Welcome to the United Way Volunteer eNewsletter for organizations involved in volunteer engagement in the UWDATS region. Our goal is to provide helpful best practice tips, volunteer management resources, and highlights about volunteer opportunities. We want to make this a helpful resource for all the organizations our Volunteer Center serves. We welcome your suggestions and ideas!

Tina Hasken
United Way Volunteer Engagement Coordinator
IN THIS ISSUE
Meal Packaging Event

Flashback 9/7/17:
120 volunteers + 
2 hours =
25,000 meals for our community members dealing with food scarcity

Thank You, Ron!!
United Way wishes to thank and put the spotlight on Ron Wolf for all his volunteer efforts. Ronnie has over 80 hours of volunteer time into our Little Free Libraries, which is an initiative of Women United. From building and painting to delivery and mounting, he has done it all. 
Women United is a group that has a strong literacy focus as evidenced in their Sprout Into Reading program and their recent efforts to purchase and install 19 free little libraries. We are extremely grateful for Ronnie's donated time towards our Little Free Library initiative. This project encourages the love of reading and sparks creativity by promoting book exchange in the community. With volunteers that donate their time, like Ronnie, we are able to reach out to the community and provide over 3,000 books.
Volunteer Best Practices
How to Recognize Your Volunteers
All volunteers deserve to be recognized and appreciated.
Here are 10 ways how:
  1. Take pictures of volunteers 'on the job,' write a 'thank you' message on them, and give them to each volunteer
  2. Try to greet your volunteers by name
  3. Say 'thank you' often, and mean it
  4. Create a climate in which volunteers can feel motivated
  5. Compliment volunteers and tell them they have done a good job
  6. Ask volunteers' to share their ideas and opinions
  7. Always be courteous
  8. Do not overwhelm volunteers with tasks
  9. Make sure the volunteers are doing work that is meaningful to them and the community
  10. Use quotes from volunteers in leaflets, newsletters, and annual reports
For more ideas on ways to recognize your volunteers, click here!
Volunteer Spotlight
John Deere


Each year, there are opportunities for recognizing and celebrating volunteerism in our communities.  It is with great pleasure that we share our nominee and award winner of the Governor's Group Volunteer Award to John Deere Dubuque Works' Employees.  

From leadership to line staff, John Deere Dubuque Works has created a culture of giving back to our communities in monumental ways. United Way is a proud partner and a recipient of John Deere's generosity.  Employees at John Deere Dubuque Works have a long history of not only giving generously to support our communities through their successful UW Campaign but they provide endless hours of volunteerism to area nonprofits.  John Deere employees have participated in volunteer opportunities both on and off site and are very invested in learning about and responding to community needs.  John Deere employees have helped clean a homeless shelter, repair items at a camp, cleanup after a storm, and so much more.  

As a community, we thank John Deere for supporting employees' efforts to give back to the community through volunteerism at United Way and many other local organizations.  We are all stronger because of you!  Congratulations on the Governor's Volunteer Award!
Back to School Bash
United Way was just one of the many organizations involved with the Back to School Bash, hosted by the Black Men's Coalition, that was held on Saturday August 5th at Comiskey Park. Along with getting ready for school and learning about before and after school program and resources, empowerment was a huge focus at the Back to School Bash. United Way worked with Americorps, Green Iowa, Women United, and three high school students to provide family volunteer activities and snacks for this event. Women United provided free water and chips along with information regarding the Sprout Into Reading program and the Little Free Libraries. The United Way Volunteer Center worked with local agencies and community volunteers to provide family volunteering activities promoting empowerment. Americorps helped with empowerment by assisting volunteers in making reusable bags to be distributed to the homeless in our community at the September Stand Down event. showing children how to make t-shirt bags. Green Iowa provided an activity area focusing on the future and "What I want to be..." and Timothy Mehlhorn provided photography for the event. Three Wahlert Catholic High School students provided assistance with the volunteer activity area focusing on constructing books emphasizing empowerment. The items constructed in the volunteer area were placed in "I Volunteered" bins for use in our community.
UPCOMING VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
LET US SHOWCASE YOURS IN THE FUTURE
Register here



Mentor Dubuque



Mentor Dubuque is looking for adults to volunteer as a mentor to a youth living outside of Dubuque. Mentoring is playing in the park, shooting hoops, eating pizza, etc. We ask mentors to spend about 4-5 hours each month with their mentee. Staff are available to support the match. There is an option to mentor a child with your partner (couple matching).

Sherrill area: We are looking for two men interested in mentoring.

Bernard area: We are looking for one man interested in mentoring.

St. Donatus area: We are looking for one woman interested in mentoring.

Maquoketa area: We are looking for three men and one women interested in mentoring.

**Mentors must be 18 years or older



Before and After School Volunteers


These before and after school academic programs for students in grades K-5 offers students assistance with homework, helps in building character, promotes healthy exercise options, and provides student driven academic enrichment opportunities to help students become well-rounded. The academic enrichment opportunities may include but are not limited to the following areas: art, culture, science, technology, logic, movement, sports and outdoor activities.

St. Mark also is in need of mentors who are committed to spending time and developing a relationship one-on-one with the same student over an extended period of time. Mentors meet with their assigned mentee a minimum of 30-60 minutes per week (4 hours per month) during our regular program hours at the school sites for the duration of a school year.

Allies


 
Allies are supporters and friends, who walk alongside individuals who work hard but continue to hit barriers to getting ahead; these individuals set their own goals at Circles, and are on a quest to have enough resources, healthy relationships, and reason in their lives. For some, this will be the first real relationship they've built with a middle class individual.

Many Allies simply share their time and friendship, while others work with participants on a particular goal, sharing their specialized skill in areas such as finances, computers, home-ownership, nursing students, resume writing, etc.

For more information on the activities of an Ally and what makes a great Ally, click below!


GET CONNECTED CORNER


Volunteer Management Tip! 

Set up your Get Connected agency profile and keep your volunteer needs and events updated so volunteers can find you easily.



United Way is very pleased to offer Get Connected as the latest way we give our neighbors the opportunity to care for one another. We sincerely hope you enjoy using Get Connected to give back!


The Volunteer Center at United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States is generously funded by the Volunteer Generation Fund.


LIVE UNITED
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"The world is hugged by the faithful arms of volunteers." ~Terri Guillemets