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PrintLending a Helping Hand
Inspired by the number of locals looking for philanthropic opportunities, the Cape Cod Foundation has launched Cape Cod Volunteers
Jay Elliott
Mashpee resident Pat Eldredge and her son Eric were playing tennis near their home four years ago when they noticed a startling lack of Wampanoag children on the local courts. Determined to open the sport up to these local children, the pair worked with Mashpee Leisure Services and Eric wrote and applied for a grant from the United States Tennis Association (USTA). With the grant approved, the mother and son gave out USTA donated rackets and led tennis clinics on the Mashpee courts for children and teenage members of the Wampanoag tribe.
“People want to help and you just have to make the first step easy for them,” says Eldredge, who has watched the tennis program grow in popularity and size. “It is just all about communicating.” The tennis program, a fantastic social and exercise initiative that was initially born from the determination of a local mother and son team, now has multiple instructors and participants of all ages.
While the Cape is well-known for its abundance of invested volunteers, such as the Eldredges, these shining philanthropic stars are often left won
dering where to turn and what organization most needs their help. A newly created organization, Cape Cod Volunteers, which connects nonprofit agencies with potential volunteers, offers the promise of an even more fulfilling life for thousands of locals.
“You really can’t play golf or go boating seven days a week,” says retired New York advertising executive Mead Sommers of New Seabury, who got involved with Cape Cod Volunteers early on because there wasn’t a clear path to volunteering on the Cape. “We all need a meaningful reason for getting up each day.”
Sommers’ raison d’etre in retirement is volunteering, and he has found a new niche with Cape Cod Volunteers, an initiative of the Cape Cod Foundation in partnership with CapeCodOnline.com, Barnstable County and an advisory committee consisting of representatives from Cape Cod Community College, Cape and Islands United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Elder Services of Cape Cod & the Islands and community members. Sommers volunteers his time as a marketing consultant for Cape Cod Volunteers, which has the potential to become a national model for matching volunteers with nonprofit organizations and municipal agencies. Cape Cod Volunteers offers an on-line “a-to-z” database of more than 50 Cape organizations looking for volunteers. The site allows potential volunteers to create on-line profiles to match various personal skill sets to particular agencies. Participants, such as Eldredge who has signed up to continue her volunteering through the organization, can also be alerted when new volunteer opportunities are posted.
Drop-in centers on the upper, mid, and lower Cape, staffed with trained volunteers, will open in the coming months to further assist in the volunteer coordination and put a face to the organization. Participating organizations are providing a range of opportunities including, Alzheimer’s Services of the Cape and Islands, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Big Brothers and Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands, the Boys & Girls Club of Cape Cod, the Cape Cod Child Development Foundation, Hospice and Palliative Care of Cape Cod, and the Housing Assistance Corporation. Hospitals, medical clinics, museums, various senior centers, art, civic and environmental groups, boating organizations, and town agencies are also participating. The list is growing daily and the collective nonprofit message is on point: we want and need your help.
“The potential of Cape Cod Volunteers is extraordinary,” says Sommers. “Cape Codders, both natives and those who retire here, are known for their willingness to be involved in their communities at all levels—from executive functions to hospital volunteer and clerical work. With Cape Cod Volunteers, there is now a vehicle to match volunteer talent with organizations in need of great assistance in a troubled economy where there is limited funding available.”
That’s an answered prayer for retirees who in the past have had great difficulty discerning the right organizations and agencies where their professional experience would be of assistance. The visibility of this new initiative and its thoughtful, user-friendly approach is expected to reach new volunteer pools, as well.
Until now, the depth of volunteer opportunities has been obscured by lack of a clearinghouse. There are as many barriers to volunteering as motivations, as the organization notes on its website. For example, where do you start? How do you discern the right organization? How do you find opportunities to match your skills?
The Cape Cod Volunteers website and drop-in centers “break down those barriers to volunteering,” says Cape Cod Foundation Vice President Lisa B. McNeill, who has coordinated the effort with Katie Mueller, a bright, technically savvy 23-year-old AmeriCorps* VISTA/Volunteer Initiative Coordinator assigned to the project. “For those who want to volunteer, you can search opportunities based on your interests, skills, location, availability and other factors,” adds Mueller. Nonprofits can post volunteer needs, board openings and other related information. In addition, the website offers information for internships for Cape students looking to build their resumes.
Mueller adds that the vision of Cape Cod Volunteers is to create a network of organizations and opportunities that inspire and engage individuals of all ages and experience to strengthen Cape communities through volunteering. “Our focus is to find the right match,” says Mueller, who grew up in Princeton, New Jersey and graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in anthropology. “Overwhelmingly, people want to volunteer. They just don’t know how to access the information.”
Fortunately, the easy-to-maneuver Cape Cod Volunteer website provides volunteers with detailed information about specific nonprofits, enabling them to make the best decisions on where to volunteer.
That’s precisely what drew Jeanne Adams to Cape Cod Volunteers. Adams was a public health nurse in Boston and Providence, is now a Habitat for Humanity volunteer, and serves on the Cape Cod Volunteers Advisory Committee, as well as the Barnstable County Health and Human Services Advisory Board and the Falmouth Human Services Advisory Board. “Volunteering gives one new purpose, the chance to contribute, and the prospect of learning new skills,” says Adams.
And that is what has attracted sponsors, such as Bank of America, who is pleased to support such programs that “enable adults 55 years old and older to remain active, viable assets to our neighborhoods,” says Gwen B. Dadoly, Bank of America Market President for Cape Cod and the Islands. “By engaging seniors in civic involvement and volunteerism, we are contributing to a meaningful investment and creating opportunities for these wonderful ambassadors.” Bank of America is no stranger to community commitment. The bank supports two hours a week of community volunteer work for each employee.
Cape Cod Volunteers is four years in the making, starting with a 2006 assessment grant to Cape Cod Foundation from The Atlantic Philanthropies Community Experience Partnership that donates worldwide. Tufts Health Plan Foundation and an anonymous donor matched by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are also sponsoring the new volunteer initiative. Cape Cod Foundation was the appropriate conduit for the grant, given its impressive history as a community foundation for grantmaking and civic leadership. The Foundation has distributed more than $37 million in grants and scholarships since its 1989 founding.
With baby boomers now approaching retirement age and a growing cadre of socially committed students and younger adults on the Cape, those seeking volunteer opportunities are expected to increase exponentially.
“Volunteering is a win-win situation,” says Sommers. You give to those in need, but you get just as much back. You learn, meet interesting people, make new friends and feel good about yourself. Find the right opportunity and get actively involved. It’s extremely rewarding.”
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