This week is one of our favorite weeks at VolunteerSpot - NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK! We like to celebrate our community heroes everyday, but this week especially, we get to say Thank You to all our volunteers...so THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!
As we kick off National Volunteer Week (April 19-25), there are some obvious volunteers to be recognized and thanked -- food pantry workers, toy drive sponsors, afterschool mentors, Habitat builders, community clean-up-ers, charity fund raisers -- awesome day to day do-gooders!
What's always surprising is the number of parents that don't consider themselves volunteers. Not this week! We want to shine the light on parent volunteers hiding in plain sight: Jim's dad the little league coach, Cara's mom helping in the school library, Daniela's mom the Sunday School teacher, Alex's dad who reads to the class once a month, and Diego's mom the homeroom leader. Think of all the good folks who volunteer to support our kids and please take this opportunity to just say an extra thank you. And getting kids involved let's them appreciate all the good that people do "just because"...
Here are some great ways to recognize parent volunteers who are coaching and supporting our kids:
- Parent Volunteer Afternoon Tea - Take time to show parents how much you care with some tea and desserts after class or practice.
- "Hand"-Signed Thank You Cards - Let the kids make a giant card for each volunteer, painted with everyone's hand print. Have the kids sign or write a short note over their own hand print to personalize it for the volunteer.
- Autographed Class or Team Photo - Present the volunteers with framed and signed class photos as a keepsake.
- Class/Team Mix - Parents are always on-the-go and in their cars, whether it's going to work, volunteering or carpooling kids to practice. A CD mix of the kids' favorite songs would be something nice that they can listen to. Have each child pick a song that they like and burn CDs for parents.
- "We Care!" Car Wash - Older students (5th grade and higher) can thank their parent volunteers by setting up a free car wash.
These small tributes show your parent volunteers how much you appreciate their help throughout the year. Here's a free eBook with more simple Volunteer Recognition Ideas, from A-Z.
Show some love to all your volunteers this week, and remember, parents are volunteers too!
