Renee Sanders says it sometimes feels like 20 percent of the community shoulders 80 percent of the community’s volunteer needs.
Sanders, the new volunteer center director at United Way of Lowndes County, is looking to change that. First step: Getting the word out on what her organization does locally.
“The community needs to know what’s going on at the Y(MCA), what’s going on at the Exchange Club, what’s going on in Columbus that they can get involved with,” she said Thursday while speaking to the Exchange Club at Lion Hills.
Sanders told the group about her plan to make more of the Columbus community aware of United Way and what it does so more people get involved in volunteering.
Her goals are twofold.
She wants to meet face-to-face with local non-profits and find out what they need, and she wants to personally recruit volunteers from organizations and businesses in the area.
Since becoming Volunteer Center director, Sanders has visited different organizations and clubs in the area telling them about upcoming volunteer efforts. During her first week, she went to a Pilot Partners meeting at Columbus Air Force Base and talked to pilots about events they could become involved with. She also spent time mingling with volunteers at Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, which serves people in need in the community.
Most of the volunteers she has worked with so far come from CAFB. Sanders wants to reach out to the part of the community that is not involved with United Way volunteering opportunities, specifically the African-American community.
“What I bring to the plate is the side of the community not recognized in this room,” she said during a question and answer session Thursday.
She talked about a plan to visit smaller churches, many of which have mostly African-American members, to let them know about the events they can help with. Many of these churches do not have websites, so they let the congregation know about volunteer opportunities and other events by reading morning announcements during Sunday services. Sanders wants the churches to begin including United Way volunteer opportunities in their announcements.
Her new job has also meant Sanders has had to meet with parts of the community she is not as familiar with.
“And that’s why I’m glad you called,” she told Exchange Club members.
Though Sanders likes to personally attend meetings to publicize events and recruit volunteers, she also uses social media and mentioned givegab.com, a website which helps non-profits launch campaigns.
“They want you to give your time and then gab about it,” she said.
Still, Sanders believes meeting in person is the best way to get people involved.
“I’ve learned that word-of-mouth is the best, and I have a mouth that does not mind talking,” she said.
Sanders also told the Exchange Club about events coming up that community members can get involved in, including Fireworks on the Water at the Stennis Lock and Dam on Jul. 4.
“I want to make the community feel like volunteering in Columbus is an honor,” she said. “It’s a privilege.”
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