Something to Give

Oct 142010
 
 October 14, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin 3 Responses »

Did you know that an anonymous donor offered a cord of good firewood to a lucky Good Cheer volunteer this fall? Maybe that volunteer gave of his or her time and talent to help stock the Food Bank, sort donations at the Distribution Center, or display holiday goods in the Langley or Clinton’s stores.

That donor gave something that helps Good Cheer say thank you and keep a volunteer’s house warm this winter.

Everyone has something to give and in this case it was gratitude.

The same graceful cycle of giving and receiving will make our new program work. It’s an online system called SomethingToGive.org, set to start November 1st at Good Cheer. Good Cheer will be the first organization ever to use SomethingToGive.org because its world class developer, Andy McRea, lives right here on Whidbey Island. With a dedicated team, Andy’s been planning, programming, raising funds, and gathering donations for nearly two years. You’ll see him around Good Cheer most of October preparing for the launch of  SomethingToGive.org.

You can view a video about the program by clicking on the above photo.

Volunteers will use SomethingToGive.org to choose and schedule their volunteer assignments by computer. Yes, your “same old job” will still be there; your volunteer hours are what you give Good Cheer and the people we serve.

But that’s just the beginning. Others who can’t give their time to Good Cheer want to give something to YOU.

When you sign on to SomethingToGive.org, you’ll see lists of dozens of donated trips, special services, and amazing experiences. Using your volunteer hours, you’ll “bid” on the thank you gift of your dreams.

Volunteering is a form of giving and we understand that our volunteers give without any expectation of reward. There are those in the community who want to give, as a sign of appreciation, to those who help within our community. This type of giving is just as meaningful as giving time helping those in need. The Good Cheer staff is excited to let you know just how valuable we think your efforts really are to the organization.

A Volunteer Forum will be held on October 21st, from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30p.m., at the Langley Methodist Church (Fellowship Hall). Andy McRea will be in attendance to demonstrate how the program works. They will have computers and expert help to guide you through the process.

SomethingToGive.org’s mission is to create a community that rewards and increases volunteerism. Last year we had over 380 volunteers at Good Cheer.  The top 50 volunteers accounted for 71% of total hours volunteered.

With SomethingToGive.org, Good Cheer aims for lofty goals: For existing volunteers, Good Cheer hopes to amp up involvement in their scheduling, to expedite matches between jobs that need doing and the volunteers available, and to allow Good Cheer to say, “Thank you!” in new, intriguing, and downright fun ways. They also wish to reach out to new potential volunteers to increase hours of volunteer contributions to Good Cheer’s mission.

The vision of the program is to create an online social network to give something back to those who give of themselves. This network will feature a marketplace that will provide a venue for people to ‘spend’ credits they have earned volunteering to ‘buy’ rewards that are offered by others. The concept assumes that, whether it is volunteering your time or supplying access to a unique opportunity, we all have something to give.

SomethingToGive.org’s platform will connect three groups:

  • Nonprofit and community organizations in need of volunteers (Good Cheer)
  • Potential volunteers
  • People who provide sought after life experiences as rewards to inspire others to volunteer

This is truly a unique idea of enhancing the cycle of giving and receiving. It also provides a novel means of rewarding and retaining the current base of hard-working volunteers that we have a Good Cheer. Perhaps we will find ourselves with many new volunteers:)

We will let you know when the site is complete and ready to use!

Good Cheer!

Good Cheer Food Bank – Volunteers

Mar 032010
 
 March 3, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

Volunteers really make Good Cheer a special place. They give energy and time out of their daily lives to help our community wide efforts on South Whidbey Island.  I wanted to spend some time recognizing the work of these special people; they are at the core of what we do at Good Cheer.

Ula Lewis is one of those special people.

Don’t let Ula see you throw away a coupon. She knows their real value.

Lewis is a special kind of volunteer for the Good Cheer Food Bank. She’s a coupon-clipper, organizer and frugal shopper who saves us hundreds of dollars a month by using coupons for items purchased at chain stores offering double and triple coupon redemptions.

As the mother of 11 children, Lewis had to watch her food budget at home and did so, partly by clipping coupons.

This past July, she decided to put her talent to work for Good Cheer by organizing coupons that Good Cheer had on hand and then adding to them. With the help of a small circle of friends, the coupon collection began to grow; so much so that Lewis invested in large plastic bins to keep all the coupons well filed.

Just about weekly, Ula and her friend Iola Helland go shopping on the mainland, mostly at the Albertsons and Fred Meyer stores.

“I tell the stores that I am shopping for the Good Cheer Food Bank, and that I am using coupons and will be buying sale items. Sometimes I phone ahead and they can bring in more of an item and hold it back for me.”

She always tries to shop more than one location of each store so that she doesn’t wipe any one store out of any products.

A recent example of her work are the boxes of brand name cereal on the shelves at the Food Bank. “They were marked $4.89 a box; but I watched the ads and found them on sale for $1.88 a box. I had a dollar off coupon for each box. So I got that cereal at 88 cents a box.” Another find was Kraft salad dressing at 37 cents a bottle, once the coupon was applied.

Lewis also will get certificates, from some stores, for $25 off her next purchases because of the quantity of groceries she buys, then uses them on her next shopping trip for Good Cheer.

She can spend up to 30 hours a week at her coupon and shopping work for Good Cheer; on top of volunteering at the Food Bank. This is a woman with a great heart!

“I appreciate Ula’s willingness to devote time not only for the coupon clipping and shopping, but also here at the Food Bank” says Food Bank Manager Damien Cortez. “She comes in regularly just to see if we need help and will give up her entire day just because she sees the need. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without her this week!”

We all love what Ula is doing for us at the food bank. It is something many in the community had encouraged us to do. It was so nice when someone said I will do it for you!

Lewis had a time in her life when she was on food stamps, so she understands the value of help. “I learned then that you can use coupons with food stamps. I figured if someone was going to give me money for food, I would spend it in the most economical way that I could.”

Helping others now is a way of paying back.

Anyone wanting to give coupons to Lewis for her project can bring them to Good Cheer.  Ulla will make good use of them:)