Volunteer Spotlight: Julie, Volunteer Coordinator, Chaska, MN
Today, our Volunteer Spotlight shines on Julie, the Volunteer Coordinator for her local 4-H club, and for a program at her kids high school called Friendly Presence. She uses VolunteerSpot's online signup sheets to coordinate volunteers who help out with welcoming new families to the school.
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Tell us about your role as a parent volunteer leader.
Currently, I am an Officer Advisor and Co-Club Leader for a 4-H club. I am also the Parent Representative and organizer for a program in our high school called Friendly Presence. Friendly Presence is a program that welcomes parents and community members into the high school to walk the school and provide...a Friendly Presence.
How do you use VolunteerSpot to coordinate your parent volunteers?
I use VolunteerSpot for so many things. I use it to organize many events in 4-H including working at club service projects, volunteers to run meetings, sign ups to attend certain events, organizing jobs for horse shows and more. Using it for 4-H has been a very new experience for many but after using it for a full year, the response has been that it has been very helpful. We started using it for our club and now we also use it for some of the county level events (County Fair events, county Tack Swap workers as well as items to bring.) Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
For the Friendly Presence Program I use VolunteerSpot to schedule orientations as well as use a year-long calendar for volunteers to schedule the time they can participate in the program as it is a very flexible program that runs every school day. It is great for me to not have to field emails each week to schedule volunteers, let alone for any changes. The volunteers can sign up and make any changes themselves and I can see what it going on and print the calendar and the roster which is really helpful.
What other activities are you involved in as a volunteer or volunteer leader?
I work with Women's Bible Study at my church, and I volunteer at my kids' schools for other miscellaneous needs.
What’s one piece of advice you have for parent volunteers out there?
Volunteer joyfully and do it at a level in which you can sustain what you are doing. I have learned that burn out doesn't help anyone. I have learned to let some things go and not stress about every detail as I know I will burn out otherwise.
Why did you decide to use VolunteerSpot?
I was a co-leader for a book fair a number of years ago and went through one year of scheduling volunteers via email and I knew I couldn't sustain doing things that way (neither could my family!) With the help of the PTO leader we were able to begin using volunteer spot and it was seriously life changing. It made things so much easier, not only for the organizer, but for those trying to sign up. Once I used it there - I've used it in as many venues as possible and that is how we are now using it with 4-H and with Friendly Presence!
Anything else you’d like our readers to know about your school, event, or volunteering?
I am just so grateful for VolunteerSpot and for the chance to free up some time with scheduling to focus on some other tasks that need more attention. It has made more people open to "overseeing" certain jobs knowing that they would have VolunteerSpot to help with scheduling, sign ups, etc. Volunteering can be really rewarding and is so important in so many venues - VolunteerSpot makes it possible for me to do what I do and I'm sure that is true for many others.
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We salute Julie and all the other volunteer leaders out there making a difference. 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 [email protected].
