Archive | Service News RSS feed for this section

NYC’s First Chief Service Officer

16 Jun

This past week, Mayor Bloomberg announced the appointment of Diahann Billings-Burford  as New York’s first Chief Service Officer. She will lead NYC Service, the city’s program focused on promoting volunteerism, which includes nearly 40 initiatives to be implemented and overseen by Billings-Burford. “The goal of NYC Service is to let loose an army of volunteers who will help tackle our biggest challenges — which have only become more pressing during this national recession,” the mayor said. This is all a part of Mayor Bloomberg’s (and his administration’s) master plan to make New York City the easiest place in the country to volunteer.

To read more about the new Chief Service Officer, check out the link below to Amy Potthast’s article from The New Service:

“Mayor Bloomberg Appoints a City Year Staffer as NYC’s First Chief Service Officer” – Amy Potthast of Idealist.org

Or, read the full mayoral press release by clicking here

Tags: , , , , , ,

How much is your time worth?

5 May

Volunteers are indispensable. They help certain organizations function on a day-to-day basis, do the work that may otherwise go undone, and in some cases, they ARE the organization. Our time is invaluable…. or is it?

A recent study done by the Independent Sector estimates the monetary worth of the average volunteer hour. In 2008, this dollar value was $20.25 per hour! And that’s the national average; New York volunteer hours are estimated to be $28.04 (this is 2007, as the state-by-state breakdown is a bit more involved).

So next time you head out to volunteer, think about the difference you’re making and how valuable your time really is..

Tags: , , , , ,

Serve America Act Signed…Government did something good!

21 Apr

As I’m sure you’re aware, there has been a HUGE increase in the number of volunteers within the past year or so. Now there is a bill, the Serve America Act, that will help mobilize those volunteers and recruit more to help address the pressing needs of society. I think that this is a huge step in the right direction for our country. It will help to create a new generation of volunteers by incorporating service-learning into curriculum across the board- elementary, high school, college and beyond, in addition to offering incentives or stipends in exchange for service. There are many different facets to the Serve America Act; if you want to learn more about it you can read it in full online, or check out this summary from Service Nation.

Alan Khazei, the CEO and founder of Be The Change Inc., wrote a great piece about the new legislature that I had to share. You can find it here: Alan Khazai – ‘A New Patriotism’ .

The Serve America Act has come at just the right time… The citizens of this country will now have more access to volunteer opportunities, enabling us to pick up the pieces that government has left and may not be able to fix without our help. I think everyone keeps waiting for the government to fix everything for them. Newsflash: they can’t! But with this piece of legislation, we are now more able than before to be the change we want to see in our communities and the world around us.

And don’t think that New York City won’t be a major player in all of this.. This week Mayor Bloomberg announced the expanding opportunities that will address the most urgent needs of the city, making the volunteer experience more effective by assisting non-profit agencies, and keeping track of the progress our City makes as a result of these changes. For more, check out the new NYC Service site.

Excited? Pissed off? I’d love to hear what everyone thinks….

Tags: , , , , , ,

Newer Entries →