Volunteer Maryland Expands, Offers Service Site Information Sessions
ANNAPOLIS, MD– Are you an organization in need of volunteers? Would you like to join Maryland’s premier volunteer network? Volunteer Maryland, a unit of the Governor’s Office on Community Initiatives, today announced the start of their Service Site Information Sessions for the 2019–2020 service year, as they seek to expand geographically to serve more Maryland citizens. Nonprofits, government agencies, and schools interested in partnering with Volunteer Maryland to become a Service Site are encouraged to attend one of the information sessions prior to applying for the program. Volunteer Maryland currently has AmeriCorps members at 25 service sites across Maryland.
“Through the work of our AmeriCorps members, Volunteer Maryland’s capacity building activities help our partner Service Sites expand services, enhance delivery of services, and generate additional resources that organizations might not otherwise have readily available to them,” said Nicki Fiocco Director of Volunteer Maryland. “Our AmeriCorps members, also known as Volunteer Coordinators, are diverse individuals who have unique backgrounds with regards to work and life experiences, and each year we are excited to see the innovative approaches our members introduce in their host Service Sites – integrating their background to help move the needle on addressing critical needs in Maryland communities.”
The information sessions, which are free of charge and include lunch, are held to raise awareness of the benefits of Volunteer Maryland to help expand the program to cover more Maryland counties. Interested organizations are encouraged to register early, as seating is limited for each session. Organizations participating in the Information Sessions will learn about the benefits of partnering with Volunteer Maryland, undergo a volunteer program needs assessment, as well as hear about grant resources provided by the Rural Maryland Council among other topics.
Volunteer Maryland Service Sites host Volunteer Maryland AmeriCorps members for a one year term to serve as Volunteer Coordinators. Volunteer Coordinators help address critical community needs including education, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship to assist in expanding the scale, reach, and efficiency of programs and organizations by leveraging resources from volunteerism.
In addition to the Information Sessions, Volunteer Maryland will host a series of webinars to provide information to interested programs and organizations that are not available to attend the in-person sessions. Webinar dates can be found by visiting volunteer.maryland.gov/ServiceSites.
Organizations interested in joining Maryland’s premier volunteer network as a Service Site must submit their application to Volunteer Maryland by March 9, 2019.
Information on this year’s Volunteer Maryland information sessions are provided below:
