There is always breaking news involving volunteerism.  Current topics

covered below include: Volunteer Jacksonville Becomes HandsOn Jacksonville, Meet Michelle Nunn, Recovery After A Disaster, Benefits of Volunteering,  Are You Prepared For HurricaneSeason?, Points of Light and Hands on Network Merger, Support HOJ While Searching the Web, and Shop the Yellow BrickMall.com.  In addition, click here to view recent HandsOn Jacksonville

managed projects.

  Volunteer Jacksonville Becomes HandsOn Jacksonville

During a press conference held at Sallye B. Mathis Elementary School, the administration and members of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Jacksonville announced their name change to HandsOn Jacksonville (HOJ), August 14, 2008.  Speakers including Michelle Nunn, CEO, Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network (L); Judith A.M.Smith, DM, CEO, HandsOn Jacksonville (M); and Wendy Spencer, CEO, Volunteer Florida (R) can be seen in the picture above.

Coinciding with the announcement, HOJ led three simultaneous service projects at the elementary school utilizing business, church, and community volunteers.  They included:

Service Project #1

Elaine Bedell, member artist from the Art Center Cooperative, Inc., led a group of dedicated and professional artists in the first of two mural projects that will cover two separate outside school walls at Sallye B. Matthis.  A mural of our solar system completed on this day took 10 artists approximately 11 hours apeice to paint.  Research was done ahead of time so that the planets would be painted to scale as much as possible.  A mural of a space launch will be created by these talented ladies at a later date.

Service Project #2

Volunteers rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty planting flowers and shrubs under the guidance of master gardener and former Wahovia employee, Walt English.  The gardens will be used to teach students about the life cycle of butterflies and for them to have a pleasant place to study and read.

Service Project #3

Volunteers from the  U. S. Coast Guard moved books and supplies into appropriate classrooms, set up bulletin boards and helped teachers decorate classrooms, etc.  Through their volunteer service hours, they took a huge weight off the school's teachers and allowed them more time to do other necessary tasks in preparation for the upcoming school year.

Meet Michelle Nunn

Co-Founder and CEO,

HandsOn NetworkCo-Founder and CEO, Hands On Network

Michelle Nunn is the co-founder and

CEO of HandsOn Network. She is the

founding director of HandsOn Atlanta,

a nonprofit organization that helps individuals,families, corporations, and community groups find flexible volunteer opportunities at more than 400 service organizations and schools. HandsOn Atlanta now has 25,000 volunteers who work every day of the year building community and meeting critical needs in schools, parks, senior homes, food banks, pet shelters, low-income neighborhoods, and more. Under her leadership, the organization has grown from a grassroots startup in 1989 to one of the nation's largest community-based volunteer organizations.

HandsOn Network is mobilizing 6.4 million volunteers over the next two years through projects designed to make an immediate, tangible impact on children and education, health and wellness, and the environment. Its nationwide HandsOn Campaign works in partnership with the HandsOn Network Corporate Service Council, an alliance of 29 CEOs and civic leaders mobilizing the corporate workforce to engage in a range of high-impact community projects throughout North America.

Michelle graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia in 1989 with a major in history and a minor in religion. She has studied at Oxford University and in India. She was a Kellogg National Fellow and earned a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She currently serves on the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, and has received a variety of awards -- including recently being named one of the "100 Most Influential Georgians" by Georgia Trend magazine. Michelle resides in Atlanta with her husband, Ron Martin, her son, Vinson, and her daughter, Elizabeth.

Recovery After Disaster

HandsOn Jacksonville has been designated in the city’s Com-prehensive Emergency Management Plan as the organization that will manage unaffiliated volunteers.  We will do that by activating a Volunteer Reception Center (VRC).  The reception center will provide a place where large numbers of volunteers can be interviewed, processed and referred to agencies needing their services.  

A full scale exercise was held at Cecil Commerce Center on July 30, 2008 to test the ability of the city’s Logistics Section Reception Center Unit which includes the County Staging Area, the Mutual Aid Receiving Point and the VRC.  It was the first time that the VRC had ever been tested in a sanctioned Homeland Security Exercise and the VRC passed with flying colors!   In speaking of the event, Chief Marty Senterfitt, Duval County Emergency Manager, had this to say: “We consider the exercise held at Cecil Field this week a success thanks to the role

Volunteer Jacksonville (now HandsOn Jacksonville) played in running the Volunteer Reception Center.  The Emergency Operations Center depends on partners like Volunteer Jacksonville (now HandsOn Jacksonville)to recruit and process volunteers should our community be faced with a disaster.  They are an integral component to the process involved in responding and recovering from such an event and we are pleased with their innovative approach to helping our community be prepared.”

When a disaster strikes, it will take scores of our own citizens to assist in the recovery effort.  If you are willing to have your name added to a databank of people who are willing to assist after a disaster, click storm trooper team to sign up.  You would be notified after a disaster and questioned as to your availability to assist.  The jobs will be varied and there will much to be done, but you can be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.

Benefits of Volunteering

Let's take a quick look at what some of the recent research tells us about the benefits of volunteering:

Volunteering Makes You Healthier. While healthier people tend to be more likely to volunteer—especially among older adults—the converse may also be true. Numerous medical and other studies demonstrate that volunteering also makes one healthier. Regular volunteering leads to longer life expectancy,higher life satisfaction, lower rates of depression, and greater

physical and mental well-being.

Social Capital and Volunteering Lead to Stronger and Safer Communities. Extensive research demonstrates that social capital—whether people volunteer, vote, work with their neighbors, and engage in their community in other ways—is key to understanding whether communities work because social relationships, or the lack of them, matter a great deal. Indeed, places with higher levels of volunteering, and thus social capital,

are likely to have higher educational achievement, better performing governmental institutions, faster economic

growth, and less crime and violence.

Volunteers Are More Generous and Civically Engaged. Volunteers appear to be more likely to also give money, vote, and engage in their community in other ways. 

Volunteers Achieve Meaningful Community Outcomes. A growing number of studies outline how volunteer activities, such as mentoring, produce positive outcomes for youth, greater civic outcomes, and can also be quite cost effective.

Volunteers Contribute to Economic Prosperity. Recent economic research suggests that charitable behaviors such as volunteering and giving may cause greater economic prosperity and even be related to a nation’s gross domestic product.

It is our mission at HandsOn Jacksonville to inspire, equip, and mobilize people to take action that changes the world. Our tag line echoes the words of Mahatma Gandhi as we exhort everyone to “Be the Change—Volunteer!” The remarkable nature of our community is demonstrated in a metric that has been tracked in the JCCI Quality of Life Progress Report for 23 years. Our 2007 rate of adult volunteering in Jacksonville is reported as 65 percent. This figure ranks far beyond the 26.2 percent reported for the nation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

At HandsOn Jacksonville's annual Celebration of Service event, it is our privilege to celebrate a number of very special people who represent the good work that goes on in our community. The people whose service we highlight have recognized a situation in which change is necessary, taken action to address it, and perhaps gotten out of their comfort zone to do so. They have acted on the impulse to be the change they want to see in their community. Their stories inspire others to action. Each of us holds the tools to effect change. It is up to us to act. Taken together, our actions can and will change our community and, by doing so, we will change our

world.

Judith A. M. Smith, DM

Hurricane season starts June 1st.  Experts are once again predicting a more active than normal season, but the reality is that it only takes one storm to ruin your life.  Do  you have a family disaster plan?  In a major disaster, emergency workers may not be able to reach everyone right away, and in some cases it may take 3 or more days for help to arrive.  What would you do if you had no electricity, no gas, no water and no telephone service?  Having a plan for your family and their needs will help ensure their safety and comfort during these difficult times.

Click Create a Family Disaster Plan which will include:

• Recommended amounts of food and water based on your family information
• Contact information for your local emergency responders and maps of your local Evacuation Zones and
• Checklists of important steps to take before, during and after a disaster.

Points of Light & Hands On Network

On August 1, 2007, The Points of Light Foundation and Hands On Network merged to become an integrated, dynamic new presence in the volunteer sector.  Both organizations entered the merger with a strong national reputation, as well as a unique history and set of solutions to offer.  The new alliance has a presence in hundreds of communities nationwide, within reach of over 80 percent of the US population.  Together, they offer an unmatched blend of ideas, innovation, and expertise and a powerful commitment to helping citizens to engage, take action, and solve community problems through volunteer service.

For the second year in a row, Points of Light & Hands On Network was the proud recipient of the Fast Company Social Capitalist Award.  Each year, the award recognizes the innovative approaches of nonprofits who are utilizing the tools of business to solve the world's most pressing problems while making a significant impact on society.  This year, 45 organizations were recognized as being the most notable social entrepreneurs.  For Points of Light & Hands On Network it was an important endorsement that recognized the relevance of their recent merger, as well as the efforts of their affiliates, partners and supporters. 

HandsOn Jacksonville is a proud affiliate with Points of Light & Hands On Network and Dr. Judith A.M.Smith, President and CEO of HandsOn Jacksonville, serves on their national board.  Former President George H.W. Bush serves as the honorary chair while is son, Neil Bush, serves as board chair.

Support VJ While Searching the Web

What if HandsOn Jacksonville earned a penny every time you searched the Internet?  GoodSearch.com is a new search engine powered by Yahoo! which makes this possible.  Just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter HandsOn Jacksonville as the charity you want to support. If 500 of us search four times a day, we can raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime.  Be sure to spread the word!

Shop the YellowBrickMall.com

HandsOn Jacksonville has teamed up with the YellowBrickMall.com, an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of online sales back to VJ.  You can help by purchasing from any of the hundreds of national online merchants shown on the VJ page on the YellowBrickMall.com site: www.yellowbrickmall.com/volunteerjacksonville.php.  Take a look at the wide variety of stores available and while you are remembering birthdays and weddings, getting travel and events tickets, and doing your general shopping - you can be helping HandsOn Jacksonville at the same time.