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 Greetings!
Keep in touch with your Volunteer Services
Office. What have volunteers been
up to? What are the current
volunteer trends? Is your favorite volunteer in the spotlight? Read on to be
informed!
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We have winners!
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|  Each year, during National Volunteer Week, the Governor
honors outstanding volunteers throughout the state of Maryland. This year, the
Department of Parks and Recreation had 2 big winners!
Dominique Davis, a 15 year old sophomore who attends Bowie
High School was an individual winner in the Youth Category. Her volunteer
service is extensive and diverse. Her most recent accomplishment was receiving
the Girl Scouts of America Silver Award in 2009 where she researched and
developed a skin cancer awareness program contributing over 100 hours of
valuable time to this very important cause enlightening the public in the fight
against skin cancer. Dominique also has a love and deep appreciation for the
environment. She has dedicated over 300 hours of service at the Watkins Park
Nature Center and the Park Ranger Programs in Upper Marlboro. She assisted
staff on several different occasions including planning major special events
welcoming over 800 patrons to the park; helping in clearing and maintaining
miles of nature trails, assisted with the daily care and maintenance of the live
animal collections and assisted in delivering environmental education programs
to young people. She also assists staff in youth volunteer training donating
her skills and time to the Building Block Training program. At school, she runs cross country, plays
softball and takes advanced placement classes (AP) in government and math. She
is a member of the National Honor Society where she maintains a 3.875 grade
point average. Congratulations Dominique!
The Synergy Youth Service Group was the winner in the Youth
Group Category. This dynamic group provides stewardship of our county's
natural, cultural, and historical resources and participates in social
awareness projects that strengthen the community. In 2009, over 120 teens
donated over 2200 hours of service participating in river clean-ups, prepared
food for the needy, volunteered at festivals, helped children with special
needs, created and maintained nature trails, planted trees and plants,
conducted water testing on the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay, cared for
wildlife at nature centers and farms and more! Synergy's staple event is the
"Teens for Jeans for the Homeless" Campaign where they collected over 4500
pairs of jeans of all sizes donating them to The Mission of Love Charities,
Martha's Table, and Lifestyles, Inc. Way to go!
Hundreds of
nominations from across the state were submitted for consideration and 33
volunteers were chosen to receive these prestigious awards for their
outstanding service. Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown honored the recipients on
April 19th, 2010 at the 27th Annual Governor's Volunteer
Service Awards in Annapolis. The Department congratulates our volunteers and
thanks them for their invaluable service to our park system and to our
citizens.
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Spotlight on Service!
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|  Volunteers find satisfaction in giving back to our community
in so many ways from working with children in summer day camps and
playgrounds
to designing replicas of historic aircraft. It is an honor to spotlight a
very
special group of volunteers who give their time at the College Park
Aviation
Museum.
If you've ever visited the College Park Aviation Museum and
have been amazed at the planes hanging overhead, wondering how they got there
and who made them, then meet the dedicated volunteers who make this possible!
Since the 1990's, a group of 10-12 aviation enthusiasts have
been volunteering together in the Restoration Shop to make these spectacular
airplanes come to life. The group
works enthusiastically and diligently to build replicas of planes that once
flew out of the College Park Airport. These volunteers are owners of planes,
pilots (commercial and private), retired NASA employees, Air Reservists, aerospace
engineers who also love to work with tools! Collectively, they have donated
over 85 years of service-thousands of hours- to tell the story of flight with
dignity and pride. When I visited the shop one afternoon, the group was working
on the final touches of a Curtiss Model D Pusher replica, circa 1911, produced
by Glenn Curtiss, an aviation engineer. I was told the history of this plane.
In the early 1900's, the US Army was looking for aircraft that was reliable and
intuitive for pilots to fly. They picked the Curtiss Model and chose the
College Park Airport because of its close proximity to a small town, the
railroad and the nation's capital. Because of this historical contribution to
flight, the volunteers have painstakingly built this particular model. I
wondered how they choose the planes to build. Chuck McKneely, head of the
project, tells me they "work cooperatively with the museum historians and
staff. The blueprints are purchased, strategically planned and each volunteer
contributes their time and skills to build a particular dimension of the
plane". It took almost 6 years to build this particular aircraft! It is now
hung in the museum's gallery.
When asked about this amazing group of volunteers, Warren
Kasper, Acting Facility Manager of the College Park Aviation Museum, says they
are "invaluable and we couldn't survive without them. Not only do they build
these amazing replicas but they also help in promoting the education of
aviation by creating artifacts for aviation interpretation, teach activities to
museum visitors including scout groups, school groups and more".
Stan Stankiewicz, a long time volunteer sums it up best- "If
it wasn't fun we wouldn't be here. And the pay is great!" He says with a large
grin!
The group welcomes visitors to drop by the Restoration Shop
on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 8am-4pm or register to volunteer! For
more information contact the College Park Aviation Museum at 301-864-6029; TTY
301-864-4765 or visit the website at www.collegeparkaviationmuseum.com.
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Hot fun in the
summertime!
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|  The volunteer summer training committee members developed
and implemented 6 successful "Funshop" trainings for summer volunteers. They
were held in late May and June in the northern, central, and southern areas of
the county. The team trained 214 new volunteers in youth camp standards,
program planning, team building and customer service to prepare them for their
summer placements. Thank you to Marybeth Dugan, Lynn Butler, Adriane Clutter,
Kathy Garrity and La-Juan Lester for dedicating your time in preparing our
youth for a great volunteer experience this summer.
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Building Blocks
and Step-Up Program!
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|  The Building Block training program continues to be a very popular
program! The program is designed to assist teens ages 13-17 as they venture
into the world of volunteering and future job positions. Teens learn life long
skills in proper work ethic, developing interpersonal relationships, team
building, developing the true meaning of service to the community, personal
skills and goal setting. Blocks are interactive and FUN! Registration is open for the fall sessions. Teens can register by visiting our website at www.pgparks.com, click on volunteer and register.
Graduates of the Building Block program are invited to
register for the Step-Up program, the next "step" in the Building Block series.
Here, young people engage in interactive learning experiences and service
projects in a one day experience. Step-Up programs are held on designated days
when Prince George's County Schools have planned closings.
In 2010, the Building Block training team trained 276 young
people in both programs!
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Click here to
volunteer-it's a great value!
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|  There are many volunteer opportunities posted on the website.
It's easy to volunteer! Visit our website at www.pgparks.com,
click on volunteers and follow the easy steps. Volunteers can pick opportunities
from several special interest categories and register on-line! In fiscal year 2010, the Department
welcomed 12,689 volunteers who gave 274,475 hours of service and that value is
over 5.5 million dollars! Now that's invaluable!
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Did you know?
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|  New Federal 'Volunteering in
America' Report Shows Greatest Spike in Volunteers Since 2003
Despite difficult economic times, the number
of Americans volunteering in their communities jumped by 1.6 million last year,
the largest increase in six years, according to a report released this week by
the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation's annual
Volunteering in America report found that 63.4 million Americans volunteered
through a formal organization last year, giving more than 8.1 billion hours of
volunteer service worth an estimated $169 billion. Previous research would
suggest that volunteering should drop during an economic downturn, because
volunteer rates are higher among job-holders and homeowners. Instead,
volunteering increased at the fastest rate in six years, and the volunteer rate
went up among all race and ethnic groups. The complete report can be accessed
at www.VolunteeringInAmerica.gov
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