Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Campus and Community] [ Volunteerism] [Hot Air Balloons]
[WIU Campus Building Images]
[Bushnell Area Image]
[Train Moving through WIU Image]
Campus and Community
[Darcie Shinberger] Hello and welcome to another season of Campus and Community
a current events program from Western Illinois University focusing on
activities and programs at Western and in the surrounding community.
I'm Darcie Shinberger from Western's Office of University Relations
today's program looks at volunteerism
and the many opportunities for volunteers within the region.
Our first segment looks at Western's Volunteer Services Organization
as a unit of the Office of Student Activities.
Volunteer Services strives to provide volunteer and service opportunities
and programming as well as a way for Western students
to connect with the Macomb community.
Volunteer Services also advices WAVE
Western's All Volunteer Effort.
Volunteer Services at Western Illinois University
provides volunteer opportunities in programming for Western students
to connect with the Macomb community
[Mary Kubasak] Volunteer Services is an area were anyone can come
and find out about volunteer opportunities how to get more involved in campus
how to get more involved in the town.
We offer one time events that people can participate in
we coordinate the alternative spring break trip in the spring.
We last year had our first International Service trip
a lot of activities come out of our area and we are in the
Office of Student Activities here in the University Union
so it's just an area in the university were people can come
find out what there is to do and get
involved in volunteering and civic activities.
Volunteer Services exist to enhance student's educational
pursuits through quality service opportunities.
[Mary Kubasak] For one thing students want it
we have a lot of students who come and say I like to get involved
in some kind of volunteering in town or around campus what is there to do
so there's definitely a need for it because people are asking for it
so I think that's one good reason to have it is that students really want it.
The other good reason to have it I think it just inherently
a good thing to get involved with it's something that a person can do
throughout their lifetime and once you get started participating in government
participating in cleaning up the environment
participating helping with children at a hospital when you do those things
people do feel good and it's something that we
know their goanna do probably for a long time.
I think it's important to be involved in volunteering and participating
in these kinds of civic and community activities because it is actually fun.
I think part of it is just the camaraderie of other people who are doing it
these are really nice students that want to do this and being part
of something like that is nice and fun for people.
the people who do this seem to have a good time and come back
and do more of it so I think a lot of it is just fellowship
and the fun of being part of something we do try and make it easy
for students if they are interested in volunteering
they can come to the WAVE meetings we meet every single week
on Monday's five fifteen in the Sandburg Lounge and people just show up.
They can sign up for what ever they want we always have at least ten
to fifteen different events coming up and we have transportation
to those events for the people you go with somebody
maybe you wouldn't be comfortable going to a nursing home yourself
but if you go with four or five other people and you realize
your just serving pizza and it's fun and everybody's having a good time
and the residents are glad your their and you visit with them
a lot of it is that it's pleasant it's a nice thing to participate in and the people
are so grateful or the dogs are cats are who ever you help little children.
We do reading buddies after school sometimes
and the kids are so glad they like college kids come they love it.
I think people just feel good about it
it's a good thing to do and you know you're doing something helpful to people
but I think part of it is it's a good time.
[Darcie Shinberger] Volunteer Services also coordinates Western's All Volunteer Effort or WAVE
Western's largest student run volunteer organization
WAVE gives students the opportunity to gain personal rewards
through their efforts to serve the community in which they live.
WAVE members work together in an effort to improve
the quality of life for diverse populations.
We have an organization called WAVE which is Western's All Volunteer Effort
and they have probably ten to fifteen different things they do each week
some of the things we do in an ongoing bases with those students
we go to the Elms Nursing Home and serve pizza to the residents once a week.
we go to another nursing home Country View Center
play bingo with the people who live there
we also are volunteers at the animal shelter students go and walk the dogs
and play with them comb the cats and just give those animals some affection and attention.
Special Olympics we are volunteers to help with that and there's big projects like
Big Pink Basketball, Volleyball sorry
Relay for Life, The Alzheimer's Walk our students participate in those things
they raise money for good causes that way.
constantly it seems like doing fund raising events
because there are so many good causes out there
that's one of the things we can do we try not to
focus on the money because we mostly give time
there are projects that we do raise money for through out the year.
Most of what we do we so campus clean ups and some things like that
I would say the majority of the things we do are out in the community
so we feel were really an outreach kind of program
and it's part of making a student realize that their part of something larger
than just themselves.
Many of the things we do clean-ups on the streets in town
many agencies and the Red Cross we do blood drives
so were involved in the town quite a bit and I think that's part
of what students we hope that they'll do here so we help facilitate that.
Well definitely one of the volunteer areas is that we wanted
to get involved in volunteer services is the International Service
that's starting to grow and I had a grad student who had spent time
in Japan as a volunteer and wanted to work on that so she
put the idea out and we actually came up with and did our first
Volunteer Service Trip overseas in which was extremely successful
and the students who participated had a wonderful experience
and it was just a really good event we like to pursue that and continue doing that.
I'd say international programs especially with the fact that
the university is really pushing international things it's nice
to be apart of that, that was exciting.
[Darcie Shinberger] To become an official WAVE member
students need to volunteer ten hours through activities
WAVE offers and have regular attendance at meetings.
For more information on Volunteer Services or WAVE
contact the Office of Student Activities at 309.298.3232
While Volunteer Services provides programming for students
a community agency works to ensure volunteers are in place
for numerous organizations within McDonough County.
The Volunteer NOW Macomb Area Volunteer Center
seeks to enhance the spirit and quality of community life
by connecting people volunteer opportunities
building the local volunteering capacity
and promoting service as a way of life.
[Community Events]
[Male person playing guitar…singing a song]
Volunteer NOW Macomb Area Volunteer Center seeks to enhance
the spirit and quality of community life.
The organization provides opportunities to serve non-profit agencies
built upon the local volunteer base
and promotes serving your community.
[Debbie Vandemark] Co-Coordinator Volunteer NOW…what we do is allow
the non-profit organizations within Macomb
to register their non-profit volunteer opportunities with us
so that we can do a matching service for the volunteers
to those service needs and our primary goal is to connect people
with volunteer opportunities and that's what we spend most of our time doing.
We promote volunteerism in the media
we participate in speaking engagements and then we provide services
to our organizations our non-profit organizations.
in that we offer them an opportunity to participate in training
for recruiting and retention for volunteers and that sort of thing.
We try to keep this to a very nominal cost
this October were very proud to be putting on our first ever
Central Illinois Conference On Volunteerism
there is currently a conference in Chicago called ICOVA
and there is one in Southern Illinois
but there's never been one in the Central Part of the state
so were proud to be hosting co-hosting with
WIU Volunteer Services the first ever in this area.
[Darcie Shinberger] Local agencies can register with Volunteer Now
to post volunteer opportunities
volunteers can also register so that they can be
called upon when service needed.
[Debbie Vandemark] Some of the volunteer opportunities that we have in the Macomb
and surrounding areas one would be the animal shelter
and they frequently need people to come out and help bath the dogs
and take them for walks and maybe walk the dog and it might be
something scooping out pens something like that as well but it all needs to be done.
[Jeff Wallen] Animal Control Officer McDonough County Animal Control…it make it a lot easier
for the dogs to get adopted if their socialized
and it just helps us do a little extra for them.
we use volunteers in the afternoons from 1-3 o'clock
getting the dogs outside getting some fresh air for them
have a lot of volunteers play with the cats also we welcome anybody
that's got free time to come out and help with the shelter.
[Debbie Vandemark] There are also opportunities with the Salvation Army
they have a thrift store there and the receive all sorts of donations
and they have to be sorted through sometimes they are brand new items with the tags still on
them other times they are rusted broken items that need to be discarded.
so someone has to go through all of that
that's were they need volunteers.
[Captain Owen Thompson Jr.] Corps. Officer Salvation Army…we can't keep low prices here
without the volunteers we have some volunteers that come in
once a week and they'll just kind of clear off the empty hangers
on the shelves and some that will assist in bagging for the cash register
and so that thing customers can be moved along faster
we have volunteers that will come in and help us remove the old merchandise
off the shelves so we can have room for new stuff
If anyone is interested in volunteering here at the
Salvation Army Thrift Store the would just call here
it's 309.833.4451
[Debbie Vandemark] we have the long term care facilities
and the health care facilities here in town
the hospital they are always desperately in need of volunteers
for their gift shop and the reception area
they also need escorts to wheel people out in wheelchairs
as there being dismissed and run errands
for different departments in the hospital
all of the long term care facilities they have there own interesting and varied
programs for example one out at Wesley Village
they have a computer lab and they have used a volunteer
to help teach just basic computer skills what is a mouse
how to open a file and that sort of thing and that has been very successful
out at the Elms the have readers that come in every
Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and just sit down and volunteer to read out of a book
residents are looking forward each week to more of the same story
and the volunteer reads for maybe 20-30 minutes and that's a good opportunity
the Tri-States Audio Information Services is another wonderful opportunity
to read to the blind and low vision in a production studio environment
and that can be either live or it can be on tape
they usually have newspapers or magazines predominantly newspapers
for the different areas in the communities
we have Tri-County Collection Waste facility here in town
that is part of the WIRC they take in paint cans
they take in computers, monitors, small television sets
but the paint cans they have to be sorted as to what is viable
what is latex, what is oil.
there are so may different opportunities in the area it's just a joy
to be able to match people up with those areas that they truly enjoy
for example if someone loves the outdoors
we have a number of different non-profits that have opportunities for working outdoors
Horn Field Campus for example that's a fun place to work
helping with the nature trails and conservation and that type of thing.
[Darcie Shinberger] At any given time Volunteer Now has numerous volunteer opportunities
in it's data-base and that number is always on the rise
so roll up your selves and make a difference
[Debbie Vandemark] so there are a number of positive reasons why volunteerism is so important.
It helps to continue the non-profit services in the area
which is probably the greatest need for volunteers because with the budgetary cuts
without the added volunteer some of these non-profits would be severally
under staffed and unable to continue the same level of service
in the community so volunteers are very, very valuable
[Darcie Shinberger] For more information contact Volunteer Now
at 309.836.3754 or by email
at volunteernow@macomb.com or simply visit their website
at www.volunteernow.info
[Community Events]
[Darcie Shinberger] Joining me in the studio to discuss a local volunteer organization
is Kathy Chambers president of The McDonough County Humane Society
Hello and welcome thanks for coming in today -Hi Darcie-
well throughout different segments of the show we've learned about volunteer opportunities
in the community and one of the areas that was mentioned
was the Animal Shelter and Humane Society
I'd like for you to tell our viewer's a little bit about the Humane Society
and how people can get involved
[Kathy Chambers] President McDonough County Humane Society…the Humane Society of McDonough County
was actually incorporated in 1984 and it was the offspring
of a volunteer group that got together
at that time and were instrumental in getting the county to build
an animal shelter facility now what we don't own and operate the facility
it's county run we do support the animal shelter
as much as we possibly can
[Darcie Shinberger] Now how can people get involved?
[Kathy Chambers] With the Humane Society all they need to do is
give us a call and leave us their name and number
we have a board meeting once a month that is open to all
Humane Society members also the general public and their welcome
to just come to a board meeting if they like
Darcie Shinberger] Now what do volunteers typically do for the Humane Society?
What kind of things can they do?
we have a variety of volunteers that show up mainly for our events
and then we have volunteers that are on specific committees
and that also reside on the board
[Darcie Shinberger] Now do you do actual work at the shelter
like walking the animals or taking care of?
[Kathy Chambers] we have many members that do that but the Humane Society doesn't
coordinate volunteerism at the shelter
they track and take care of that themselves
we do sponsor an open house once or twice a year at the shelter
our volunteers can also assist with that
[Darcie Shinberger] Now why is it so important for a community
such as Macomb to have a Humane Society organization?
[Kathy Chambers] Well originally there wasn't even a shelter in this area
so the group that started the Humane Society there was a need
for this definitely and there still is a need today
for instance the county shelter saw approximately
seven hundred and fifty dogs and cats
come through the shelter last year that are homeless
many of those were reclaimed by owner's but most aren't and they need homes
so we try to promote adoption at the shelter we have a poster program
that we've implemented that is a very volunteer time intensive project
to promote adoption at the shelter and there is a large need
in the area for homes for these animals
[Darcie Shinberger] Yeah, I've seen those posters around town and I know it's hard not to look at those
Tell me I know you've got a big event coming up in October
it's held every October tell me about that and some of the other
fund raiser's that the Humane Society does?
[Kathy Chambers] -Sure- Our two main fund raisers for the year are a
Dog Wash in July we wash approximately one hundred and sixty dogs
in half a days time and that's a huge event and our other large event is the
Bark in the Park which is coming up in October we do that every October.
[Darcie Shinberger] Now tell me more about the Bark in the Park.
How do people get involved with that what is the event?
[Kathy Chambers] The event is dog oriented people bring their dogs we have a dog parade
around the square at 10 o'clock in the morning you can just show up in the park
In Chandler Park at 9 am and for five dollar registration fee they receive a bandanna
for their dog a participation ribbon there's contest and games
through-out the morning in the park and there's also dog costume contest
so for the five dollars they can participate in all the activities in the park
and also receive some goo-die bags and treats for the dogs.
[Darcie Shinberger] Well great thank you so much for coming in today and talking about the Humane Society.
To volunteer and contribute to the McDonough County Humane Society
call 309.837.5611 to view pets available for adoption
and other Humane Society information visit www.hsmcil.org
[Campus And Community]
[Darcie Shinberger] The final segment of today's show features' Western's American Humanics
an academic minor at Western focusing on the non-profit sector
Non-profit human services organizations play a pivotal role in helping people of all ages
and backgrounds develop their capacities needed to live a quality life
they need nearly fifty thousand trained and dedicated professionals
who want to make a difference Western's American Humanics Minor
gives students the opportunity to obtain the skills necessary
to become dedicated leaders in non-profit organizations.
American Humanics at Western Illinois University
is all about learning to lead and leading to learn.
Non-profit youth and Human Services Organizations play an essential part
in helping people live a rich life.
Through Western's American Humanics program students are able to gain a leadership edge
to help those organizations and the people they serve.
[Dean Zoerink] Executive Director American Humanics Program, WIU…the American Humanics
is a national alliance of colleges and universities
non-profit organizations and other affiliate partners
and our university is the only public university in Illinois that offers
we offer a minor in Youth and Human Services Non-Profit Organizations
and we are an affiliate of American Humanics
and the goal of our program our minor program is to prepare students
for leadership positions in non-profit organizations
as to help students meet that goal
students are required to complete eighteen hour, eighteen to nineteen hour minor program
that's located in the department of Recreation Park and Tourism Administration
and so with that eighteen to nineteen semester hours
students can be eligible for certification through American Humanics
the certificate is a value added to their degree program
the certificate enables them to have greater entree into different positions in non-profit organizations
through out our country so given that back ground
students can pursue a variety of careers from managerial positions
in a non-profit organization to a person who specializes in fund-raising
who might be interested in special events, or in financing
or any task that many non-profit organizations have available
including volunteer management
[Darcie Shinberger] This minor offered through the Recreation Park and Tourism Administration Department
allows students to gain the skills needed
to become a leader in a non-profit organization.
Students in the program participate in courses related to the foundations and practices
of non-profit management have hands on learning experiences
working with non-profit agencies and receive individualized
career development and mentoring.
[Nicole Martin] RPTA Student, Western Illinois University…currently I am serving my
interest up with Big Brothers, Big Sisters in McDonough County
prior to that I had experience I did my service learning project
through American Humanics with Mosaic.
I worked with clients there helping them complete their daily task
they need to do and I help serve in the lunchroom
and I helped them with their afternoon activities
currently with Big Brothers, Big Sisters I am helping with fund-raising
we currently just did our Bowl for Kids Sake which is our biggest fundraiser
of the year we raised thirty-four thousand dollars with the community
and I'm working on doing with Western's Big's
which is an on campus thing were little's who are waiting to be matched
in the community based program are matched with Western students
and they meet on campus every other Monday night.
[Dean Zoerink] Last year Nicole served as a undergraduate student assistant
with the program and how it benefits the community at large is that
one of the requirements of being affiliate of American Humanics
is that we have to have a community counsel
and the community counsel includes five different representatives
from affiliate organizations one of the organizations is
Big Brothers, Big Sisters were Nicole was able to network and find talk
with the director the regional director for Big Brothers, Big Sisters
and explore opportunities she was able to get an internship
then with Big Brothers, Big Sisters another community counsel member
is from Red Cross, another was from 4H and another from the YMCA
all our affiliates of American Humanics
and ideally students can network with those members
and provide some volunteer hours or provide internship hours
with those organizations so not only does it help students understand the non-profit
but their contributing to helping the organization
meet it's goals and mission programs as well.
[Nicole Martin] I know at Big Brothers, Big Sisters
if you don't have volunteers you don’t have a program.
I also have been working in Warren County they've started a new program there
with Big Brothers, Big Sisters and we have children that need to be served
but we need volunteers to volunteer their time to help these children
in a one on one mentoring and without volunteers a lot of the time
the organizations are not able to complete fundraisers
they need volunteers to pass out shoes at Bowl for Kids Sake
or to make sure the pizza's or being put out and everything is kept picked up
to collect donations volunteers are vital
to a non-profit organizations to be able to succeed.
[Darcie Shinberger] You can make a difference call the RPTA office today
at 309.298.1967 to learn how you can become involved
in the American Humanics Program
[Darcie Shinberger] That's all the time we have for today
I'd like to thank everyone who appeared on today's program
and thank you for watching for Campus and Community I'm Darcie Shinberger.