Volunteer Connect gets grants to expand youth volunteering
Volunteer Connect is excited to announce that grants totaling $10,000 have been received from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation and the ESCO Foundation, which will help expand volunteering by children and youth in Central Oregon.
With this grant funding, Volunteer Connect will activate more than 500 young volunteers in our Central Oregon communities. In many cases, they will be helping younger children, including homework help at The Landing in Prineville, children’s fitness with the Bend Park and Recreation District, and mentoring with After-School Buddies in Bend.
While young volunteers provide service to our communities, they themselves receive benefits in learning, skills development, resistance to risks such as drug abuse, and a sense of purpose and community connection. Volunteering helps youth experience, first hand, the power of individuals to change the world.
Brad Porterfield, executive director of the Latino Community Association, affirms, “We believe strongly in the value of encouraging our youth to volunteer as a means to gain useful skills and as a way of making their community a better place to live. Volunteering is a particularly important path for Latino youth to connect in a meaningful way with the broader community to learn about the importance of building networks. It also builds self-confidence and increases their chances for success and happiness.”
About Volunteer Connect: Volunteer Connect links community members with rewarding volunteer opportunities to enhance Central Oregon, partnering with over 150 non-profit and public organizations to recruit and connect volunteers, matching volunteer interests and skills with community needs. Volunteers may search through hundreds of volunteer opportunities, according to their interests and age, at www.volunteerconnectnow.org
About Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation: The mission of the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation is to offer assistance in youth education, strengthen youth and family, provide positive youth development, and add to the quality of life for people within Coos, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, and Lane Counties. www.cowcreekfoundation.org/
About ESCO Foundation: The ESCO Foundation funds in Oregon for Cultural, Religious, Education, Medical and Civic endeavors.
