Survey shows city has high rate of volunteers

Bloomington gives back, and at a higher rate than the Hoosier and national averages.
On Feb. 21, the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network released its first member agency survey, which collected data about volunteerism in the community.

“We are always surprised and enlightened by how many volunteers are out here in Bloomington and how many hours they put in,” said Volunteer Network Assistant Director Lucy Schaich.

Research released by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, revealed an average of 34 percent of Bloomington residents volunteer, higher than the 28-percent Indiana rate and 26-percent U.S. rate.

Bloomington had 24,264 total volunteers who completed 437,885 hours of service
in 2011.

 “If you take the volunteers away, it really just isn’t Bloomington anymore,” Schaich said.

Of the organizations surveyed, 83 percent consider IU student volunteers essential, very important or important to their operational success.

“With 40,000 students right here in our community, they are the engine that makes our volunteer organizations go,” Schaich said.

At Shalom Community Center, a day shelter for individuals experiencing poverty and homelessness, the daily volunteer circuit outnumbers the center’s regular staff by almost 4-to-1. It needs 26 volunteers to function on a daily basis.

 “When students are gone, we’re hurting. I call it our lean time. I always dread spring break because of that,” Shalom Director of Volunteer Services Pam Kinnaman said.
The Volunteer Network is helping combat these lag times during vacations with its “Fill the Volunteer Gap!” initiative.

“Volunteering during spring, summer and winter breaks is a huge help to these agencies who utilize volunteers to maintain their services year round,” Volunteer Network Director Bet Savich said in an email.

Meagan Niese, development director for Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County, said her organization has an average of 1,600 volunteers every year.
 
“Volunteering for Bloomington makes Bloomington a better place to live,” she said. “Not only do our organizations benefit, but our volunteers get a chance to come together and work with people who are maybe different from them and learn something along the way.”

Schaich said the Network has suggested to its members that they develop better methods for tracking their volunteers’ hours to make compiling data an easier task.