THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506020207
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
We need more volunteers.
The mayor said it. But I agree.
If volunteers quit work, we know it.
The Seawall Festival this weekend, for example. Even if we had the money, we couldn't hire people to do what many do for free. The festival simply would not exist without volunteers.
Sure, many hours of free labor may get them an invitation to a party or a free T-shirt and it's fun to be in the middle of things. But volunteers do a lot of real work for these privileges.
The festival is just one of hundreds of activities we'd miss without the small percentage of the population who work for free.
We wouldn't have the Cock Island Race, the Crew Classic, Taste of Portsmouth, Incredible Edibles, a long list of events that happen only because somebody volunteers.
We wouldn't have the Seawall Art Show or the Memorial Day Parade or many of the museum programs. In fact, without volunteers to raise money, we probably wouldn't have museums.
We wouldn't have athletic programs for young people. We wouldn't have the Police Department's Mounted Patrol or Neighborhood Watch programs.
Some volunteer work, such as helping with the festivals, is highly visible. Much of the free labor we don't think about - or even hear about.
Every day all over this city, people are giving of themselves. They help people who are sick and people who are elderly. Volunteers feed the poor and comfort victims of disaster. They teach people to read and help kids learn their lessons.
At one time, a lot of people even volunteered to work in city offices for free. That saved taxpayer money in some instances and in others simply got done something that might have gone undone.
In fact, we could save a bundle of money and have a better city if we could harness more of the volunteers to work at city hall. I know some paid employees often do not like that idea, but they need to learn to work with volunteers in leaner times.
In my job I get around town enough to realize that a small percentage of the population does a large percentage of the free work.
At one time, a Voluntary Action Center in Portsmouth helped put volunteers and jobs together. Now that center has been consolidated in Norfolk as the Volunteer Connection of South Hampton Roads, an arm of the United Way.
``We have an automated matching program with which we try to match skills, interests and available time with jobs that have been listed with us,'' said Paul Cook, the connection's executive director. The Volunteer Connection column in this newspaper is one of her projects.
While 80 non-profit agencies list jobs with Cook's office, we still need to have a connection closer to home for potential Portsmouth volunteers.
The other night at the 1846 Courthouse Gallery, Mayor Gloria Webb and super-volunteer Loretta Larcombe were talking about the projects that depend on goodwill and free labor.
That's when the mayor said we need more volunteers.
How do we make the connection? Maybe Mayor Webb needs to pick a small group of the super-volunteers to brainstorm ways to entice more people into the free labor force.
A special mayor's committee on volunteerism with a mission and a time limit probably could produce a plan of action that, among other things, would set up new volunteer jobs within the city. Super-volunteers probably could pinpoint some of the problems that often stand in the way of volunteers - and sometimes dampen their enthusiasm. Volunteers also would understand why people volunteer and build that into their program.
Volunteers generally are caring and happy people who want to use their skills and their time constructively. They certainly make this city a better place to live. A lot more volunteers would make it an even better place. by CNB