BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — More than 600 families had a happier holiday this season thanks to volunteers who “adopted” them and provided gifts and food for their holiday tables.
The Adopt-a-Family program was just one of hundreds offered by nonprofit agencies throughout Monmouth County. The programs are made possible through the generosity of individuals who volunteer their time to assist others.
“It is important for agencies to be connected with volunteers because all nonprofits need volunteers to survive,” said Lynn Lewis, manager of the Volunteer Center of Monmouth County in Long Branch.
The Volunteer Center, located on Bath Avenue, is a clearing house for more than 300 county agencies. The center is a program of Family & Children’s Services, Oakhurst.
Since its inception in 1983, the center has matched more than 25,000 volunteers with various agencies in need of assistance, Lewis said.
The volunteer center was started by Fair Haven resident Susan Whyman, who was recovering from an accident and wanted to spend her spare time helping others, according to Jane Frotten, director of the center.
PHOTOSBYCHRISKELLY Elizabeth McKeown (far left), Middletown, Tasha Mclean (l), Asbury Park, and Lynn Lewis (r), Highlands, sort through mail at The Family & Children’s Services’ Volunteer Center of Monmouth County. “She found there was no place to go,” Frotten said. “There was no central agency to put her in contact with a nonprofit that needed volunteer assistance.”
Whyman took her plight to United Way of Monmouth County, scheduled a meeting with local agencies, and a volunteer clearing house for Monmouth County was born, Lewis said.
The Volunteer Center’s mission is to connect agencies with volunteers.
All agencies involved with the center are nonprofits that provide a range of services. Agencies contact the center with requests for volunteers needed for projects that may include one-day events, holiday occasions, walks and runs, and everything in between.
“We get about 400 to 450 requests a year for specific projects, and additional requests for operational help, specific events, fund-raisers and special projects,” Frotten said.
Individuals interested in volunteering can read descriptions of the projects in need of volunteer help in the center’s Lend-a-Hand column on its Web site, www.volunteermc.org, and in local newspapers.
The center places more than 1,200 volunteers annually.
“We get volunteers from everywhere,” Lewis said.
Marie Ward, 74, Long Branch, is one of the center’s most well-known volunteers and is still active today.
“Marie came to the Volunteer Center and asked if she could help,” Frotten said. “She was using a walker to get around.”
Frotten found out the local library needed help putting bar codes on books and asked Marie if she wanted to help.
“By the time I called the library to make arrangements, they told me Marie was already there,” Frotten said.
Today, Ward works in the center’s office.
“I do whatever else needs to be done,” Ward said. “I enjoy volunteering. I feel like I am doing something that really matters.”
An important part of the volunteer process is interviewing volunteers, Frotten said, adding that this is when information is gathered to help match volunteers to a specific need.
During the interview, volunteers are asked about their interests, skills and previous projects they have participated in.
“It’s important to match volunteers who will enjoy themselves and be helpful with the assigned project,” Lewis said. “Eighty-five percent of the matches are successful.”
For example, a Fair Haven woman contacted the center last year and said she was reducing the hours of her practice and she wanted to spend her free time getting involved with the community, Frotten said.
“In the interview, she began by saying she wanted to mentor children,” Frotten said. “By the end of the interview, we found out she had a passion for the outdoors. She was matched with an agency where she assisted in giving children horseback-riding lessons.”
Once a volunteer is interviewed, they are matched with two or three agencies. The center then calls the agencies to inform them that a volunteer has been referred to them.
The center asks each volunteer to report back for a follow-up interview in order to get their feedback.
“Sometimes, volunteers are simply shopping around to see what is out there,” Frotten said. “You can lead them to water, but you cannot make them drink it.”
When there is a shortage of volunteers, the center looks over its records and makes calls to volunteers who participated in similar projects.
“To get a volunteer, you have to tell a story of the need,” Frotten said. “There are a number of reasons to volunteer; there is socialization. Once you are involved in the socialization, you see the need an agency has.”
When volunteers participate in a project and see the difference they make, they usually come back to help with more projects, Frotten said.
The center operates on a $130,000 annual budget that is raised through fund-raisers and donations. When the center falls short of its fund-raising goals, the shortfall is made up by its nonprofit sponsoring agency, Family & Children’s Services, Oakhurst.
The center is looking for a new location in Long Branch and for a corporate sponsor.
“As a volunteer, you may not be getting paid, but you are gaining experience,” Lewis said. “A volunteer is an employee — you are just not on the payroll.”