Group answers the question,
How do you help in Martin County?

By MEGAN KENNY
Stuart News reporter
January 28, 2007

Reprinted with permission of The Stuart News

STUART — Gail Rounds was a longtime volunteer in her native New Jersey. Chris Knight and Karen Seldomridge had never volunteered before.

But all three women had the same question: how do you help out in Martin County?

About 10 potential volunteers, including the three women, met Tuesday at Martin Volunteers, formerly the Volunteer & Community Resource Center and part of the United Way of Martin County, to find out the answer.

The center, which has an open house every Tuesday, acts as a clearinghouse, collecting volunteer needs from area nonprofits then registering and matching potential volunteers with a job that would suit them best.

It helps volunteers so they don't have to call several agencies on their own to inquire about volunteer opportunities, and it helps agencies, especially smaller ones, who then don't have to do much recruiting on their own.

"It's wonderful," said Knight, of Palm City, who was interested in several of the center's seasonal opportunities like the White Doves Holiday Project, as well as mentoring with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County. "There are so many things I've already found here. I wasn't really sure before where I would fit in, what I really wanted to do."

Seldomridge, a new empty-nester from Jensen Beach, said all the choices were exciting. After flipping through the center's long list of opportunities, she narrowed it down to four, including the Arts Council of Martin County and the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Rounds used to volunteer for Interfaith Caregivers, and was interested in visitation programs offered by Treasure Coast Hospices and the Council on Aging.

Director Carol Hodnett said the center aims to not only match volunteers and agencies, but to track how they're helping the community, both for the center's records and because many of the center's 1,470 registered volunteers are part of the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program. The program is a national initiative encouraging older people to volunteer and requires the information.

"We're sort of one-stop shopping for volunteerism in Martin County," she said.

Hodnett started with the United Way as the RSVP coordinator in 1990, but the retired volunteer program merged with the regular volunteer center several years later, resulting in the Volunteer & Community Resource Center.

The name change, which went into effect last summer but is just now being used regularly, was so people could better understand the center's purpose.

"People need to know that there is this, that we're here to match the volunteers' skills with the needs in the community," Hodnett said. "Volunteers are our biggest resource. There's nothing more gratifying than a happy volunteer."

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What: Tuesdays with Martin Volunteers.

When: Every Tuesday, 10 a.m.

Where: The United Way of Martin County, 50 Kindred St., Suite 207, Stuart.

Information: (772) 220-4472.

Web site: www.martinvolunteers.org.