A citywide cleanup/spruce up effort several hundred
volunteers strong is just the beginning. Now lending a hand is about to be as easy as point and click.
The Big Event, the launch for Volunteer Conway, was Oct. 21-22. Volunteer Conway was formed about 15 months ago in an effort to serve as a volunteer match between nonprofits and willing volunteers.
Dot Welch, associate director of the Conway Regional Health Foundation, said she was working at Acxiom Corporation 15 months ago when the discussions
first began. She and Paul Lockhart and Valerie Lane, both Hewlett-Packard employees, thought it would be natural for two of the city’s largest employers
to partner up and pool resources in an effort to make a difference. When Welch went to work at another of the town’s largest employers, she took the project with her and now heads it up at Conway Regional.
Welch said VolunteerConway.org was created to allow volunteers to sign up for very specific volunteer
opportunities. Nonprofits needing temporary volunteers for an event or project can post the event on the website, where volunteers can find it and click to sign up.
“We will serve as a conduit between that nonprofit or project and our companies and individuals who are interested in volunteering. It’s a really interesting
experience where we’re making that connection,” Welch said.
“We have a committee of about 14 companies. We plan to begin accepting events from those nonprofits and promoting them in November.”
For example, she said, the Conway Regional Foundation
has Dazzle Daze in November and may need volunteers.
“Once a month, our companies will promote within – ‘Don’t forget to go out and look at the website.’ So, within our companies we’re promoting volunteerism within the community.”
The Big Event was planned as a pilot project in conjunction with the United Way Week of Action.
“We’re planning to do this one Big Event every year,” Welch said.
“I think the turnout is going to be great for The Big Event. I think it’s going to be a great resource for lots of not-for-profits.”
She said the response so far from employees of the 14 founding companies has been very positive.
“We had a meeting the other day. We had a good showing of our committee members and a very good showing of their employees,” she said.
—Rachel Parker Dickerson