Tue, Dec 02 2008
|
Published August 27, 2008 02:05 pm - Jean Luzadder, 13, of Oskaloosa, handles a snake at the Mahaska County Conservation Board’s table. Luzadder came to the fair to look for volunteer opportunities with her friend. Naturalist Pete Eyheralde had furs and the snake on display, in addition to many volunteer opportunities. Fair draws volunteers of all ages By WES KAPPELMAN The Oskaloosa Herald OSKALOOSA — People from teenagers to adults perused many of Oskaloosa’s volunteer opportunities on Tuesday afternoon at Oskaloosa’s public library.
The library hosted 15 organizations on the library’s third floor. From 3 to 6 p.m., volunteers walked from table to table to try and find the right volunteer opportunity. Jerry Wise, who recently moved to Oskaloosa to coach the volleyball team, went to the volunteer fair looking for opportunities for his students. Part of the freshman seminar he teaches requires community service. In addition to looking for opportunities for his students, he also volunteered to coach little league soccer and got contact information for Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Wise, who came from Ohio, has experience volunteering and thought the volunteer fair was a good idea. “It’s a nice way to promote needs in the community and give people a chance to find some matches,” Wise said. Grace Butler, from Serve Our Youth, a Christian mentoring organization for at-risk youth, said the event gives her group a chance to find mentors. “We have some good mentorships going here and we hope to get many more,” Butler said. Desiree Rouse, from Mahaska Community Recreation Foundation, talked with volunteers on Tuesday. “It’s a great opportunity for people to get involved in the community,” Rouse said. Library director Suzann Holland said she got the idea for the volunteer fair after reading about a library in Massachusetts that puts on a similar event. Holland, Linda Fox and Amanda VerPloeg then organized the event. VerPloeg said the main difficulty was choosing a time when all of the agencies could get together. Holland said she is hoping to make the volunteer fair an annual event. One change she may make for next year is to move the hours of the fair to later in the day, to give people more of an opportunity to attend the fair after work. Holland said there are a lot of people in the community with time to give. “Sometimes its just a matter of making the right connection,” she said. Herald staff writer Wes Kappelman can be reached by e-mail at news2@oskyherald.com 
•
Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.
More from the Local News section
SIEDA gift program needs help from Santa Vennard College says 'Goodbye' |
Print this story
E-mail this story
Post to del.icio.us
Discuss this story
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|
© 2008, Oskaloosa Herald Oskaloosa, Iowa |
|
Popular Business directory links - Oskaloosa Apartments | Oskaloosa Attorneys | Oskaloosa Auto Dealers | Oskaloosa Auto Parts | Oskaloosa Auto Repair | Oskaloosa Beauty Salons | Oskaloosa Car Rental | Oskaloosa Dentists | Oskaloosa Doctors | Oskaloosa Flowers | Oskaloosa Hotels | Oskaloosa Insurance | Oskaloosa Loans | Oskaloosa Mortgages | Oskaloosa Movers | Oskaloosa Pizza | Oskaloosa Realtors | Oskaloosa Restaurants | Oskaloosa Storage | Oskaloosa Tax Preparation | Oskaloosa Travel | Oskaloosa Featured | More...
|
|
Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. • CNHI Classified Advertising Network • CNHI News Service |