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2020 has started strong for Learning Ally but we're just getting started.
Every year we ask our volunteers to join us in a special fundraising drive. This year March 2nd is the kick-off date for our campaign. Look for special messages with instructions on how to set up your personal fundraising page and reach out to donors. We'll have video demonstrations, reference guides, and even news about recognition rewards. However, you don't have to wait until BBSS if you don't want to! You can get started early if you go set up a fundraising page here.
The New Year always brings an outpouring of volunteer interest, and 2020 is no exception. If you see some of our latest additions to the volunteering team show up in the Google chats or on the volunteer portal pages, please say hello, introduce yourself, and let people know what you're doing to help us serve our students. Every year thousands of people make the resolution to get involved in volunteer work and your welcoming them to our team helps cement that Learning Ally isn't just a service; it's a community of people working together to better the lives of students.
We're always looking for experienced volunteers who are interested in taking some extra time to be peer mentors for our newcomers. Our peer mentors review auditions and coach new trainees. If you've volunteered with Learning Ally for over a year, or have a strong background in teaching or training and are interested in getting involved, contact voltraining@learningally.org for details.
Kimberly S., Jason O., Lisa J., Sura S., Yvonnette C., Daisy B., Elaine N-B., Janet D., Richard K., Susan H., Jerald H., Buddy S., CJ H., Chris D., Lucy B., Julie N., Becky C., Jami J., Akracha B., Elizabeth B., Jason R., Jeremy D., Van H., Kyle D., Rachel S., Kenneth B., Karen W., Sonia S., Jason C.
There are many different ways to get to know someone. In-person communication works best in most cases, but isn’t always possible.
Another good way is through today’s many forums that imitate the old penpal and note-passing experiences: our online spaces that allow us to communicate immediately with people faraway. These places include social media like FaceBook, Instagram, and others. They also include private and public chats, like those found in Google Hangouts.
Learning Ally uses Google Hangouts to offer a number of options for getting to know staff and other volunteers. Besides your STAFF and project-specific Hangouts, we’ve created a number of Hangouts around specific topics (Foreign Languages, TOC Pre-Production, etc.) as well as locality-based Hangouts for volunteers living in the same general area.
The links to all of these Hangouts can be found at the Volunteer Portal; follow this pathway to find the document with all the links:
Volunteer Portal/Resources/General/Hangouts
Or click on this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JsS-XigskhVKSGI0NAV6zY58QNBF_VzjRIsVqI0jHYk/edit
You are welcome to join any of those Hangouts, and you don’t have to live in that area to join a locality-specific Hangout. If you’ll be traveling to Southern California, for example, and would like to try to meet up with staff and volunteers there, join the SoCal Volunteers Hangout and post a message about your upcoming trip.
If you’d like to try to get to know other volunteers in your area and don’t see a link for it, contact Stacie Court (sCourt@LearningAlly.org, or through your STAFF Hangout) and she’ll look into creating one for you.
Over the past few years several groups of volunteers have gotten together for meals and other events. It just takes one person to get the ball rolling--post in your Hangout and see what happens!
Images: (left) SoCal volunteers plus Don Sheetz get together for a casual lunch;
(right) Texas current and alumni volunteers get together for coffee
Image: Athens volunteers and staff meet for lunch at a local restaurant