National Make a Difference Day

Volunteer Fair is this Saturday at Aberdeen Eagles

October 21, 2016 11:15 pm
Coastal Harvest Volunteers help with the repackaging of bulk frozen foods into family size portions for distribution to food banks in seven southwest Washington counties. (Deb Blecha/courtesy photo)
Coastal Harvest Volunteers help with the repackaging of bulk frozen foods into family size portions for distribution to food banks in seven southwest Washington counties. (Deb Blecha/courtesy photo)

By Betsy Seidel

Today is National Make a Difference Day.

If you have ever wanted to volunteer your time and talents but didn’t know where to go, you’re in luck because now you can do “one stop shopping”at the 18th annual Grays Harbor Volunteer Opportunities Fair. The venue takes place at the Aberdeen Eagles, 208 W. Market Street, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today.

Twenty-eight local non-profit organizations that depend on volunteers will be represented by people sitting at tables with displays. You can talk with these representatives who will give you pamphlets that explain how to volunteer with their organizations. At that time you can sign up to volunteer with them, or you can just take home the information and call them later.

Students who need community service hours for graduation or adults who are looking for fun and interesting ways to give back to their community will find many options. Whether you like working with adults, children, animals, or inanimate objects, these organizations’ representatives would love to talk with you. You can choose how much time you give – daily, weekly, monthly, or even once a year. When you volunteer, you gain so much more than you give.

Rick Moyer of Grays Harbor Radio and Dave Haviland of Jodesha Broadcasting will be recording sound bites for future airing. They will interview the representatives, so be sure an tune in if you can’t make it Saturday.

Several folks have made this fair possible. A big thank you goes to the Aberdeen Eagles for donating the space, tables, and chairs. Grays Harbor Radio, Jodesha Broadcasting and The Daily World help promote the fair; Angela Endres creates the posters and Bill Monahan makes signs for new participants. Chrissy and Logen Seguin are great helpers with setting up the room and helping the representatives get to their radio interviews.

Stafford Creek Corrections Center’s Inside/Out Group and Dawn Taylor print the Volunteer Opportunities in Grays Harbor brochures which will be available during the fair. Inside the brochure you’ll find over 100 local organizations with their contact information and needs for volunteers. It’s a handy guide to keep year-round.

The 28 non-profit organizations expected to be on hand are: 7th Street Theatre , Aberdeen Museum of History, Aberdeen Revitalization Movement (ARM), ARC of Grays Harbor, Canine Reading Buddies of Grays Harbor ,Clean Streams and Memes, Friends of Schafer and Lake Sylvia, Grays Harbor Civil Defense, Grays Harbor Community Hospital, Grays Harbor Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Grays Harbor Health and Rehabilitation, Grays Harbor League of Women Voters, Grays Harbor Museum Association, Grays Harbor Neighborhood Watch Programs, Grays Harbor Sheriff’s VIP’s, Harbors Home Health and Hospice, Hoquiam Police Department Crime Watch, Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, Miss Grays Harbor/Miss G.H. Outstanding Teen, National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI), Nature’s Stewards Program, Our Aberdeen, P.A.W.S., Polson Museum, Reach &Rise Mentoring Program at YMCA of G.H., Rebuilding Together, Retired Senior and Volunteer Program (RSVP), and United Way of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties.

Contact Betsy Seidel at (360) 533-5968 for more information.

Betsey Siedel is one of the organizers for the Grays Harbor Volunteer Opportunities Fair