Day 111: National Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Week, April 10-16, 2011, is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating to the nation that by working together, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals. National Volunteer Week is about taking action and encouraging individuals and their respective communities to be at the center of social change—discovering and actively demonstrating their collective power to foster positive transformation.

National Volunteer Week is not only the moment in time to celebrate our volunteers, but to enable a nation to share ideas, practices, and stories, wherever they happen, and shaping a movement to re-imagine the notion of citizenship for the 21st century.

Make no bones about it: Americans like to give back. In 2010 alone, more than 63 million Americans volunteered their time, President Obama said in his recent presidential proclamation to kick off National Volunteer Week 2011, which began Sunday.

"Volunteers are the lifeblood of our schools and shelters, hospitals and hotlines, and faith-based and community groups," the president said. "From mentoring at-risk youth and caring for older Americans to supporting our veterans and military families and rebuilding after disasters, these everyday heroes make a real and lasting impact on the lives of millions of women and men across the globe."

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. As the nation’s largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”), ages 6 through 18, in communities across the country. They develop positive relationships that have a direct and lasting effect on the lives of young people.

They believe that all children achieve success in life. Their mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. By partnering with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community Big Brothers Big Sisters  are accountable for each child in our program achieving, higher aspirations, greater confidence, and better relationships, avoidance of risky behaviors, and educational success.

Donation $5

To support Big Brothers Big Sisters, please visit: http://www.bbbs.org/