Tag Archives: Impact Now

Project Coordinator Spotlight – Sara Benzkofer

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Project Coordinators are volunteers who lead service projects in HandsOn Twin Cities’ Impact Now program. Impact Now projects take place at a variety of local nonprofits, last between 1-3 hours and require no advance training or ongoing commitment. Projects vary from serving meals to sorting donations to reading with children.

ImageName: Sara Benzkofer
Project Coordinator Since: May 2011
Project She Leads: Bedtime Stories

About Sara’s volunteer service
Tell us about the project you lead.
I lead Bedtime Stories, a monthly project at the Catholic Charities Family Service Center in Maplewood, where volunteers read and play with the kids, so the parents can have a bit of time to themselves.

Why did you become a Project Coordinator?
I have been a life-long volunteer, but wanted to take on more responsibility. I wanted to gain experience in volunteer management. I wanted to have a consistent volunteer experience and make a difference in one spot. The Project Coordinator position was a perfect fit!

What is your favorite part of being a Project Coordinator?
I love hanging out with the kids each month. They are so energetic! They love reading and drawing and playing games. I also have enjoyed getting to know the volunteers. I’ve had a number of volunteers return for multiple times and it’s great to see them each month.

Why do you volunteer through HandsOn Twin Cities?
HandsOn is a great organization. It connects people with volunteer opportunities that fit their values, schedules and commitment level. I wanted to be a small part of making those connections.

Memorable moment at your project:
Working with kids is always interesting! One memorable moment was when one of the children got his head stuck in one of the chairs. Yikes! Thankfully, we were able to get him out without any harm done. Another memorable moment was when we had a small group of older kids who weren’t interested in reading stories or coloring, so one of the volunteers decided to make fortune tellers out of paper and taught each of them how to make them too. The kids loved it and spent the entire time running around asking people their fortunes. My volunteers are so creative!

Advice to someone new to volunteering:
Be open. Ask questions. Enjoy yourself. Repeat.

About Sara
What do you do when you’re not volunteering?
I love living in the Twin Cities, so I try to explore it as much as I can; attending the theater, going to concerts and museums and eating good food. I’m also very close to my family and enjoy spending time with them, especially my nieces and nephew.

Who is your service hero/role model?
My parents. They volunteered throughout my childhood and have continued throughout my adulthood. I learned to value giving back to my community and to see that I’m an integral part of making my community a better place to live and work and play.

Favorite quote:
“You can be the change you wish to see in the world” Gandhi.

Your hidden talent:
I’m an amateur photographer. I love taking photos of everyday life. I love playing with my camera and finding new angles and techniques to elevate these everyday photos.

Favorite thing about living in the Twin Cities:
There’s so many! In addition to what I mentioned above, I also love the farmer’s market and all of the wonderful lakes and parks.

To volunteer for this project or others like it, check out our Impact Now program. To find out more about becoming a Project Coordinator, click here.

Impact Now: The Perfect Opportunity is Waiting for You

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Guest Blog Post by: Mary Palin, HandsOn Twin Cities Project Coordinator

 

I graduated from Winona State University in May 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.  For three of my four years of undergraduate experience at WSU, I worked in Housing & Residence Life as both a resident assistant and assistant hall director. Res life employees are an interesting bunch; creative, excited, optimistic, hard-working and kind.  I learned many skills in residence life; conflict resolution, emergency preparedness, cheerleading, counseling, advertising, teaching, and arts & crafts to name a few. 

Looking back after a year outside of the res life world (that is so different from my world now); I’ve had a hard time finding ways to translate my res life skills into my current life.  While at school working in residence life, I was creating awareness and making a difference in the everyday lives of students by making bulletin boards with information about ‘National Ice Cream Month’ or ‘Autism Awareness’. Currently, I work at the front desk of a medical clinic and although I “relate to the public” every day, I’m not using the fun skills I’ve acquired from my res life days.

Then I discovered HandsOn Twin Cities.  Volunteering was one of my biggest passions while in high school and something I unfortunately didn’t have time to do a lot of while in college.  Now being back in the Twin Cities working full-time with no extracurricular activities, I’ve been searching for something to do.  I was aware of HandsOn Twin Cities from their annual Volunteer Expo at the Mall of America.  After volunteering at the expo last February, I browsed through the HandsOn website and found a link to the Impact Now programs.  I signed up for “Day at the Museum” a volunteer opportunity that occurs on Saturday’s at the Minneapolis Children’s Museum.  My favorite aspect about the Impact Now program is that it can be a one-time commitment; allowing you to volunteer for a day and then decide if this is something you want to continue signing up for. 

I went to the museum that Saturday, enjoyed my experience but wasn’t sure if the museum was a perfect fit for me.  I returned to the HandsOn website to find a new opportunity and ended up founding information about becoming a Project Coordinator.  I’ve led volunteer activities, programs, and projects since I was in high school, so this felt like the right fit for me. 

With all of the diverse Impact Now programs offered, it took me almost a month for one to open up that I knew would be ideal for me- “Decorating Day”.  Once a month, I’d bring a few volunteers to decorate bulletin boards at a skilled nursing facility in Minneapolis.  It was the perfect program for me after my 3 years of making bulletin boards almost every month.

The main point to my life story here is that with the Impact Now program, the perfect project is out there waiting for you and your special skills or interests.  I wasn’t sure where I would fit in outside of a residence life setting with my strange ability to decorate bulletin boards but here I am, leading a project that does exactly that. 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To find the perfect volunteer opportunity for you- visit our regularly updated

HANDSON TWIN CITIES PROJECT CALENDAR.

 

Making a Definite Impact.. HandsOn Twin Cities Impact Now Program

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Written below is an uplifting message from Colleen O’Connor, the Volunteer Coordinator at Our Saviour’s Housing. Colleen wrote this article from an organizational perspective on how helpful Impact Now projects and their volunteers are to the operations and livelihood of organizations.

   A few months ago, Our Saviour’s Housing began hosting Impact Now projects. We have been a HandsOn affiliate for many years, but Impact Now has been an exciting new venture. Supper Servers @ Our Saviour’s has been the perfect solution to our challenges: offering accessible volunteer opportunities, meeting our meal needs, and reaching new supporters.

Volunteers serve dinner at our Emergency Shelter every night of the year, but they must be self-organized teams.  I often receive phone calls from people eager to help, but unable to bring an entire group and provide the whole meal. Until Impact Now came along, we weren’t able to accommodate these volunteers. We didn’t have other equivalent opportunities to offer them either; most of our positions for individuals require a long-term commitment. Impact Now offers an easy and flexible alternative by making it possible for individuals to be a part of our work without them needing abundant time or resources.

This partnership has helped my organization connect with dozens of new supporters who otherwise may not have known about us or been able to volunteer. Thanks to the volunteer Project Coordinators, the added workload for me has been minimal. Not only do our Project Coordinators lead and educate the volunteers, but they have become advocates for us, as well. They’ve helped with other projects, attended our special events, and sent new volunteers my way.

Every Impact Now shelter dinner is a special one. The volunteers are eager and friendly. Their menus are delicious. Even better, the servers share a true kindness and hospitality with our residents. I love the chatter, laughter, and games that are a part of an Impact Now evening here. I can’t thank our HandsOn volunteers and Project Coordinators enough!

To find volunteer opportunities that spark your interest and fit your schedule, please take a look at our Project Calendar. Together, we can be the change.