Joan and Dick Hearn are just some of the non-profit organization representatives who will return for this year’s Volunteer Fest. Photo by Marie Freeman Boone Mall Hosts Volunteer Fest By Mike Shands Janet Pepin wants to connect potential volunteers with the organizations who need them. The Volunteer Resource Center’s executive director, Pepin is helping organize the 2005 Volunteer Fest, which will be Saturday, March 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Boone Mall. “The overall purpose of this is to allow non-profit organizations to not only showcase their organizations to the general public and educate the public about what they do, but also for them to have a chance to recruit new volunteers for their organization,” Pepin said. “It’s partly recruiting and partly publicizing who they are. “We’d like the general public to really learn more about the impact of non-profits in our community, and this is a great way for them to do that as well as have a good time.” Pepin expects more than 20 local non-profit organizations to participate in the event. Some of those already planning to set up booths range from Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary to Watauga County Habitat for Humanity to W.A.M.Y. to Hospice of Watauga County. “One of the things we try to strive for in our recruitment of exhibitors for this is to really get a diverse group of people there,” she said. “We have environmental concerns represented, we have social and human issues represented. We have animal welfare issues represented. It’s very diverse.” Nancy Reigel, president of the VRC board, said about 25 organizations participated in last year’s Volunteer Fest. “Many of this year’s organizations are the same ones that participated last year, which means they saw it as worthwhile to come back,” she said. “We have some new ones so that’s also good news. “Two real exciting returns are the Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary and the Watauga Humane Society. Both of them will be bringing animals.” Reigel said the Volunteer Fest also gives perspective volunteers an opportunity to learn first-hand about an organization before making a commitment to volunteer. “We’ll have lots of information on what organizations who use or support volunteers are all about,” she said. Fun Fest The Volunteer Fest will also feature a variety of door prizes and raffles. “We’ll be doing door prizes probably every hour so anybody who’s there and fills out the forms has a chance to win some prizes,” Pepin said. Other door prizes will include dinner for two donated by the Wildflower restaurant, several shamrock plants donated by Harris Teeter and some cakes. “We’re also encouraging every exhibitor to have a door prize to bring people over to their exhibits as well,” Reigel said. The Volunteer Fest will even feature musicians playing recorders strolling throughout the mall. How The VRC Helps The Volunteer Resource Center recently conducted a survey of local non-profit groups. That survey proved there is a definite need for the center’s services, Pepin said. She said the VRC helps non-profits become more effective in several ways. “We do that through a lot of the training courses that we offer as well as some of these events that we’re doing here,” Pepin said. “Non-profits very rarely get an opportunity to talk to each other so even though this is for the public and it is for volunteer recruitment, one of the other side benefits is that (organizations) get a chance to learn more about each other and talk to each other. I think that’s very important. “The other thing in the survey is they asked us quite clearly to help them raise the visibility of the need for volunteers for their organizations, and so the Volunteer Fest is one example of doing that.” One of the organizations returning to participate in this year’s Volunteer Fest is the Town of Boone’s Adopt-A-Street Program. The program’s coordinator, Marsha Story, said the event is a great service to non-profit groups. “People can come to you to see what you have to offer as far as community service,” she said. “There were tons of booths there last year. I was able to pick up three or four new accounts on my Adopt-A-Street Program. “This lets people know what they can do to help the community out. Even the opportunity to mingle with other organizations was a plus.” As of press time some of the organizations already scheduled to provide information at the Volunteer Fest included: Watauga County 4-H and Cooperative Extension, Appalachian Regional Initiative for Solar Energy, Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, Boone Crisis Pregnancy Center, Cove Creek Center, Friends of the Watauga County Library and High Country Conservancy. Others also planning on providing information include: I Have A Dream Task Force, Middlefork Greenway Association, MountainKeepers and Stop the Litter, Operation Christmas Child, Parent to Parent, Volunteer Resource Center, Watauga Humane Society and Watauga River Conservation Partners. “If we can raise the capability through creating increased efficiency and increased linkages across these organizations by 5 percent or 10 percent, think about what we’ve done for the community,” Reigel said. “If every organization that uses volunteers operates just a little more efficiently in delivering their services, then the whole level of volunteering overall in terms of the community is raised that additional level, and that’s what the Volunteer Resource Center is all about. “We don’t go out and do things for people, but if we can help all of those organizations that are, there’s a huge impact for the community.” Pepin thanked Barnett Properties, which owns the mall, for hosting the Volunteer Fest. For more information about the Volunteer Fest or the VRC call Pepin at (828) 268-1486 or send her an e-mail at pepinj@bellsouth.net. “This is essentially the first move out of hibernation into the new 2005 volunteer season for all of these volunteer organizations so this is a huge opportunity for them and for the community to kind of come out together and get the new season started,” Reigel said.