Take Stock In Children Salutes Top Volunteer Mentor

In celebration of National Volunteer Week, Take Stock in Children honored one of 7,500 Florida volunteer mentors with the organization's most prestigious award. Dr. Charles Voorhis was honored as Take Stock in Children's 2013 Mentor of the Year at a ceremony earlier this year.

 

A retired physician, Dr. Voorhis got involved with his local Take Stock in Children program in Bay County. Like all Take Stock mentors, Voorhis has worked diligently to "change a life over lunch" with the students he mentors. His weekly meetings with his students help to keep them focused on graduating from high school and attending college. Voorhis' caring nature did not stop with motivating his students to excel in education- Johnny Atwell 's personal life was also significantly impacted by the Mentor of the Year.

 

Atwell was in a serious automobile accident after graduation- one that left him paralyzed and unable to walk. Mentor Voorhis guided Atwell and his family through the maze of medical resources available and helped them access needed financial support. He faithfully visited Atwell in the hospital and in his handicapped-accessible apartment. After a year of recovery and therapy, Atwell entered Gulf State College and Voorhis couldn't be prouder.

 

"The bond formed between volunteer mentors and students is a lasting and transformational one," said Dan Lyons, interim CEO of Take Stock in Children. "We are proud to honor Dr. Voorhis, and all of our 7,500 volunteer mentors for their commitment to higher education and Florida's at-risk youth."

Happy AmeriCorps Week!

Happy AmeriCorps Week! AmeriCorps can mean a lot of things to many different people, whether it is volunteering, building park trails, working with homeless youth, or advocating for students, one thing is for sure – AmeriCorps members make an impact in their community.

 

Check out the grand prize winner in the 2010 AmeriCorps Video Contest:

 

Here at Take Stock in Children, our AmeriCorps term is definitely many of these things and more.  Everyday, students inspire us, challenge us, and encourage us to be better individuals, volunteers, and citizens.  We thank you for the opportunity to serve you in order to “Get Things Done!”

Alternative Spring Breaks!

 
With Spring Break coming up in the next few weeks, we thought we would offer our students a way to engage in volunteerism while taking a break from studies. Alternative Spring Breaks are trips where a group of college students engage in volunteer service that focus on a particular social issue such as poverty, the environment, or education reform. Students learn about the social issues and then perform week-long projects with local non-profit organizations. Alternative breaks are great because you get to travel and work with a group of peers for a week, all while creating an impact in the community!

What you stand to gain
·         Travel You can travel to new communities and meet new people
·         Involvement These trips are great ways to become more involved in school and in your community
·         Savings Alternative Breaks are often considerably less expensive (if not totally free, covered by student government) than traditional Spring Break trips
·         Experience Serving with an Alternative Spring Break is a great way to gain leadership experience

Quality components of an Alternative Break
Strong Direct Service: Should provide an opportunity for participants to engage in direct or “hands on” projects and activities that address unmet social needs, as determined by the community.

Orientation: Alternative breakers learn about the purposes and goals of their community partners with which they will be working.

Education: Breakers learn about the complexity of the social issue through reading materials, speaker panels, documentaries, and guest lecturers related to current trends and historical context. A strong educational foundation for the trip will contribute to a meaningful service experience.

Training: Breakers are provided with adequate skills necessary to carry out service projects during their trip. This may include learning physical skills, such as construction or maintenance skills, as well as interpersonal communication, such as interacting with children, sensitivity training, working with people with disabilities, trail building, etc.

Reflection: During the trip participants process the service work as it connects to the broader social issue. Groups set aside time for reflection to take place individually and as a group.

Reorientation: After students return to campus, reorientation activities allow participants to talk about issues with others on campus, learn about local volunteer and civic involvement opportunities, and brainstorm other means to benefit their local community. Reorientation (the post-trip application of the experience) is the essential purpose of an alternative break - to provide a platform for participants to work towards lifelong active citizenship.

Diversity and Social Justice: Strong alternative break programs include diverse representation of students from the campus community and direct exposure to studying social justice issues

Impact

Many students who return from an alternative break experience consider it a life changing event. Alternative break alumni have reported changing their major, increasing their campus involvement, committing to continued community service, actively staying updated on social issues, and joining a service program post-graduation such as AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or Teach for America. Many return to participate and lead alternative break programs throughout their time as students.

An impact analysis conducted in 2001 by Dr. Pushkala Raman and her Marketing Research Class at Florida State University in conjunction with Break Away (www.alternativebreaks2013.org) revealed that there is overwhelming evidence to support the view that alternative breaks are “indeed contributing to the creating of active citizens.”

Many schools coordinate Alternative Spring Breaks for their students, so if you are interested in taking part in a trip this spring, check with your Student Government or Community Outreach office.  You may also want to check out the following link for more organizations which offer their own Alternative Spring Breaks:  studenttravel.about.com/od/springbreakvolunteers/qt/alternate_sprin.htm

Scholar Spotlight: Ha Tran's Travels to Ghana!

Photo from www.uniteforsight.org

Originally from Santa Rosa County, Ha Tran is a Take Stock in Children alumna and was named a Leaders 4 Life fellow in 2011.  In her second year at Duke University, Ha is majoring in neuroscience with a concentration in global health.  Her focus on global health has led her to become involved with the organization Unite for Sight, and will culminate in an eight week trip to Ghana, Africa this coming summer.

Ha writes, “I started looking into this program though my global health course here at Duke. Our yearlong case study focused on an NGO and I chose Unite for Sight.  Aside from the obvious benefits of this program, what I think is most significant is that UFS is quite literally breaking down the barrier for access to health care.”  Ha continues that she has taken a variety of global health courses throughout her time at Duke and finds UFS to be a role model for all other organizations to follow.  “In our class, we looked at everything from tax forms to end-of-the-year reports to analyze the effectiveness of this organization.  As with any program, there are things to be improved. I hope to help improve those aspects during my eight weeks in Ghana.”

Ha will specifically be working in an eye clinic to screen for eye disease, implementing education programs, and assisting in surgery for children and adults.  Traveling to rural villages, she will be providing eye care to those who do not have access to an eye doctor.  Ha’s family emigrated from Vietnam, where there is a saying “Cho ánh sáng,” meaning “the ability to give light.”  Through Ha’s commendable efforts, she will be providing vision, light and hope to the people of Ghana.  Aside from this trip, Ha has also personally collected over 825 glasses to donate and has completed over 30 hours of medical training for this trip, as well as an additional 60 hours of outside training through Unite For Sight and her global health courses at Duke University.  We are so proud of Ha’s efforts, and we encourage you to check out her web page here to learn more about this remarkable program.

If you have any questions about her trip, you can contact Ha at ha.tran@duke.edu or call her at (850) 686-6067.

Volunteerism!

Take Stock in Children is built on a foundation of volunteer mentors, so we all know volunteerism can change a life, check out all of these other reasons to consider engaging in community service!

1. See the world:

   Some of the poorest countries that are the most in need of help also happen to be some of the most breathtaking places in the world. The mountains of Nepal, the lush jungles of Costa Rica, the wide expanses of Kenya are just a few of the lush vistas available to you.

2. Volunteers are needed in this economy:

   A recession hits charitable groups doubly hard, as people need more help but volunteers have less time and resources to give. Although the numbers are beginning to come back up, the recession is far from over, unemployment remains high, and the need for workers lingers.

3. Help your resume:

   The job market being what it is, volunteer experience can make great material for improving a resume and helping yourself stand out. More employers are saying they're interested in employees with volunteer experience. And who knows? You might land a job with the nonprofit you volunteer with!

4. Find your calling:

   High school and college grads who aren't sure what they want to do with their lives are often advised to take an internship somewhere to get a feel for life in a certain line of work. Volunteering can serve the same purpose. You may find your passion is helping people.

5. Build lifelong friendships:

   Serving alongside people has a way of forming special bonds that can last for years. Especially if your volunteering takes you to a third world country, the newness and uncertainty of the environment encourages you to find similarity with your fellow volunteers, which builds a basis for friendships that can last a lifetime.

6. Gain valuable experience:

   There are so many different ways to volunteer, the skills that can be learned in the process are countless. Whether you volunteer as a firefighter or a camp counselor, you'll gain valuable knowledge about the world and about yourself that can be applied anywhere.

7. It's a great way to make contacts:

   You never know whom you'll run into when volunteering. The connections you make with fellow volunteers could prove invaluable when you return to the search for a job. It's just one more reason it pays to be nice to everyone.

8. It can change your outlook on life:

   Volunteering is probably the best way to break yourself out of your comfort zone and show you what life is like for many people. Doing so can change your views on a number of important social issues, like welfare, public health care, education, and more.

9. Learn about your community:

   In an era of customizable and portable technology, it's easy to create a little bubble for yourself, iPod blaring in your ears while you surf Facebook on your phone. Whether you recognize it or not, you're part of a community, and volunteering requires you to unplug and connect with those around you.

10. Have your student loan forgiven:

    For certain federal student loans, the government will agree to cancel all or a part of the loan in exchange for the student performing volunteer work. The work must be done with approved groups like AmeriCorps, the Peace Corps, or Volunteers in Service to America.

11. Learn a foreign language:

    Anyone who has tried to pick up a second language will tell you there's no quicker way to become fluent than by immersing yourself in a culture where that language, and nothing but that language, is spoken. Volunteering abroad is the perfect time to learn a foreign tongue.

12. Get motivated:

    Maybe you just haven't felt motivated to get to work now that college is over. Since objects in motion tend to stay in motion, getting off the couch and volunteering is a good way to build some momentum that can carry you into your working career.

13. Find inspiration:

    Say you're volunteering by digging a well in Africa and the brilliant idea for well construction hits you. There's no telling what kind of inspiration you can get while giving your time. Or maybe the inspiration you get will just be a better appreciation for wildlife, people, or America.

14. It's the right thing to do:

     It's simply the right thing to do!

We hope you will consider the benefits of volunteerism, whether it is to build your resume, enrich your life, or to enrich the lives of those around you - service is of importance to us all.