise certification. WCSD Volunteer Services Department is Nevada’s third certified Service Enterprise organization. Across the country there are only 250 Service Enterprise organizations. Nevada Volunteers presented WCSD Volunteer Services with the certification on October 11, 2016 to Lisa-Marie Lightfoot, the Administrator, Dex Thomas, the Program Services Technician, Laurie Bennett, the Secretary, and Tracy Sherwood the VISTA Leader.

The Service Enterprise designation represents intense work to ensure volunteer efforts are aligned with the mission of the organization and that volunteers are treated well and their skills utilized effectively. As part of the Service Enterprise process, Volunteer Services at WCSD calculated the Return on Volunteer Investment (ROVI). The ROVI measures the value an organization puts into volunteer engagement as well as the value an organization receives from engaging volunteers. WCSD Volunteer Services calculated for every $1 invested in volunteer engagement, they generate a return of $32.
(more…)

Why Invest in Volunteers?

Nevada Volunteers is all about volunteerism and, no, despite our name, we don’t have a huge group of volunteers that we directly manage. While we would love to claim all the wonderful volunteers in our state as our own, we…

National Volunteer Week 2012

National Volunteer Week is finally here! Nevada Volunteers is so excited to celebrate the volunteers in Nevada that continue to make our state a better place to live!

This year, Nevada Volunteers will be sharing the great works of volunteers in Nevada, as well as volunteer coordinators/managers that continuously support those volunteers. Each day, we will be posting inspiring stories and pictures – keep checking our blog, Facebook, and Twitter for amazing stories!

Thank you to those that continue to give their time, money, and energy to organizations throughout Nevada! If you are not yet volunteering and want to get involved, visit blue.nevadavolunteers.org to find volunteer opportunities near you!

___________________________________________________________________

Gayle Farley with Boys & Girls Club volunteers

Gayle Farley, Volunteer Coordinator at the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, poses with some of her fabulous volunteers!

I have over 120 volunteers and they are mostly teens and young adults. Many of them come into the Boys & Girls Club to volunteer for school credits and really don’t want to be here in the beginning until they see what is here for them, and that this Club is for them. I see them working with younger kids and loving what they do. They just want to help out as much as they can. Some of these young volunteers go to school, work, and still volunteer because they love it so much. When I call them to see how they are doing, the calls and emails I get back are often, “it is so nice to have someone who cares about what is going on in my life” –makes me feel that I am doing something really worthwhile. I can honestly say, for the first time in my life, and I have worked for many years, that I feel that I am really where I am supposed to be. I watch these young volunteers grow into great leaders with goals and a purpose in their lives because of what volunteering and the sense of what “giving back” has taught them. And you know, they make me feel pretty special too…..everyday. (more…)