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National Volunteer Week: April 27- May 3, 2008

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER ANNOUNCES FIRST-IN-THE-NATION SECRETARY FOR SERVICE AND VOLUNTEERING: A Message from the Office of the Governor

On February 26th, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order establishing a cabinet-level Secretary of Service and Volunteering. The role of the Secretary will be to raise the profile of service in the Golden State, improve coordination of vital activities across the State, encourage more Californians to become involved, and help prepare the State to respond to natural disasters and emergencies. Following the announcement, Secretary Karen Baker of CaliforniaVolunteers has embarked on an 11-city listening tour to engage nonprofits and public agencies in a dialogue to better understand the status of and needs for volunteering in local communities. She hopes to explore opportunities to build partnerships and tackle barriers to volunteering in California and discuss how state leadership can help grow service and volunteering in partnership with The Volunteer Center Serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties and local community organizations.

To hear more check out "The California Report" from Friday, March 28, 2008

Discuss volunteerism with Secretary Karen Baker in San Francisco. For details contact John Power.

The Board Match Event Sets New Records
The Volunteer Center is pleased to announce that we have broken the attendance record for this event with 109 nonprofits tabling and over 600 candidates attending on Wednesday, January 23, 2008. If you missed The Board Match event, don't worry. The Volunteer Center educates about, connects people to and promotes nonprofit board service all year. The Board Match is an annual, job-fair style event featuring Bay Area nonprofits whose leadership are on hand to talk to interested candidates about serving on their organization's board of directors. The Board Match event helps raise awareness about nonprofit board service and serves as a point of entry into the nonprofit community for individuals who want to get involved with nonprofit board service, but may not know how. Get connected to a nonprofit board of directors!

CaliforniaVolunteers!
Plug into The Volunteer Center and you're plugged into a statewide movement. The Volunteer Center promotes local nonprofit volunteer needs through a vast new network envisioned by First Lady Maria Shriver. CaliforniaVolunteers is the State agency tasked with promoting volunteering and service and features an interactive website - CaliforniaVolunteers.org - where Californians across the state can find local volunteer opportunities that align with their interests and availability.

"We are so pleased to partner with strong, local organizations like The Volunteer Center Serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties," says Karen Baker, Executive Director of CaliforniaVolunteers, Office of the Governor. "As we work toward engaging all Californians in service and volunteering, on-the-ground experts like the staff at The Volunteer Center ensure that volunteers will find exciting, meaningful volunteer opportunities in their own communities."

Check it Out!

Programs

Bay Area Corporate Volunteer Council

BACVC Awarded "2007 CVC of the Year"
The Bay Area Corporate Volunteer Council (BACVC) was awarded the prestigious CVC of the Year award by the Points of Light Foundation at the 2007 National Conference on Volunteering and Service for its leadership and innovation in the field of corporate community involvement.

"The Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year Award honors the outstanding performance of member Corporate Volunteer Councils (CVCs)," says Reed Dewey, Director of the National Partnerships program for the Points of Light Foundation. "The award recognizes a Corporate Volunteer Council’s success in maximizing its operations, effectiveness and accomplishments."

The BACVC has been led by The Volunteer Center Serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties since 1986. While members range from large international corporations to small local businesses, they all share the same value in corporate community involvement.


Upcoming BACVC Meetings:

More information on the Bay Area Corporate Volunteer Council

Trainings & Roundtables

For more information about Trainings and Roundtables

Emergency Preparedness & Response
In partnership with local and state governments and other key disaster responders, The Volunteer Center stands ready to mobilize and deploy spontaneous volunteers in the event of a disaster. The Volunteer Center is working with community partners to be prepared to refer volunteers in support of vulnerable communities.

Learn more information about nonprofit disaster preparedness and volunteering in a disaster.

Annual Events

Hats Off! A Celebration of Community Volunteers 2008
Hats Off! is a fun and lively cocktail party at the close of National Volunteer Week. We come together to honor the recipients of the annual Volunteering Awards, bring to a close a week of community outreach and let volunteers, nonprofit employees and corporate partners all mingle in celebration of community volunteerism.

Transitional Volunteer Program Awards Luncheon
The Transitional Volunteer Program assists volunteers with physical and psychiatric disabilities connect with the community, gain work experience and job skills. Every year the Transitional Volunteer Program hosts a luncheon to honor the individuals who participate in, contribute to and support our program.

The Board Match
The Board Match is an annual job-fair style event featuring dozens of Bay Area nonprofits whose leadership is on hand to talk to interested candidates about serving on their organizations board of directors. The goal is to provide a diverse group of nonprofit agencies with a large and diverse group of candidates from which they can recruit. The event serves as a point of entry into the nonprofit community for individuals who may want to get involved, but may not know how.

Week of Caring
In partnership with United Way of the Bay Area, The Volunteer Center facilitates corporate volunteers in making a powerful connection to community organizations and through volunteer projects. Each year Week of Caring mobilizes more than 5,000 volunteers from over 50 companies in support of 100 local nonprofit organizations.

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Ongoing Throughout The Year

Training for Nonprofits

The Volunteer Center offers trainings to nonprofit employees on various topics pertaining to volunteer management. View our online schedule to find out more about our offerings and how to participate.

Orientations about Nonprofit Board Service

The Volunteer Center presents quarterly Orientations about Nonprofit Board Service, free and open to all interested parties, designed to educate the public about board roles and responsibilities in order to promote and facilitate healthy governance for our community's nonprofit organizations. Click here for more information on how to get connected to a nonprofit board of directors!

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