Every summer since 2001 the youth group at CrossRoads Nazarene Church in Chandler, AZ has gone to Little Rock and stayed at Friendly Chapel Church. While the students are there they help run a vacation bible school and a basketball camp for the children in the neighborhood. These children are categorized as “at risk”. During the week students and leaders are also a part of many different work projects around the neighborhood as well as helping out with the local food bank. Last year I had the privilege of going for the first time, as a leader. This experience changed my life and it is when I realized how much I enjoy helping others. So much so, that I had to go back, and did June 6th-June 10th.
While I was there I was able to return to the Arkansas Food Bank. The Arkansas Food Bank’s mission is “Working to eliminate hunger in Arkansas”. Working at the food bank is what solidified my decision to major in nonprofit administration. So it was a privilege for me to interview their Volunteer Coordinator, Kisha Bumpers. Kisha has worked for the Arkansas Food Bank for 3 years. Kisha is not only the Volunteer Coordinator.
Our group of teens is the common demographic of volunteers they get. Kisha says it tends to be high school and college aged volunteers that they get a lot of. She also says they get a high volume of volunteers during the summer and around the holidays. On average there are about 600 volunteers that help out a year. Of these 600, 60-75 volunteer on a regular basis (monthly). They also have 12 volunteers that give of their time on a weekly basis. The hours they put in are equivalent to one full time employee.
I asked Kisha what her biggest frustration is with being a volunteer coordinator; her answer was kind of funny to me. She said that her biggest pet peeve is when groups bring more volunteers then they originally agreed to. She likes to be prepared and have jobs for her volunteers. When groups come with too many people it catches her off guard. She says there is plenty of work to be done, but she likes to be prepared, rather than just put people on a task because she needs to occupy their time.
It was very beneficial to hear the real struggles and triumphs of the volunteer world first hand. I felt especially grateful to be able to interview someone who, without realizing it, had a profound impact on my life. I think that is something very important to remember when it comes to volunteer management. As a volunteer manager you have the ability make a volunteers experience either great or so-so. It is important to take that responsibility seriously and make sure that everyone that walks through the doors has the best experience possible!
The Garth Brooks Dilemma.
10 years ago
