New National Volunteering Website

For those of you that are hip to the world of volunteering, you may have already heard about the latest report from The Corporation for National and Community Service. But for the rest of us, and especially those of us who haven't heard of The Corporation, here is a short plug.

The Corporation plays a vital role in supporting the American culture of citizenship, service and responsibility. Through their programs and the thousands of dollars in grants they give out every year they encourage service at the National and local level (for more on what they do click here).

Every year The Corporation releases a report chronicling volunteering trends throughout the Nation. This report is incredibly thorough, with info about every state and hundreds of medium to large Cities across the country. A few choice stats:

• This year there were 60.8 million volunteers nationwide, which is down from last year (61.2 mil 2006) This is still a high number, but it is down from the peak in 2005 (65.4 mil).
• San Diego Ranks 25th in the Nation for volunteerism rates, based on how many people volunteer per capita.

For more cool stats and figures on Volunteering in San Diego, click here.

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VSD on the Turko Files

KUSI's Turko Files investigate local problems. This week's episode is about a drainage ditch in Spring Valley that had turned into a massive fire hazard. With help from Volunteer San Diego, the community came together to clear the ditch of the dead grass and weeds that could have easily sparked into a wildfire.

Watch the investigative report here.

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Where the Girls Are

The "Giving Gardeners at Ronald McDonald House" project takes place each month offering light gardening as well as a chance to chitchat with other volunteers. When I participated on July 26th, our group consisted of seven fabulous females who spruced up the entry and courtyard garden areas. While we pruned, weeded, planted, mulched, and watered, some of families of the Ronald McDonald House complimented us on our efforts and thanked us for volunteering. Just an hour and a half of volunteering, first thing on Saturday...what a great way to kick-off my weekend!

Volunteers Lara Groutt, Diane Green, and Lauren Payne on the job at the Ronald McDonald House.

Anna Schulz is a member of the flex program and a volunteer blogger for Volunteer San Diego. She also writes for her family blog, The Full Catastrophe.

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