Volunteer Iowa holds listening session in Creston
Aug. 18—Volunteer Iowa held a listening session Tuesday at Creston Arts Center with people from the region about how to attract and improve people's engagement with opportunities in the places they live.
Jesse Bolinger, representing Creston Arts Center and its volunteer strategy, said the time is right for people looking for volunteers which may get people more involved in their communities by way of personal interaction.
"Face-to-face is where it's at," Bolinger told the group. "Especially after coming out of a pandemic."
Much of the previous two years, Union County, Iowa and the rest of the country were under various limitations on interacting with others to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Bolinger said those restrictions put a holt to many organizations and projects that use volunteers. Since COVID-19 cases have lost much of their threat in recent months, Bolinger hopes those entities and their contributors will resume to what is was like before the pandemic.
Volunteer Iowa is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. A desired result is to create an Iowa where all citizens are empowered through service to meet community challenges and make lives better.
Volunteer Iowa (The Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service) is part of a network of state service commissions throughout the United States that exist to foster a bi-partisan state-level commitment to advancing service initiatives as well as developing, communicating, and promoting a statewide vision and ethic of service. This state agency is responsible for coordinating programs and activities formerly conducted by the Iowa Office on Volunteerism, which was launched in 1978 by Governor Robert D. Ray.
Volunteer Iowa, its commissioners, staff, and partner agencies work with organizations and individuals on three main fronts, by:
helping agencies develop quality programs that use service as a strategy to fulfill their missions and address Iowa's greatest areas of need
helping engage Iowans in their communities by promoting service and expanding the volunteer base
and connecting individuals with appropriate service opportunities by building the volunteer infrastructure
Others have noticed how some places of employment have a culture of volunteer contributions. The auxiliary group at Decatur County Hospital in Leon still continue to make efforts, said Jennifer McBroom of Lamoni. Bolinger complimented Iowa State Savings Bank employees for their volunteer work.
State Senator Tom Shipley said volunteer programs have benefited the town of Villisca, near where he lives.
"The impact on people is a strong testimony," he said. "I've experienced the the impact of Volunteer Iowa."
Shenandoah City Administrator AJ Lyman has also seen the impact of volunteer work commenting on the Missouri River flood of 2019 that displaced many people near the river in southwest Iowa. Others volunteered to organize collections of daily needs for those individuals and families who were victims of the flooding.
But reaching more people by explaining who is needed, and retaining them longterm, are challenges. Despite the growing popularity of social media, Bolinger said using that to find people should be intentional. He said he is not impressed with the reach of Facebook.
"There is too much," he said about what is on the popular site.
He would consider Tik Tok, the social media site that emphasizes videos.
"We are trying to understand what the younger generations are passionate about," he said.
"I don't see young people stepping in. Why?" said Shipley.
