Volunteers – Page 3

West Virginia’s Finest – In Praise of the Wonder Women of Whitesville

09.27.16

Just some of the hardworking women behind Whitesville’s Turn This Town Around effort. Photo by Turn This Town Around Whitesville.

Last Saturday I was out having lunch with some friends and was skimming through the new issue of WV Living magazine when I came across the 2016 list of “West Virginia’s Wonder Women.”

I was excited to see that our very own Stephanie Tyree was part of that list.

But I was even more excited when I saw a picture of five amazing women representing all the wonderful women from Whitesville. I have had the pleasure of working with these women over the last two years and can say they have been instrumental in turning their town around. And they haven’t stopped!

Striving everyday to make their community a better place to live.

Marsha Shonk was able to raise money to have all the fire hydrants in town painted by volunteers. I knew it was going to be great, but was shocked – in a good way – when I saw the photos of the completed hydrants. There are some very creative folks living in Whitesville!

Sheila Combs continues to do amazing things in the community. She recently received a Try This mini grant to start a fishing and biking club for the youth in Whitesville. I have been keeping up with the group on social media and can’t wait to see everything they accomplish in the coming months.

And of course I can’t forget Betty Ann Williams and the wonderful crew of folks helping to plan the second Whitesville Fall Festival. I wonder how many folks will show up this year!

I want to say a huge thank you to all of the wonderful women in Whitesville who are striving everyday to make their community a better place to live. I feel lucky to have met and worked beside many of you.

See you all in October at the Fall Festival!

Does Your Community Need a Pick-Me-Up? There Are People Out There Waiting to Help You.

09.23.16

Generation New River Gorge at work. Photo courtesy Generation New River Gorge.

I participated in my first litter clean-up in the spring of my junior year of high school with my PRIDE (Personal Responsibility in a Desirable Environment) Club. At the time I didn’t really think much of it other than that it was a pretty Saturday to be out with my classmates earning bonus points.

West Virginia is rich in outdoor recreation opportunities, especially in our most rural parts of the state. As more and more people are utilizing trails, parks, rivers, and lakes there is also a greater need to maintain those spaces so groups around the state hold fall and spring clean-ups.

Cleanups are an opportunity for West Virginians to get out and be physically active while also taking pride in their community.

In my role with the West Virginia Physical Activity Network, I’m now able to see these clean-ups as much more than an opportunity to earn bonus points. They are an opportunity for West Virginians to get out and be physically active while also taking pride in their community and some of it’s greatest assets.

I can now see that these clean-ups promote physical activity in multiple ways: they allow volunteers to be active while picking up debris, to become more familiar with their community’s trails and socialize with other people who also care about those spaces, and they beautify these spaces for locals and guests to be able to fully enjoy what West Virginia has to offer.

There are a ton of cleanups happening tomorrow as part of National Public Lands Day! Here’s a list of those, and other clean-ups happening across the state this fall:

National Public Lands Day, East Lynn Lake – September 24 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Jennings Randolph Lake Clean-Up – September 24
National Public Lands Day Service Project, New River Gorge National River – September 24
Stonewall Jackson Lake Clean-Up – September 24
Guyandotte River Clean-Up – September 24 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Fayette County Park – September 30 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tygart River Clean-Up – October 8 9 a.m. For more info contact Jeff Kresch at 304-940-11106
Harrison Rail Trails – November-January
Little Kanawha River Trail – No date set
Coal River Group Clean-Ups coming up in Boone and Lincoln Counties

If you’re interested in organizing a clean-up in your community later this fall or in the spring check out these resources and opportunities for funding:

Make WV Shine Application
Adopt A Highway Information
Minigrants available from Volunteer West Virginia.

If you know of any clean-ups scheduled for this spring please let me know, and as you schedule clean-ups let me know and I’ll help promote them. Maybe I’ll even role up my sleeves and join you!

Courtney-Roark

Gazette-Mail: In Boone County, Kayakers Cleaning Up the Coal River

09.20.16

Photo by Coal River Group

Charleston Gazette-Mail

More than 30 volunteers in a flotilla of kayaks, canoes and flat-bottomed boats removed at least 650 discarded tires from a 9-mile stretch of the of the Coal River in Boone County on Saturday.

The effort was led by Trash Your Kayak, an informal group of river users determined to remove tires and other forms of litter from the Coal River and its tributaries.

Trash Your Kayak founder Michelle Martin and group member Melissa Haddix planned Saturday’s event after having spent portions of nearly every weekend for the past year removing trash and tires from the Coal River system, according to Bill Currey, chairman of the Coal River Group, whose members took part in Saturday’s cleanup.

“The job of cleaning up the rivers is a dirty, ugly and physically draining activity,” Currey said. “Thankfully, people like Michelle Martin just thrive on removing these tiresome and terrible tires from the rivers.”

The section of river on which the cleanup took place is a popular segment of the Coal River Water Trail, labeled “L-2” on trail guides. It extends downriver from the a stream access site near the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center at Julian to a public boat launch just off Corridor G near Boone County Water Park. Most of the tires were removed from a 1.5 mile section of the stream…

Read the full story at wvgazettemail.com

The Perfect Excuse to Dish Out a Helping of West Virginia Goodness

09.16.16

Photo by Volunteer West Virginia

Take a wild and wonderful road trip this fall and volunteer. Grab some old work clothes, a map and soak up some West Virginia goodness.

September kicked off the state’s annual gathering of neighbors and strangers joining together to make a difference, Day to Serve. From September 11 – October 10, volunteer opportunities will cover the mountain state from top to bottom.

Day to Serve is a perfect opportunity to plan a day trip or to give back in your own community.

Last year more than 11,000 West Virginians teamed up to clean up trash, spruce up community gardens, build free little libraries, install smoke alarms, and more.

Day to Serve is a perfect opportunity to plan a day trip or to give back in your own community. Find a volunteer project at the Day to Serve website.

If you are feeling inspired, plan your own volunteer project. Mini-grants are available for communities to host a Day to Serve project. Qualifying nonprofits may be eligible for an award of up to $300. Groups are encouraged to register their projects to help raise awareness and recruit new volunteers.

The Day to Serve began in 2012 as a collaboration between the Governors of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and the Mayor of Washington D.C. Organized by Volunteer West Virginia, the initiative invites all citizens, faith groups, businesses and community organizations to join the cause. Community members and local organizations are encouraged to meet the needs of people in their own backyards.

Dana-Myslinsky

Saving Our Memories: Operation Photo Rescue To Fix Flood-Damaged Photos

08.19.16

Photo by Nick Roach/FlickrCC

A nonprofit organization that restores damaged photographs is coming to West Virginia to help families whose photos were damaged by the flood.

Operation Photo Rescue will be in Charleston next Friday and Saturday (August 26 and 27) and Richwood Sunday and Monday (August 28-29) to provide free photo restoration.

They will make digital copies of up to 20 photos per family, do the restorations, and then print and ship the photos to the family for free. Operation Photo Rescue has volunteers coming in from several states across America to help catalogue the pictures.

Operation Photo Rescue got its start after Hurricane Katrina when photo journalists doing a story on the flooding observed families throwing away damaged photos. With thousands of photos needing restoration, Operation Photo Rescue was formed and enlisted volunteers from around the world to help restore photos.

Local volunteers are needed to man registration tables at the event. If you’re interested please contact Margie Hayes from Operation Photo Rescue, at mhayes@operationphotorescue.org.

For more information visit www.operationphotorescue.org/

Jake-Lynch

Everything You Wanted to Know About Flood Relief Volunteering But Were Afraid to Ask…

08.05.16

Photo by Sherry Cole St Peters

Q: Are volunteers still needed and how do I sign up?

A: Yes, volunteers will be needed throughout the long recovery and rebuilding process. Click here for more information. For those who want to volunteer, call the local center directly. Visit this webpage regularly as information changes often.

You can also connect with a disaster relief organization to affiliate and train for response.

Q: What types of volunteer positions are available?

A: Current opportunities to help include providing administrative support for volunteer and donations management, assisting with loading and unloading donations, and helping families clean up homes.

Q: How does rebuilding and recovery occur?

A: For the rebuilding and recovery process, agencies like Habitat for Humanity, Missionary USA, Samaritan’s Purse and the United Methodist Committee on Relief will begin working together with Long Term Recovery Committees and state and local government partners to help families in need. These agencies are part of a network called Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD). Volunteer West Virginia is a state agency and one member of VOAD.

Q: What is Volunteer West Virginia?

A: Volunteer West Virginia is the state’s Commission for National and Community Service. Our small staff does a lot: we oversee the state’s AmeriCorps programs, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Governor’s Service Awards and more. Review our annual report here.

While we are not a disaster relief agency, we are active members of West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and as a partner agency are charged with supporting local volunteer coordination efforts during a disaster.

Volunteer Opportunity: Clarksburg Area to Greenbrier County

Join a team of volunteers on Sunday, August 7, at the Kroger on Emily Drive in Clarksburg at 6:30 a.m. The team will be leaving for Greenbrier County shortly after. Bring old clothes, rubber boots, work gloves, a sense of humor, and a giving heart! And, yes, be prepared to get your hands dirty!

Volunteer Opportunity: Charleston

Want to help with the flood response but can’t get an entire day free? Believe in WV are recruiting volunteers to help load and unload trucks full of furniture and make minor repairs. Opportunities occur every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for several weeks.

Keep updated on the latest information about flood relief volunteer needs at wvflood.com.

FEMA, Hardware Stores Host Free Home Rebuilding Sessions for Flood Victims

08.03.16

Photo by Team Rubicon USA

As West Virginians repair or rebuild their homes damaged by last month’s storms, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and four local hardware and home improvement stores have teamed up to provide free information, tips and literature on making homes stronger and safer.

FEMA mitigation specialists will be on hand this week to answer questions and offer home improvement tips along with proven methods to prevent or reduce damage from future disasters.

A variety of free workshops for storm-impacted homeowners on such topics as repairing or installing flooring and what to do with rain-soaked drywall will be presented daily.

Most of the information is geared for do-it-yourselfers and general contractors.

FEMA advisors will be available at:

Lowe’s Home Improvement
50 RHL Blvd
Charleston, WV 25301
Aug. 4 to 10 (Workshop closed Sunday)
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
46 Fayette Town Center
Fayetteville, WV 25801
Aug. 4 to 10 (Workshop closed Sunday)
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
1000 Nitro Market Place
Cross Lanes, WV 25131
Aug. 4 to 10 (Workshop closed Sunday)
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Ace Hardware
116 Skyline Plaza Drive
Buckhannon, WV 26201
Aug. 4 to 11 (Workshop closed Sunday)
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Free reference booklets, in English and Spanish, with information on protecting your home from flood damage, will be available at all locations. More information about strengthening property can be found at www.fema.gov/what-mitigation.

Additional information on West Virginia’s disaster recovery can be found by visiting fema.gov/disaster/4273.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal: You Don’t Have to Wear a Military Uniform to Serve Your Country

07.22.16

Photo by AmeriCorps

By General Stanley McChrystal, writing for The Atlantic

In 1838, a 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln declared that the greatest threat facing America comes not from a foreign invader:

If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

The thought that Americans, themselves, may destroy the ideals for which so many have sacrificed is sobering. Trust among Americans is at its lowest levels in generations, and stereotyping and prejudice have become substitutes for knowing and understanding one another as individuals.

How Americans restore trust may be an existential question for their country, then, but it’s ultimately a practical one: What U.S. society needs to answer it in the coming years aren’t lamentations but practical measures, especially among the emerging generations that will define America’s future.

A year of service has the power to bring young people together from different races, ethnicities, incomes, faiths, and political backgrounds to work on pressing problems facing U.S. society today.

Service may be at the heart of the answer.

A year of service has the power to bring young people together from different races, ethnicities, incomes, faiths, and political backgrounds to work on pressing problems facing U.S. society today. In the process, they can build empathy by getting to know each other around something positive—the shared work of participating in a democracy—as they shape their views of their country and the world.

The danger of inaction should be clear. Tensions and violence in cities across America are reminders of how quickly communities can erupt with an absence of social trust. Dallas, St. Paul, Baton Rouge, and Orlando, following on the heels of Ferguson, Baltimore, and Chicago illustrate a disheartening reality.

Political campaigns offer Americans an opportunity to adjust direction, reaffirm values, and recommit to the covenant that binds them together.

But politics can also summon the smaller side of America’s national character, offering final glimpses of desperately needed big ideas and real solutions before they go up in political smoke, disappearing in favor of what’s popular or easy.

As the presidential candidates head to their national conventions, they should advance ideas to help restore social trust in the United States—practical solutions, such as engaging young Americans in a year or more of national service…

Read the full story at www.theatlantic.com

West Virginia, We Need You Now: Hundreds of Volunteers Needed To Help Flood Victims

07.14.16

Photo courtesy Team Rubicon USA – www.facebook.com/teamrubicon/

Local flood response organizers are reporting an urgent need for volunteers to help with flood cleanup efforts over the next 10 days.

According to Volunteer West Virginia Executive Director Heather Foster, more than 1,000 homeowners have reported needing cleanup and recovery assistance, primarily in Kanawha, Clay, Greenbrier and Nicholas counties.

“Immediately after the flood we had a huge number of people putting their hand up to help, which was so inspiring,” Foster said. “Now is a critical time to maintain that momentum.”

To volunteer, all individuals and groups are encouraged to simply report to the Volunteer Reception Center nearest them.

To volunteer, all individuals and groups are encouraged to simply report to the Volunteer Reception Center nearest them. Groups of 10 or more should call in advance so the center can prepare work assignments. If you registered online and haven’t received a call to volunteer, please report directly to the nearest reception center for an assignment.

A complete list of Volunteer Reception Centers is found at wvflood.com/volunteer

Foster said AmeriCorps Disaster Response Teams arrived in West Virginia this week from neighboring states, and are waiting and prepared to process the large number of volunteers needed to help flooded communities, clean out and repair damaged buildings, and provide displaced residents with adequate shelter.

She said the next 7 to 10 days is a critical window for those communities, before those AmeriCorps teams finished their deployment and returned home.

“The national media has gone home, the spotlight of public attention has started to fade, but the disaster of the situation for people in these communities is as real as ever.”

“You know, the national media has gone home, the spotlight of public attention has started to fade, but the disaster of the situation for people in these communities is as real as ever,” Foster said. “We still have people without homes, people who have lost everything, people who need food and shelter.”

“The need for volunteers to help these fellow West Virginians is immediate and urgent. If you can volunteer, please do. You are needed, you will be put to work, and you will make a difference.”

Clubs, work teams, sports teams, church groups and all forms of community groups are encouraged to volunteer together.

“Get a group of friends together, come as a family team, the more people you can bring the bigger the impact you will have,” Foster said.

Volunteers that can do moderate to heavy manual labor are particularly sought after.

Special volunteer equipment needs include:

Work boots
Heavy duty gloves
Tyvek (coverall) suits
N100 particulate respirator masks
Flathead shovels
Rakes
Long pants
Bug spray

Volunteers who can bring all or any of these items are urged to do so.

For information about how to volunteer, visit wvflood.com/volunteer

Jake-Lynch

Need Flood Assistance, Or Want to Help Flood Victims? Use This Website.

06.29.16

West Virginians throughout the state and beyond have responded to the June 23 flood devastation in overwhelming numbers.

To coordinate the numerous efforts to aid flood victims, the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, is working with volunteers to launch the website wvflood.com.

This site houses a compilation of drop-off sites for supplies, shelter locations, online fundraising efforts, and a comprehensive list of the items needed in flood-impacted communities.

The West Virginia Attorney General’s office has verified all resources posted to the wvflood.com. Triquetra Marketing is sponsoring the site, and encouraging volunteers to submit any information on flood recovery resources to the site.

We encourage anyone utilizing social media to pass along flood resources to include the #WVFLOOD, so that we may begin to connect the dots.

At this time, it is key that we listen to the needs of the individual communities, so that we may serve them in the most effective manner. To that end, an updated list of items needed specific to each community can be found on wvflood.com.

If you are aware of any resources that are not listed on the site, please feel free to contact me at m.russell@wvhub.org

In this tragic time, all of these incredible efforts are a shining reminder of the resiliency, and kindness of Mountaineers.