Leadership Morgan Hill is a community based leadership program that is open to citizens residing and/or working in Morgan Hill, CA. The purpose of the organization is to develop future community leaders by engaging and introducing "students" to the inner workings of the city government and the community in general.

The class is nine months long and includes instructional and practical hands-on learning. An important part of our curriculum is the development of a class project which is meant to bond our class together and have us use our collective strengths for the better good of the community.

This year, our class of 23 motivated students chose to focus on the needs of the community by hosting a Volunteer Fair to connect local and national organizations with community members looking for opportunities to volunteer.

Our initial focus was to host a well managed event – which has resulted in a new organization called Volunteer Morgan Hill. Our class is graduating in September, but we expect Volunteer Morgan Hill to continue beyond graduation and to fulfill the mission we established for our class. We are all very proud to have created something that will continue to serve our local community and many of us plan to remain involved to ensure that the organization we created continues to thrive.

Our main event is scheduled for Saturday, September 12, 2009 in our Community & Cultural Center. There are over 25 organizations participating, including the American Red Cross and Community Solutions. We've already generated local publicity and drawn attention to the event and our organization through the United We Serve sample media advisory. This week we are releasing posters to be put up in store fronts, businesses and community centers in town. We have also created a website, a blog and accounts on Facebook and Twitter in order to promote our event.

Local schools in Morgan Hill resume next Tuesday, August 18th and we anticipate that our efforts will attract High School students that are required to participate in community service. In addition, many people we've approached have expressed an interest in volunteering and we hope the Fair will give them an opportunity to explore various organizations and learn the different ways in which they can give time to improve the community – all in one place.

As you can tell, I am very proud of the work we have done.

Follow Volunteer Morgan Hill and check out the United We Serve media tools Victor and his classmate used to publicize their event. To find a similar event in your area search keyword: “volunteer fair” or “volunteer orientation”