We love to highlight the great work of VolunteerSpot users. Today our spotlight shines on Jason Joven of Inside Out Community Arts in Los Angeles, California.
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Please tell us a little about yourself and about Inside Out.
I'm the online initiative manager and volunteer coordinator at Inside Out, an after school arts program for sixth through eighth graders in Venice, California. We currently serve seven schools in the Los Angeles area. We aim to teach the kids self-empowerment and to broaden their horizons for the future so they can pursue college and other goals and become full-fledged adults.
Our flagship program, The School Project, involves after school workshops led by alumni artists— students who have participated in Inside Out. The students go on three field trips during the semester. They go to a play, they go on a nature field trip and we take them to a camp near Malibu. They write plays about real life issues, such as teen pregnancy and drug use. It gives them an outlet for anything they’re dealing with in their lives.
We also have a program called Kid-Vid, which is for kids who are interested in film. We have all the equipment donated from Sony, and the kids get to learn the craft of film making.
What are your volunteer needs at Inside Out?
We use volunteers mostly in administrative ways, but we also have an annual event called the Youth and Family Courtyard at the Abbott-Kinney Festival. This is a one-day street fair in September, geared toward families and children with games and activities. We have about 100-150 volunteers to help us manage rides, food/drink, and checking in and out. This year's festival is Sunday, September 27th - if you're in the area, please stop by and see us!
How did you get interested in volunteering/nonprofit work?
Late last year, I got involved as a teaching artist at the schools. I was an actor in Los Angeles and I’ve always considered myself socially conscious. It was the perfect way to combine my love of entertainment and my socially conscious mindset.
What’s one piece of advice you have for volunteers or their leaders out there?
Keep them all informed and always have their best interest in mind. When you organize an event, it’s easy to think of volunteers as your crutch, but the most important thing is to make sure that they have a good time. It’s not just a nice thing to do, but you want them to have a genuinely good time, too. If they’re having a good time, the guests at the events will have a more enjoyable time as well..
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot? How are we working for you?
We looked at a few different scheduling websites, but VolunteerSpot was the easiest to use and it didn’t look corporate like many of the others. We like it because it helps us keep our volunteers informed; it has big buttons and is easy to navigate, as well as being straight forward. Also, VolunteerSpot is free, and that’s definitely a good thing for a non-profit.
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about Inside Out?
We’re working on some new programming and a teen media initiative. We’re teaching participants in the program to become internet consultants for social media outlets, such as Facebook and Twitter. We’ve also got our festival coming up in September. If you like what we're doing, call or check us out!
Readers interested in volunteering can contact Jason at insideoutca@insideoutca.org. Those interested in learning more about Inside Out or making a donation, please do so here: www.insideoutca.org.
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We salute Jason and all the volunteer heroes out there working for our kids and our communities! If you're using VolunteerSpot, write and tell us about what you're doing, and give us a chance to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on you!! Just email us at VS@volunteerspot.com.
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