Volunteer Now Sonoma Valley

Just imagine the nation’s post office workers handling, processing and distributing the mail free of charge. What if all the libraries were run by unpaid staff? How about an all-volunteer army with no monetary compensation? Can you picture a hospital with no paid employees that functions well because skilled professionals donate their services? Imagine all such professionals happily accepting an occasional ready-for-slaughter chicken or a basket of tomatoes rather than a salary.

This, dear readers, describes early America. The colonizers of this land did not bring basketfuls of money when they fled oppression in their homelands. Thus, to make this new society work, they just had to provide free services for each other. Thereby, volunteerism was spawned in the “land of the free.” Europeans, I’m told, actually have a hard time understanding why anyone would want to work without getting paid for it.

In “We the People: The History of Volunteerism in America,” author Susan Ellis tells us, “Almost all institutions that benefit society today were started by volunteers before America won its independence.”

While the most basic areas of our social system have long since shifted to paid employment, volunteerism continues to grow and thrive in countless areas of need. And here in Sonoma opportunities for volunteering abound. Yet, sometimes would-be volunteers are flummoxed, not knowing quite how to approach an organization for volunteering or how to select a volunteering opportunity that suits the individual’s interests and abilities.

Enter Denise Wilbanks. This long-time Sonoma resident remembers well the happy outcomes from a Volunteer Day sponsored by her church a few years ago. People found very satisfying options for the time they wanted to give and organizations happily welcomed fresh and eager recruits.

Wilbanks knew about the services of the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County but recognized that not too many people living here wanted to drive all the way to Santa Rosa to check out ways to give service in Sonoma, if they even know a volunteer center exists in Santa Rosa.

So this energetic and compassionate citizen took it upon herself to work with the Santa Rosa office to develop a pilot project right here in Sonoma. Starting May 1st, Volunteer Now Sonoma Valley welcomes you to “Connect with your community by putting your talents and experience to good use!”

Whether you’ve never volunteered for anything before, or you’re getting a little disinterested or downright bored with what you’ve been doing for a while, or you do some volunteer work that’s only occasional and want to give additional time, Denise Wilbanks awaits your call. She’ll work with you to find a match of your interests and skills with one or more just-right volunteer opportunities.

Wilbanks hopes to visit the many local groups employing volunteers in order to be personally connected and to update information currently at hand. She’ll also be on the lookout for additional situations not yet listed in her data bank.

Another great gift to the community is the support offered by the First Congregational Church. Donated space among church offices for this volunteer recruitment/matching project provides a convenient central location and ample off-street parking for anyone wanting to seek out a personalized placement in a satisfying volunteer activity. Church offices are located off the back parking lot of the First Congregational Church, 252 West Spain Street in Sonoma. Look for the sign: Volunteer Now Sonoma Valley.

Contact Denise Wilbanks at 707.480.8319 or Dwilbanks@volunteernow.org for an appointment.

And, if you haven’t already guessed, Denise is providing all of this as a volunteer. Which qualifies her to be the first of the “joyfully generous” to be celebrated occasionally on the “just joan” page of The Sonoma Valley Sun. Watch for enlightening, heartwarming, amusing or mystifying stories of local people making a difference by dedicating time and resources to worthwhile causes.

To suggest someone (or yourself) for a future issue, write me at joan@justjoanonline.com.