Whatcom Volunteer Center has served as the "Heart and Hands" of the community for over 30 years by channeling the goodwill and talent of volunteers of all ages into 350 nonprofits, schools, government, and healthcare organizations to meet community needs.
The Volunteer Center recruits and refers volunteers to partner agencies and manages a database of nearly 3,500 volunteers' skills and interests. Current volunteers include plumbers, teachers, students, refinery workers, bankers, bus drivers, lawyers, doctors and computer experts who range in age from 6 to 98. Agency requests for volunteers are marketed through local media, added to a list of current opportunities distributed widely in the community, and calls are made to people in the database whose skills and interests match the position to see if they can meet the need.
Mission
For agencies needing to stretch limited resources, Whatcom Volunteer Center provides one-stop access to a wide pool of volunteer talent without increasing their expenses. Annually the Center helps to generate over 178,000 hours donated to make this a better community for all of us. That translates into over $3.2 million worth of donated human resources! (This figure is based on the average hourly wage for non-agricultural workers listed in the Economic Report of the President with 12% estimated fringe benefits added. The value of a volunteer was set at $18.04 per hour in 2005. Figures published by Independent Sector.)
Volunteer Chore Program
In addition to being a clearinghouse linking agencies and volunteers of all ages, the Volunteer Center operates one direct service program. The Volunteer Chore Program annually helps 200 elderly and disabled people remain in their neighborhoods and independent in their homes by providing cleaning, yard work, minor repairs, errands and transportation. The Volunteer Chore Program's cost of about $500 per client per year helps keep them independent and happy in their own homes and is literally 100 times cheaper than the yearly cost of $50,000 or more in long-term care facility. It's not only the right thing to do; it's extremely cost effective.
