Volunteer opportunities abound
By Kelvin Wee
Emerald Reporter
Editor’s note: This story is
part of a two-part series on stu
dent volunteer opportunities.
Part one deals with off-campus
volunteer opportunites; part
two deals with on-campus
volunteer opportunities.
Non-profit, service organiza
tions in the Eugene/Springfield
area depend almost exclusively
on the support received from
members of the community.
And for most of these organiza
tions, the support is not just
monetary.
The need for volunteer ser
vices in the area is always grow
ing. Organizations often need
more people to help as they
grow to serve the community
better. As these organizations
grow, they begin to look toward
the University for the added
support needed in order to pro
vide their services.
Often, students are not sure
which organization are best
suited to their talents. The
Voluntary Action Center
located in the Eugene YMCA
specializes matching people
with organizations whew they
can make a difference.
"We have at any given mo
ment over 500 different
volunteer opportunities in our
files," said Charlotte Phipps,
director of the Voluntary Action
Center, "and vye work with over
100 different agencies in the
community.”
The process a volunteer goes
through before being referred to
an agency is simple hut precise
All volunteers who visit the of
fice are individually counselled
on their interests, skills and
time commitments to determine
with which organizations they
are best suited to work
These volunteers are then
given two or three different
referrals and are encouraged to
visit each of the agencies to
decide which one they would
like to work with. Phipps
explained.
"There is never a fee for
anyone who wishes to become a
volunteer and we are always
working to get the word out to
more students about our ser
vice." Phipps added
The center is funded by
United Way. the county Joint
Social Service fund and the
YMCA. Phipps said Because
funding is less of a problem, the
center is able to focus its atten
tion on the main goal of mat
ching volunteers with com
munity agencies.
The center serves various dif
ferent agencies in the communi
ty that deal with different social
issues and problems Oppor
tunities for volunteers range
from working with children,
youths, handicapped and
seniors, to agencies that deal
with the arts and
communications.
For more information, call
t*Ht>-‘tt)22.
Organizations
For students who wish to
work with animals, the lane
County Animal Regulation
Authority has a continuous
need for volunteers
Lisa Moses, the regulation
authority’s volunteer coor
dinator said there is a number of
opportunites available at the
animal shelter.
"We have a program called
the Pet Therapy Program,
which is ideal because
volunteers take the animals to
visit with residents of nursing
homes, retirement centers and
other facilities" whose
residents cannot keep pets.
Moses said.
The regulation authority also
needs office volunteers and
others interested in working in
the animal shelter The latter
can involve taking care of the
animals, maintenance in the
kennels and help in the adop
tion process.
Moses added that the most
important quality for a potential
volunteer is a personal commit
ment to helping the animals and
the ability to work
independently.
Opportunities are also
available in human services.
A popular agency providing
services to community children
is the big brotherbig Sister
Program. The chapter in Eugene
is the state's only nationally
recognized Hig brother Big
Sister program, and is separate
from the program found on
campus.
“We require a commitment of
a year, and a weekly commit
ment of at least two hours,
although we will accept a com
mitment of a school year from
University students instead,"
said Diane Coats, program
director
The Big brother big Sister
program requires potential
volunteers go through a
thorough screening process, in
cluding application, orienta
tion. personal interview, proof
of valid insurance if the
volunteer is driving, a visit to
the volunteer's home, and even
a police check All this is to en
sure the child will not be taken
from a risk situation to be plat
ed into another risk situation.
Coats said.
Students can also spend their
free time as friends to senior
citizens in the community by
working with centers like the
Kaufman Senior Center The
center provides several oppor
tunities for volunteers to share
their knowledge
“We are always open to new
ideas and volunteers who want
to work with us," said JoAnn
Coker, the Kaufman Outer's
outreach worker. “We even en
courage foreign students to
come and tell us about the coun
try and culture they are from
Coker said that volunteers
teach classes, help with the
weekly Thursday slide pro
Hrams. work with the meal pro
grams. and help as drivers
The field of human services
also extends groups that
educate on health and personal
issues like AIDS, rape and the
handicapped
Shanti in Oregon is an
volunteer-run organization that
helps people with AIDS and
AIDS-Related Complex
Sheila Guilfoyle is the Shanti
office coordinator and a part
time student at the Univeristy
"There are so many oppor
tunities for students with Shan
ti," Guilfoyle said, "and there
are presently about eight
students from the University
working with us."
Shanti asks for a commitment
of about four hours a week from
its volunteers They need help
with office staffing and an emo
tional support program for peo
ple with AIDS, ARC! and their
loved ones. Guilfoyle explain
ed. For more information about
working with Shanti, tall
342-5088
Rape awareness and counsel
ing is also a field many students
volunteer their time for
The Rape Crisis Network pro
vides a hotline for abused
women. The organization is run
mos11 y by women w ho
volunteer their time on hotline
serve es and other fields
"Most of out callers are
women," said lairi lirges. a
community education volunteer
with the network
The Rape Crisis Network re
quires new volunteers to go
through a training session after
which they will work on the
phone lines for three months
After that, volunteers can move
on to support groups, com
munity education and a self
defence education group, lirges
said
The opportunities f o r
volunteering off campus also
extends to working with
publications, support groups
and information service groups
Most organizations have their
doors open to everyone
interested.
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