Volunteer Florida is kicking off #VGFWeek, celebrating the hard work of our Volunteer Generation Fund grantees (VGF).

 

 

The main goals of VGF are:

  • to build community resiliency
  • to improve knowledge on disaster preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation
  • to reduce and/or prevent prescription drug and opioid abuse
  • to teach financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship

The program really focuses on recruiting skill-based volunteers. A skills-based volunteer utilizes the skills, experience and education to match the need of a nonprofit organization. The recruitment of these specific volunteers improves the impact of the program by harnessing their strengths and strategically delegating tasks.

The skills-based approach is a more effective way to capitalize on the resources, ensuring the volunteers are the best possible fit for the organizations.

Every year, up to $13,000 is awarded to 22 grantees. To qualify as an applicant, it is required that the organization is community based or faith based. The organization must offer programs and services focusing on recognizing talents and skills to be shared, connecting people with opportunities to serve, promoting volunteering at any age and building or establishing partnerships with organizations within the community.

 

 

We are using this week to recognize these individual grantees and their hard work.

The Broward Education Foundation’s Bridge2Life volunteers assisted more than 100 high school seniors fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

 

 

The Caridad Center Clinic provided 10,167 visits for 4,111 uninsured patients that otherwise would not have had access to medical, mental and dental care otherwise.

Changing Homelessness engaged 119 skills-based volunteers who completed 182 surveys and 162 observations for a total of 344 people that experience unsheltered homelessness within Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties.

 

 

Girls on the Run of the Big Bend engaged 41 coaches in the Fall of 2017 to serve 192 3rd-7th grade girls in a ten-week, curriculum-based program focused on friendship, confidence and strength.

Naples Senior Center at JFCS engaged 30 skills-based volunteers in our Dementia Respite Program assisting over 60 clients with dementia and even more caregivers.

 

 

New Hope for Kids engaged 61 skills-based volunteer who provided grief support to 324 children attending grief support programs.

Schott Memorial Center Inc. engaged adult volunteers who provide health and nutrition mentoring, exercise classes, and life skills training to 65 individuals with disabilities.

 

 

Performing Arts Center Trust Inc. (Arsht Center) engaged skills-based volunteers who provided assistance for 312 students with disabilities from nine Miami-Dade County public schools so students could demonstrate what they learned in a performance as the culminating activity of the Center’s Accessing the Arts education program.

United Way of Palm Beach County completed over 6,000 tax returns in the community, saving taxpayers approximately $1 million in tax filing fees.

Here at Volunteer Florida, we are so proud of these grantees and their commitment to making their communities stronger.

A complete list of Volunteer Florida’s 2017-2018 Volunteer Generation Fund grantees can be found here.