
DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710020301

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MARK YOUNG, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  100 lines

BEACH NEEDS YOU IN ONE OF ITS THOUSANDS OF VOLUNTEER SPOTS

Somebody out there needs you.

Mary Russo is certain of the fact, and she ought to know. Russo is the volunteer coordinator of the city's Volunteer Council, which she helped to form in 1978. The council helps recruit and place thousands of volunteers per year for numerous city departments.

In the last quarter, 10,293 volunteers gave 473,986 hours of their time, said Judi Bryant, a volunteer herself and the council's liaison to the Navy. That figure doesn't even include the thousands of people who volunteer in city schools.

What it does include are people who take shifts supervising at Kids Cove playground, people with a knack for floral designing who create displays for the Virginia Marine Science Museum, drivers who cart mail and packages between city offices, people who can write grant proposals, even folks to stencil anti-pollution messages on storm drains.

Bryant said. The council's support staff of six volunteer members help lead this massive effort, providing essential support to the Fire Department and Convention and Visitor Development and everything in between. There are nearly 180 volunteer positions listed in its registry right now.

Currently Volunteer Council members are heavily involved in creating a new information video and a static display board that will be used to increase public awareness. The video will be played for civic organizations and the display will travel to malls, fairs and city facilities to portray the volunteer needs waiting to be filled in the community.

``People would be surprised to learn just how much, and what kind of work is performed by volunteers,'' Bryant said. With one salaried person, co-chairperson Diane Roche, the council functions on an annual budget of $32,000.

The group's members are also working to publish a book containing job descriptions and point-of-contact information on all the volunteer opportunities within the city.

Copies of the book will be available in city libraries and recreation centers. The books will be an important resource for helping military families and others new to the area to connect to their new community and find friends. The books will also be cross-indexed in several ways to provide opportunities for youth, seniors and just about everyone, no matter how varied their interests.

A quick reading of the council's bimonthly listing of opportunities shows that whether you're a retired truck driver or a would-be artist, the council has something for you.

Calls for volunteers come in from Social Services and Parks and Recreation. Even the Sheriff's Department and the Fire Department, among others, are looking for volunteers.

Eileen Moore is a volunteer who heads up the program to stencil each of the city's 30,000 storm drain covers. Everything that goes into storm drains goes into the Chesapeake Bay, Back Bay or the ocean, she said.

``Some members of the public still think that whatever they dump down there - motor oil, leaves or antifreeze - will be treated and disposed of. That's not the case,'' said Ruby Arredondo of the city's General Services Department. Neighborhoods with retention ponds can see the results of this form of illegal pollution almost immediately, Arredondo said. From most of the city, the refuse finds its way into the waters where people swim and fish.

The volunteer stencilers hope to get their point across. The stencil contains the message ``Dumping Pollutes.'' MEMO: For more information call the Volunteer Council at 427-4722. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT

Virginia Beach Volunteer Council members, from left, Mary Russo,

Doris Hindlin, Judi Bryant and Marietta Connor check job

descriptions on just a few of the thousands of volunteer openings

they'd like to fill. Jobs range from supervising at Kids Cove

playground to stenciling anti-pollution messages on storm drains.

Graphics

VOLUNTEER OPENINGS

Here are some of the jobs available through the Volunteer

Council.

Floral designer. The Virginia Marine Science Museum has openings

for people with a flair for, or interest in flower arranging. Four

new displays are placed weekly at the main building and the annex.