AmeriCorps Week

From Saturday March 10th to Sunday March 18th, don't be alarmed if you see a large number of folks sporting AmeriCorps tee shirts, sweatshirts and other apparel with the AmeriCorps logo! AmeriCorps week is an amazing opportunity for people to learn and understand just what exactly AmeriCorps is. We've all heard the question and seen the puzzled look on someone's face when they ask, "so, what is AmeriCorps exactly?". We love this question because we AmeriCorps are quite proud to share with people what we do. AmeriCorps week allows us to salute current and past members. We get to tell people about how we decided to give our time for a year to service. We are excited to motivate and inspire more Americans to join AmeriCorps or volunteer in their communities. ww.americorpsweek.gov

Fourth Annual Agent of Change Awards

We're very excited to present our 4th Annual Agent of Change Awards during National Volunteer Week on Tuesday, April 17, 8:30-10:00 AM at Franklin University. You are invited to nominate volunteers for the following categories:

• Advocate: Volunteer who supports a cause or persons to effect change
• Provider: Service to clients needing life’s basics
• Leader: Board member or lead volunteer
• Good Neighbor: Service in or on behalf of a Central Ohio neighborhood
• Young Leader: Outstanding volunteer age 21 and under.

Please use one form per category and person/small group. You may nominate a single volunteer or small group. You may submit as many nominations in any category as long as they are on separate forms. The service and change must take place in Central Ohio.

Deadline for nominations is 4:30 pm, Tuesday, March 20th.

• Email: Subject: Nominations to mweger@handsoncentralohio.org

• Fax: 614-224-6866, Attn: Martha Weger

Mail: Nominations, HandsOn Central Ohio, 195 N Grant Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215.

Volunteer Leaders? Yes, Please

Do you know about our volunteer leader positions here at HandsOn Central Ohio? What is a volunteer leader you might ask? Volunteer leaders take lead on a project and make sure the project is running smoothly. If you have signed up for a project and attended, you were most likely greeted by a volunteer leader and a HandsOn representative.

By becoming a volunteer leader, you will have the opportunity to run the project on your own, without a HandsOn representative. You will gain knowledgeable leadership skills and oversee the group of volunteers. You have a wonderful opportunity to be more hands on with an organization of your choosing and a project that you are interested in.

There are just a few short steps you have to take to be on your way to being a volunteer leader. You must be at least 18 years old, complete an application, complete a Volunteer Leader training that can be found on HandsOn Connect under "Resources", and participate in a brief phone interview.

Finding Volunteering Opportunities for Court Ordered

We understand here at HandsOn Central Ohio that it can be difficult to find a court ordered volunteering opportunity. However for this very reason we have decided to make things a lot easier for you in your search to work off your commitment.

Here is a list of steps to find a volunteering opportunity with us.

1. 1.Visit www.volunteercentralohio.org

2. 2.Click Login in the top right hand corner

3. 3.Select Not a member register

4. 4.Fill out information

5. 5.Click the Resources tab

6. 6.Click on Court Appointed Opportunities

7. 7. Select from the listing of opportunities available

8. 8.Select Express Interest

If you are an agency who are looking to assist us in helping court ordered individuals find volunteering opportunities, follow the link below to sign-up. It’s quick and it’s easy! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dHNXU0tQby02MExYTjFaMVItejJNVGc6MQ#gid=0

For more helpful tips as to how to ask an organization how to volunteer as court ordered, tracking hours of service, and other helpful things to know, visit http://www.coyotecommunications.com/stuff/community.html.

Anti-Bullying

Did you know that January 23-27 is No Name-Calling Week? Our partner GenerationOn created this campaign to help kids and teens learn how they can help prevent bullying from happening at their schools. I volunteer at an after school tutoring program and I have asked the kids if they see this happening. Almost all of the kids raised their hands. By asking this question, we started a lengthy discussion on this issue. It was wonderful to hear the kids talking about how this bothers them and their friends they see getting bullied. This campaign created by GenerationOn is a wonderful example of how and why we need programs like this in place at schools. The better we are able to talk and discuss this problem, hopefully we can see and end to it.

A Successful MLK Day

We had a pretty busy past few weeks preparing for MLK Day 2012! We couldn't be happier because we engaged nearly 500 volunteers and had 10 service projects going on throughout our busy day. For this years MLK Day, we focused our projects on kids and youth oriented service projects. The first part of the day took place at the King Arts Complex MLK Day Open House. Families toured King Arts and saw shows and art activities. We at HandsOn Central Ohio provided a few fun service projects like blanket making and pillow case decorating which was donated to the YWCA Family Shelter. Parents and kids were able to write thank you cards to the troops as well as pledge cards where they wrote down a pledge to serve. Peace bracelet making may have been the biggest hit of the day!

The second part of MLK Day was the march from city Hall to Veterans Memorial for the annual "Celebrate the Legacy"event. This was an amazing event and the scene of the marchers walking down the street and into Vets Memorial was unforgettable. We enjoyed the presence of over 20 organizations who set up tables in the lobby. As the marchers and attendees walked in, they toured the tables to see what these wonderful organizations do.

Even though MLK Day has passed, we need to continue to support and live by the Dr. King's message of hope and peace for us all. Now more than ever, it is important to involve youth in service and keep Dr. King's message alive. To see kids and their families on MLK Day so excited and working together in knowing that they were doing a service project was a great sight. Whether they were making bracelets or writing inspirational notes for kids at the homeless shelter, they were excited and realized that they were making a difference in someones lives.

Post-Holiday Volunteering

I would like to thank everyone who came out and helped Columbus by volunteering this holiday season. Also, I would like to implore everyone to keep that holiday spirit alive throughout the rest of the year. Every year we have a large demand around the holiday season for volunteer opportunities, and we end up having to turn people away from many opportunities because of high demand. If you wanted to volunteer around Christmas, it is best to try and find an opportunity closer to Thanksgiving. The need for volunteers does not go away once January comes upon us though. If you missed a chance to volunteer this holiday season please consider volunteering sometime this year when volunteers are in much shorter supply. We are constantly updating our opportunities and try to make them as flexible as possible. Thanks again for volunteering, and we hope to see you again soon at another project.