To All Our Volunteers: Thank You.
Your support, whether in person, at events, and remotely, makes a huge impact on our Clubs.
During this difficult time, while Clubs are temporarily closed and nonprofits across our community face down a number of challenging decisions with limited resources, we’ve been reflecting on how this virus is affecting not just ourselves, but the people that we love: the partners, friends, families, neighbors and networks that compose our communities. We’d like to express our deep and enduring gratitude to everyone in our community who is doing their part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, continuing to provide essential services, and support their community in a myriad of ways. Whether you’ve spread a message of kindness or volunteered your time to help our Clubs pack meals, we appreciate you.
As we recognize and celebrate volunteers this week, we would like to especially commend those who have adapted their service to meet our continued needs, switching over from serving kids in person to use new skill sets and serve families in new ways. Some of you, only a month ago, were playing games, crafting in the art room, and helping support Family Nights. Today, you are helping us serve and deliver thousands of take-home meals to our families, assisting with data entry, identifying resources and funding opportunities, and sharing our upcoming virtual Be Great Ball event and fundraiser.
We commend you for exhibiting the character and leadership that we wish all to possess. In this time of crisis, it become so evident how important it is for our community to come together. Yet, even before this public health crisis and the increasing calls for learning loss prevention programs, food for families, and trauma informed approaches, you were sacrificing your time and a few early dinners to come to the Clubs and build meaningful connections with our youth. Before we were applauding people for helping take care of their neighbors, YOU were helping our Club communities.
Matthew Yochum, Volunteer & Recruitment Coordinator at Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metro, had this message of hope to share with those who have given, and are giving, their time to the Clubs:
“I truly believe COVID-19 will make us better in ways we may struggle to see now. But I believe this because we are seeing more people acting more like our volunteers. I hope to continue to see this trend of volunteerism grow, with and more and more shining examples of community, goodness, and mentorship.”
Happy Volunteer Appreciation week to all of you, and thank you for helping to empower young people, especially those who need us most, today and every day!
