New Web Site Offers Volunteering Opportunities In Kosciusko County
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Find an opportunity to volunteer without ever leaving your home or making an endless stream of phone calls.
United Way of Kosciusko is sponsoring a Web site where volunteers can find non-profit organizations in the county to help. The Web site is at www.volunteerkosciusko.org
Don Bergen, lead volunteer, Volunteer Kosciusko, said the Web site is pretty simple but fulfills a long-standing need in Kosciusko County.
When Bergen and his wife moved back to the area, they were looking for places to volunteer. They didn't know who had a need and who would work with them.
Not too long after that, Bergen started talking to United Way of Kosciusko County Executive Director Patricia Coy. That was in 2007.
Eventually, a team was put together of United Way agencies and volunteers, and they brainstormed. Soon, they were working with Vision It Now Inc., a downtown Warsaw business. More than seven months later, they had the Web site put together.
"Our objectives are really simple," Bergen said.
The first objective of the Web site is to offer access to volunteer opportunities: what organizations need what volunteers and for what tasks.
The second objective is to offer non-profit organizations access to interested volunteers. "The agencies have had lots of way getting volunteers," Bergen said, but the Web site gives them a consistent opportunity.
July 1, the team decided the Web site was close enough to being completed to put in test mode. Several agencies posted volunteer opportunities online. Glitches were found and corrected, Bergen said.
As of Monday, the Web site has been taken public. United Way is working on getting the word out about the Web site.
Bergen said, as of Tuesday, they have 10 organizations posting more than 90 volunteer opportunities. Six people already have used it to sign up to be volunteers.
"People are starting to find it, and it's a good thing," said Bergen.
The Web site has six tabs.
The "Home" tab offers general information, a map of the county, information on how to contact the United Way and other information.
The "Volunteer Opportunities" tab lists all the opportunities available. They can be sorted by location, skill or agency.
Under the "Organization Listings," organizations currently offering open opportunities are listed.
The "Volunteer Sign-up" tab is where people can provide their information to volunteer.
"That information is not out there for the public to see," said Coy.
"Organization Sign-up" allows organizations to provide United Way with some basic information on who they are and what they are seeking. United Way will review the organization to validate they are a non-profit organization serving Kosciusko County.
Coy said there is no fee to the organizations to make use of the Web site. Agencies also are responsible for their own background checks on volunteers if their agency requires them.The last tab is "Special Events." Bergen said that area will be devoted to special events like the Aug. 26 Day of Caring. Coy said, in the future, they hope volunteers for events like Day of Caring will sign up for it on the Web site. She said Bergen will look through the events to determine what a "special event" is for the tab.
"We have tried very hard not to be all things to all people," he said. The Web site is dedicated to its two objectives, but they are open to suggestions.
"One of the things we know is we need to keep it current," Bergen said.
Both Coy and Bergen said www.volunteerkosciusko.org was made possible because of the funding for its development provided by the United Way Board of Directors. Vision It Now Inc. also gave the United Way a reasonable price for all the work they did on the Web site, Bergen said.
