Joe Bringardner: Celebrate impact of community service during Kentucky Volunteer Week


When we think about the great impact of volunteers in Kentucky, it’s tough to imagine our Commonwealth without their service. Consider your city, your community, your neighborhood. It’s likely that one or more volunteers have helped benefit your home life, your job, your safety. The changes happen in more ways than most of us realize.

The benefits of volunteering are great, and some are very practical. For teens, it’s a great way to build their skill sets and get a feel for the demands of a career. College students can add to their resumes. Adults who are between jobs can gain experience and a foot in the door to a new profession.

Volunteers fight fires in rural areas. They read to students. They tutor at-risk youth and spend quality time with the elderly and people with disabilities. They collect food and deliver meals to the homebound. They remove litter from roadways and plant trees. They support and enable veterans.

The list is endless – and it is amazing. Volunteers serve for the good of others. And now is the time that we can say thanks.

Gov. Steve Beshear has proclaimed April 12-18 Kentucky Volunteer Week. It’s a time to honor those who make the commitment to volunteer, and it’s a reminder to many of us to do more for our neighbors.

The mission of my agency – the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service – is to engage Kentuckians in service.

We at the commission — our staff and bipartisan members — also manage the state’s AmeriCorps national service programs. Since 1994, more than 9,400 Kentucky residents have served more than 14 million hours and have received education awards totaling more than $32.5 million.

Not only do AmeriCorps members provide direct service, they also recruit community volunteers and provide civic engagement opportunities. Last year, Kentucky AmeriCorps members recruited, trained and supervised more than 13,000 community volunteers for the organizations they serve — volunteers who provided more than 92,000 hours of service to their Kentucky communities. What an impact.

You don’t have to take the AmeriCorps pledge to make a difference. You just have to give of yourself – join your fellow Kentuckians who already volunteer.

The benefits of volunteering are great, and some are very practical. For teens, it’s a great way to build their skill sets and get a feel for the demands of a career. College students can add to their resumes. Adults who are between jobs can gain experience and a foot in the door to a new profession.

If you are affiliated with a nonprofit agency that depends on the service of others, Kentucky Volunteer Week is a time to say thank you to volunteers.

The Commission has ways to help you do this. You can request a certificate of appreciation or governor’s citation to commemorate a special project or ongoing service. You can also consider nominating a special volunteer for a Governor’s Service Award. Annual honors are presented in categories including corporate, veteran, senior and youth service.

No matter the cause, volunteering your time, your intellect and your energy is more than a gift; it is an act of love. What we do as volunteers today will change tomorrow.

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Joe Bringardner is executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service, an agency of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Learn more about community volunteerism, service opportunities and AmeriCorps by clicking here or by calling 800-239-7404.


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