Guest AuthorAs lawmakers continue budget negotiations in Tallahassee over the coming days, a group of Volunteer Florida volunteers will be participating in a beach restoration project this weekend in Northwest Florida’s Cessna Park. These volunteers are not just cleaning up a beach, however: They are saving taxpayer dollars and exploring careers in Florida’s public service sector.
How?
From just a few hours of volunteering to the intensive, year-long commitments that AmeriCorps members make, our volunteers complete projects that would otherwise be funded by taxpayers at the local and state level … or not funded or completed at all.
Volunteer Florida, the governor’s lead agency for volunteer initiatives in the state, is proud to celebrate our 20th Anniversary this year. We are also celebrating the 20th year of AmeriCorps, the nation’s premier national service program.
Under the leadership of Volunteer Florida’s bipartisan commission, Volunteer Florida administers national service programs like AmeriCorps. The competitive grant process for AmeriCorps programs at Volunteer Florida ensures that the most effective, results-driven groups apply for national service grants.
What does that mean for Florida?
Tapping the power of Florida volunteers, we meet needs in communities across the state with an exponential impact. For every dollar that the State of Florida invests in Volunteer Florida, we leverage $26 in non-state funding. From drawing down federal funding to securing private-sector donations, Volunteer Florida mobilizes volunteers in critical areas of need. For example, 88 percent of Volunteer Florida’s AmeriCorps programs are education-based with a goal of helping individual students succeed. Last year, Volunteer Florida brought AmeriCorps programs to 718 Florida schools, mentoring over 57,000 students, including intense tutoring for 18,500 students at risk of academic failure. It’s working: 83.6 percent of the students our members tutored and tested improved their academic skills.
In addition to education, Volunteer Florida and our AmeriCorps partners focus on disaster services, economic opportunity, public safety, and veterans and military families.
These areas of focus are in line with the priorities of Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature.
We are especially grateful to our corporate partners, who recognize the unique way in which volunteers meet Florida’s needs. By investing in Volunteer Florida through the Volunteer Florida Foundation, our partners are investing in our future. Volunteer Florida is proud that we are not only helping to conserve taxpayer dollars; we are providing an excellent return on investment.
As communities struggle to meet educational, public safety, emergency management, and other human services needs, they are increasingly turning to Volunteer Florida and our partner organizations.
For 20 years, we’ve been here … and we’ve never been stronger!
Chester Spellman is CEO of Volunteer Florida. To learn more about Volunteer Florida and AmeriCorps’ 20th Anniversary events, visit http://www.volunteerflorida.org/20th/. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
