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Stacey Campbell, President e-mail: scondit@mindpring.com
5500 Morriss Road voice mail: 972/539-2622
Greater Lewisville Cares (GLC) was established in October 2003 by local residents to engage volunteers to strengthen the community by providing service opportunities in partnership with area agencies. GLC is one of over 30 organizations across the country that makes up the City Cares of America network, which was formed in 1992 to serve as the umbrella organization for local, grassroots “Cares” organizations. (Visit www.citycares.org for more information on the national organization.)
These agencies have been extremely successful in other major cities because of their uniqueness in providing flexible, hands on volunteer opportunities for all ages. This is a wonderful way to get families volunteering together, office employees working side-by-side for the community outside the daily grind, religious groups more easily plugged in to aid those in need, individuals who want to get involved but don’t know where to start, and much more. Flexible time commitments permit volunteers to serve once a week, once a month, or whenever they can.
“GLC hopes to engage people in active service to their community in several ways: (1) by offering flexibility; (2) by providing a variety of projects so volunteers can find ones of interest to them whether that be working with children, the elderly, the environment, handicapped, at-risk youth, etc., and (3) by educating the volunteer, group or family as to the impact of their service…what the benefits are to the agency, to the client, to their neighbors.” explains Stacey Campbell, GLC founder and president of the board. Campbell is not new to this concept. She was the founding vice president for Hands On Miami which began back in 1993 and claims to have provided over 53,000 volunteer hours of service last year alone. (You may visit www.handsonmiami.org for more information.)
The value of volunteers in effecting change in any community is invaluable. Denton County is no exception. There are so many wonderful agencies doing good works for those in need, less fortunate, or requiring extra care and are finding it difficult to coordinate services for their clients in addition to recruiting and training volunteers. GLC can help by working in partnership with these agencies – coordinating, leading and providing volunteers to get the job done. Campbell says, “It is just awesome what can be accomplished by volunteers when they are brought together for a cause.”
All volunteers must attend a brief orientation prior to volunteering through GLC. The next volunteer orientation is scheduled for:
· Tues., May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church,
located at 5500 Morriss Road in Flower Mound.
Orientations are held to offer some background on the organization, find out what your interests are, let you know the various levels of involvement available to you, and answer any questions you may have. Please contact GLC’s office at 972/539-2622 to inquire about future volunteer orientation times and locations. If you have a group of volunteers and would like to schedule a special orientation at a location and time convenient for you, just let GLC know and they would be happy to schedule one. If you are an agency in need of volunteers, please contact Dave Coates, VP of programs, at davec@gte.net.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Community-at-large
DATE: May 1, 2004
MEDIA CONTACT: Stacey Campbell, 972/966-6422, e-mail: scondit@mindspring.com
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