July 11, 2011
Dear friends,
As many of you know, this year has been somewhat of a perfect storm for the Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason, and Thurston Counties. Sadly, after a tumultuous year of funding losses and the tragic loss of our Executive Director, we will close our doors as of the end of this month.
We will always be volunteers. We will always be community organizers. We'll always be happy if you stop us on the street to ask for suggestions on how to find volunteers for your event or how to recruit skilled volunteers for a project. If you see us at a coffee shop, we'll always be game to help you brainstorm ideas for a volunteer recognition event or to come celebrate your volunteers with you.
We volunteer because this is where we live. We don't want our neighbors to be hungry, we don't want our friends to be cold, and we don't want our children to be alienated and apathetic. We volunteer because our own homes are better for it. We volunteer because we love our state parks and want to be able to use them. We volunteer because we're fans of good beer and the Beer Festival needs people to pour brews for festival go-ers. We volunteer because our kids go to the same schools as kids without parents, and they all need to know how to play well together.
In its 20-plus years of existence, the Volunteer Center of Lewis, Mason, and Thurston Counties has placed thousands of volunteers with local non-profits and trained thousands of volunteer managers on best practices in volunteerism. It has coordinated hundreds of events for the betterment of the community, from the Economic Survival Fair to Holiday Meals to Super Saturday Free Tax Prep Day. We have given presentations across all three counties - for large crowds, for groups of a few eager volunteers, for the Governor, for local school board members - for anyone interested in making volunteering and service a regular part of their life and their communities. We have, every day, made every effort we could to leave this place better than we found it.
We hope some of that continues. We are seeking ways for most of our programs and services to continue, to be taken up by other community organizations or by independent groups of volunteers. If you would like to contribute to that effort, please contact us.
In the next few weeks, we will be wrapping up the loose ends of our organization. Keep an eye out for future messages about office sales and going away parties(!).
With that, we say to every single one of you: thank you. Thank you for giving us a great opportunity to dance in the streets, educate, workshop, support, facilitate, and organize for the betterment of our neighborhoods. We are better people for it.
In closing, take another look at one of our favorite youtube videos: our flash mob in support of volunteerism for the arts. We hope you'll take a piece of this love with you. Take a chance, and volunteer.
Sincerely,
Emma, Blake, Matthew, and the board and volunteers of the Volunteer Center