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Attendees at national volunteer conference challenged to work together to multiply their effectiveness
Most community service goes on behind the scenes, uncelebrated and unrecognized, but it's this commitment, day after day, that truly makes volunteerism "heroic," Gillian Martin Sorenson, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations, told 3,000 participants in the 2001 National Community Volunteering and National Service Conference in Minneapolis Thursday.
Sorenson, among the featured speakers at the four-day conference, delivered a poignant message about the importance of volunteering from Kofi Anan, United Nations Secretary-General:
"In this, the United Nations International Year of Volunteers, I would like to pay tribute to each and every one of you for giving your time and energy to the great and noble cause of helping others, especially the poor and vulnerable of our world."
Anan added: "The ideals of volunteerism- service, solidarity and the belief in the collective power to build a better world- are at the heart of the United Nations."
Attendees also heard from Bosnian refugees Hamdija Kujundz and Vahida Huzejrovic, who launched a volunteer effort in the refugee camps in Slovenia. Returning to Bosnia, Kujundz and Huzejrovic co-founded an organization that became the national Volunteer Center of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The organization mobilized more than 6,000 high school students, including Muslims, Serbs and Croats volunteering side by side, to help reconstruct rural villages, tutor in elementary schools, and care for disabled children and isolated elderly.
"Volunteer work does make changes in people's lives," said Huzejrovic, adding, "Volunteerism literally made me (want to) live again."
Robert Goodwin, President and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation& Volunteer Center National Network, was among several speakers who heralded America's rich community-service tradition, the theme of Thursday's session.
But Goodwin also challenged attendees to continue to work diligently to overcome the disconnection and isolation many of the disenfranchised feel. "One of the country's greatest problems is that (economic) prosperity hasn't helped everybody," he said. In particular, Goodwin urged community service organizations to band together when possible to attack the nation's ills.
"Sometimes there's competition when there really should be cooperation and unity," said Goodwin. "There are so many people who need help, we need to share common goals and communicate... If we do that, we can multiply our effectiveness."
Wendy Zenker, acting CEO of the Corporation for National Service, told attendees of President Bush's strong commitment to community service, citing his budget request for Corporation's service programs and his encouragement of faith-based and community initiatives.
Honored at Thursday's plenary was Allan E. Law, who volunteers an average of 100 hours weekly and has spent more than $450,000 of his own money to help inner-city children in Minneapolis. Law, introduced by Neil Bush, the president's brother, is founder and director of Minneapolis Recreation Development, Inc., which provides kids with free personal development, educational, sports, cultural and entrepreneurial activities during after-school hours, weekends and summers. Law won the Daily Points of Light Award, which honors extraordinary citizens making a difference in the lives of others.
Also honored was Mary E. Doucette, who helped create the basic foundation for the Elder Network program in Minnesota, which trains older adult volunteers to help their peers through the difficulties of aging and mental health issues. Doucette, introduced by Kirby Puckett, a former Minnesota Twins baseball star who was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, focuses much of her energy in mobilizing and educating others about senior issues. Doucette won the Points of Light Foundation's Community Leadership Award.
The annual conference is co-sponsored by the Corporation for National Service and the Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network. The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network are the nation's leading nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations supporting the vital work of millions of volunteers in thousands of communities who are helping to solve serious social problems. For more information about local volunteer activities, call 1-800-VOLUNTEER, or visit www.pointsoflight.org
The Corporation for National Service was established in 1993 to engage Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to their communities. The Corporation oversees AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America and the National Senior Service Corps, offering 1.5 million Americans opportunities to serve their communities each year. For more information, call 1-202-606-5000 or visit www.nationalservice.gov.
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